data-insurance mini-follow-up
So a few of you commented about my last post (re: would insurance cover lost paid-for-data such as non-redownable mp3s or e-books). One idea I promised myself to re-examine was that of cloud-storage for the purposes of backing up critical data.
Two of the options I've looked at so far:
Ubuntu One: https://one.ubuntu.com
Ubuntu, back with the 9.10 release, launched their own cloud storage solution. You get 2 gigs free, and can upgrade to 50gigs for $10 USD/month. There's no bandwidth fees. Files can be set to be private, public, etc. Using one of many apps that support it (and the Ubuntu OS itself) you can automatically sync select files. Files are stored unencrypted, but may be encrypted for no charge. Though obviously Ubuntu is a linux company, the services work across any OS and via most web browsers.
I've used this at home a little and the clean integration with the desktop is very nice, it'll even integrate with the Ubuntu version of notepad, and email programs like Thunderbird. Biggest downside to this service is that it caps at 50gigs of storage. That may seem like a lot (it *is* a lot), but when you add up a healthy collection of mp3s, videos and photos you can beat that cap pretty fast. 50 gigs is roughly the same storage capacity as about seven DVD-ROMs. There is, apparently, no way to go beyond that 50gig - you'd have to open a second account.
Amazon S3 (http://aws.amazon.com/s3)
[disclaimer: I am an amazon employee]
Amazon's S3 "simple storage" solution shares a lot of the same features in terms of ease of access, sharing of files, etc. S3 has a much higher standard for data integrity and server uptime. They also give you options in terms of what data-center(s) you'd like to use - something that can have an impact on you if you're moving a lot of files and what a data center that's closer to you.
Amazon's pricing scheme is a little more flexible, but can rapidly get pretty expensive. Storage for the firs 50 Tb (that's T-byes, not G-bytes) is 10 to 15 cents per gig per month (depending on the level of redundancy you need). For something that matches that Ubuntu One offering, at the highest tier of reliability, you'll only pay $7.50/month. What's the catch? You also have to pay for data transfer. It's not a lot. That 50 gigs will only cost you a couple of gigs to upload and just a little more to download.
Web Hosting (various)
Another option on the table is just to register a domain name and get some hosting space at one of a gazillion web hosts. IPower, the one that currently hosts fastrat.org, offers unlimited storage and unlimited bandwidth for less thatn $6/month (for a 12-month contract), and I know this deal is in no way unique. They do lack some functionality - getting files up/down is more challenging. If you don't know what you're doing, you'll expose all of your files to the entire Internet and some hosts freak if you start storing a lot of mp3s, or other 'hot' file types. Though all hosts advertise high-reliability and up-time, I have yet to see one make the level of claims offered by Amazon, et al. But still, for that price, it's a really viable looking alternative.
One thing none of this takes into account is that your ISP may have issues with you shifting 50+ gigs over a weekend. Almost every ISP has some form of data-cap and depending on your needs, this may take a healthy chunk out of that. Something to keep in mind.
Not sure what I'll go with - all three options have some advantages and disadvantages. I did want to share what information I'd found though.
Two of the options I've looked at so far:
Ubuntu One: https://one.ubuntu.com
Ubuntu, back with the 9.10 release, launched their own cloud storage solution. You get 2 gigs free, and can upgrade to 50gigs for $10 USD/month. There's no bandwidth fees. Files can be set to be private, public, etc. Using one of many apps that support it (and the Ubuntu OS itself) you can automatically sync select files. Files are stored unencrypted, but may be encrypted for no charge. Though obviously Ubuntu is a linux company, the services work across any OS and via most web browsers.
I've used this at home a little and the clean integration with the desktop is very nice, it'll even integrate with the Ubuntu version of notepad, and email programs like Thunderbird. Biggest downside to this service is that it caps at 50gigs of storage. That may seem like a lot (it *is* a lot), but when you add up a healthy collection of mp3s, videos and photos you can beat that cap pretty fast. 50 gigs is roughly the same storage capacity as about seven DVD-ROMs. There is, apparently, no way to go beyond that 50gig - you'd have to open a second account.
Amazon S3 (http://aws.amazon.com/s3)
[disclaimer: I am an amazon employee]
Amazon's S3 "simple storage" solution shares a lot of the same features in terms of ease of access, sharing of files, etc. S3 has a much higher standard for data integrity and server uptime. They also give you options in terms of what data-center(s) you'd like to use - something that can have an impact on you if you're moving a lot of files and what a data center that's closer to you.
Amazon's pricing scheme is a little more flexible, but can rapidly get pretty expensive. Storage for the firs 50 Tb (that's T-byes, not G-bytes) is 10 to 15 cents per gig per month (depending on the level of redundancy you need). For something that matches that Ubuntu One offering, at the highest tier of reliability, you'll only pay $7.50/month. What's the catch? You also have to pay for data transfer. It's not a lot. That 50 gigs will only cost you a couple of gigs to upload and just a little more to download.
Web Hosting (various)
Another option on the table is just to register a domain name and get some hosting space at one of a gazillion web hosts. IPower, the one that currently hosts fastrat.org, offers unlimited storage and unlimited bandwidth for less thatn $6/month (for a 12-month contract), and I know this deal is in no way unique. They do lack some functionality - getting files up/down is more challenging. If you don't know what you're doing, you'll expose all of your files to the entire Internet and some hosts freak if you start storing a lot of mp3s, or other 'hot' file types. Though all hosts advertise high-reliability and up-time, I have yet to see one make the level of claims offered by Amazon, et al. But still, for that price, it's a really viable looking alternative.
One thing none of this takes into account is that your ISP may have issues with you shifting 50+ gigs over a weekend. Almost every ISP has some form of data-cap and depending on your needs, this may take a healthy chunk out of that. Something to keep in mind.
Not sure what I'll go with - all three options have some advantages and disadvantages. I did want to share what information I'd found though.