Cloud app question

[lenpro]

Hey guys. In light of my previous post , I am now seriously considering subscribing to a cloud provider (thinking of Google Drive/Google One - any thoughts on this?) since I'm using, well, Android.

Forgive my ignorance, but how do Cloud subscription apps work?

I'm currently looking at the 100GB per year which costs around $25. I don't think I'll fill that up for a year, but it should be enough.

But what happens if I exceed 100GB? Does that mean I'll have to be on the next plan up, which is 200GB for about $30 a year?

And again, what happens if I eventually use all 200GB?

Some hypothetical scenarios I'm thinking off.

Year 1: 100GB plan/$25 per year
Year 2: Still on the 100GB plan since I've only used 80GB of the 100GB, so I'm still paying $25/per year (Question, for Year 2, I'm still using the 100GB from Year 1, right? Or will I be allocated a new set of 100GB on top of the 100GB from Year 1?)
Year 3: I've exceeded 100GB, so I'm on the 200GB plan for around $30/per year

Sorry for the noob question but I appreciate your thoughts! Thanks.

 

[lenpro]

Thank you.

Mind chiming in and clarifying my scenario?

Year 1: 100GB plan/$25 per year
Year 2: Still on the 100GB plan since I've only used 80GB of the 100GB, so I'm still paying $25/per year (Question, for Year 2, I'm still using the 100GB from Year 1, right? Or will I be allocated a new set of 100GB on top of the 100GB from Year 1?)
Year 3: I've exceeded 100GB, so I'm on the 200GB plan for around $30/per year

You also mentioned "Merely ONLY store what data you want to keep." - How does that work? Say I got 100 photos in my phone and those 100 photos are also synced in the Cloud. My Cloud storage then now has 100 photos (assuming I didn't have any photos uploaded prior). If I free up space on my phone and deleted those 100 photos from my phone storage, will the 100 photos be also deleted from my Cloud Storage? (Or vice versa, when I delete the 100 photos from Cloud, will it delete it from my phone?)

Thanks

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

To store photos save them to Google Photos. You get unlimited high quality photos for free. You can then delete them from your phone and they stay in the cloud.

For storing other data the free 15GB plan with google should be enough to start. I have had my gmail account ever since it started as googlemail and I still have plenty of my free space available because my photos are stored and saved for free.

 

[chanchan05]

First off, you can't exceed what you paid for. When you try to exceed it, you'll just get an error of cloud storage full. It's no different from having a physical drive, just that you can access it anywhere. You know those WiFi hard drives Western Digital sells? That your phone/tablet can connect to on the same WiFi Network? It's like those, only you can access it using any internet connection, not just the home network.

Second, the storage doesn't stack. It's like your data allowance. You pay monthly for an amount of data you can use for your carrier. In this case, you pay yearly for a set storage space.

You can basically think of this as a rented locker. You pay for the size of the locker you want. If you fill it, you can't put in anymore. They'll tell you that if you want to put more stuff in, you have to upgrade to the bigger locker. You don't get upgraded automatically. You have to click okay, I'll pay more for a bigger locker.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I have 100 GB storage in Google Drive, and mine is only ~40% full, despite saving my pictures in full resolution, including many in RAW format.

 

[lenpro]

Wait what?! I've just looked up Google Photos and did not realize they offer unlimited storage (up to 16MP and 1080p videos) for free!

If that's the case, what's the incentive for buying Google Drive/Google One if I mainly just care about backing my photos and videos?

 

[Laura Knotek]

Mainly if you have other data. Like in my case, I have a lot of data, mainly virtual machines and such...

Or if one wishes to store even larger photos, such as RAW format rather than JPG.