Storage - Cloud, Local or Both

[jmagid51]

When it comes to storage we seem to have many choices so I'm interested how people are using it today. I understand it's a matter of personal choice but I'm interested in what people here have to say.

Storage is cheap ...... back in the day we used to put 5 Mb on a disk the size of a pizza box and it costs thousands ... now we have 128 Gb on a chip the size of a fingernail at a cost of about $100.00.

 

[Golfdriver97]

As for me, if it's important, I will have it on some kind of cloud server, on my PC and my backup hard drive.

 

[ffejjj]

I use both for sure

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[srkmagnus]

Both here as well. Depending on what I'm storing, and if I need access from other devices on the go, Google or Dropbox are my two go-to-options.

 

[ljxdaly]

i use local storage....and when that starts to fill up, i move to a portable hard drive.

all the while, if i have something important, i put it on local, the portable hard drive, and the cloud.

i pretty much use the cloud to share files, or to move things between devices conveniently.

 

[JeffDenver]

When it comes to storage we seem to have many choices so I'm interested how people are using it today. I understand it's a matter of personal choice but I'm interested in what people here have to say.

Storage is cheap ...... back in the day we used to put 5 Mb on a disk the size of a pizza box and it costs thousands ... now we have 128 Gb on a chip the size of a fingernail at a cost of about $100.00.

Local always. Cloud should be used as a convenience for sharing, or as a backup...never as your primary. Because cloud access is not yet ubiquitous (and might not be for a long time).

And local storage is not cheap for everyone. My Nexus 7 has only 16 gigs, and no way to expand it. It's only cheap for the lucky people who have SD support.

 

[zorak950]

I use cloud storage and/or local storage depending on what I'm storing and when, where, and how I normally access it.

 

[jmagid51]

I'm interested to know who people are using for their cloud storage provider. I'm signed up with AT&T for a free 50 Gb, Microsoft for 15 Gb and Google for 15 Gb. It comes down to security and service as for now the cost is nothing for the 3 I'm playing with.

 

[JeffDenver]

I'm interested to know who people are using for their cloud storage provider. I'm signed up with AT&T for a free 50 Gb, Microsoft for 15 Gb and Google for 15 Gb. It comes down to security and service as for now the cost is nothing for the 3 I'm playing with.

I am using Box.com...I am really liking their mobile UI now. Quick and easy, flat-UI. I took advantage of a promotion a long time ago and got a 50-gig account for free, but you can still get a 10 gig account even now. Bonus: their mobile software makes it VERY easy to switch between multiple accounts. Like literally 1-click. And the switching is fast. So you could, if you wanted, string as many accounts together as you like. Make a "personal" account, and a separate "family" account you can share with your family to make swapping files easy.

So I have my BF's, Dad's, Mom's, ect...accounts on my Box app and can switch between them at will on my phone or tablet. As far as I know, none of the other services do this (mostly for the reason I just mentioned...people will game the system and make fake accounts to get more free space). I have no idea why Box allows this, but I am not complaining. It's awesome.

 

[Golfdriver97]

Box is nice because of the high amount of basic storage you get. Google drive is roughly the same. Between those 2, they cover my cloud needs.

 

[jmagid51]

Ok, thanks, I'll add Box to the list also. Do to the nature, of what I do (storage consulting) I use a laptop and smartphone as my primary two devices. Desktop PC just doesn't work for me so it's the local storage on the laptop and the smartphone as well as the cloud. I'm just trying to put together a good combination for myself realizing everyone has their own personal preference. Gone are the days of the portable terminal and 1200 baud modem.

 

[jmagid51]

One additional point here is portability and carrying the smartphone alleviates the need for carry on when I travel. In addition being a photography nut the Samdung Galaxy S5 doubles as a terrific camera. No longer shlep the Nikon with me when going places.

 

[Rukbat]

Important data - phone (internal), SD card, laptop, NAS and 2 cloud accounts (servers thousands of miles apart).

Unimportant data - wherever it is.

Hardware (even the most expensive phone) is cheap - data is priceless

This was borne out to me when I needed some important medical insurance data on October 18, 1989. The insurance adjudicator company was located in what had, until the day before, been a building in San Francisco. (Remember the Loma Prieta earthquake?) I needed the data then, not a few days later, or it would cost me a bundle. (Funny how some people can't adjust the rules for reality.) I called the number, expecting "all circuits busy" or, at best, no answer. I got someone at the company, who was able to look up the information for me with no problem.

They rented space a few miles outside of town, rented a few dozen computers, had the data backups delivered and restored - all before 9 AM PST the day after the quake. I always made sure I had all my data backed up at all times, but that really drove it home.

Since then I've worked for a company on the east coast that had rented space on the west coast for a fully duplicated network - sort of a long distance RAID. No restoration needed - lose one location and the people at the other location could keep on working. I don't need that level of backup, but that's backup.

But I still don't trust my data to a single place - not even the picture of the nice walk someone put up for me from my driveway to my house (which I show when I recommend him for work). If I took the time to get the data, I can take the time to back it up.

 

[JeffDenver]

Ok, thanks, I'll add Box to the list also. Do to the nature, of what I do (storage consulting) I use a laptop and smartphone as my primary two devices. Desktop PC just doesn't work for me so it's the local storage on the laptop and the smartphone as well as the cloud. I'm just trying to put together a good combination for myself realizing everyone has their own personal preference. Gone are the days of the portable terminal and 1200 baud modem.

Box account swapping is easier to do on mobile than on the website via laptop. The mobile app saves all the login info...thats how you can switch between them with one click. I don't know if the website allows that.

 

[zorak950]

I just use Google Drive, for no reason other than it's convenient since I already use Google's other services.

 

[RumoredNow]

Both + remote copy on the PC.

Depends on how "irreplaceable" it is deemed.

 

[bembol]

Local, microSD & External HDD.

It's more convenient, easier to access and cheaper, meaning I don't need data or waste my battery.

 

[raj72616a]

both local and cloud. dropbox and other cloud storages make it easy to sync them anyway.