The cloud

[Berne]

Hi All,

Id like to share with you all THAT.....after more than ten years of computer hobbying....and many crashes and lost data, that the only way to store your data safely and securely.... is by using an online file storage facility.

It can be done for free.....just search for free online data storage.....

Now...when your computer crashes with all you data lost OR....your computer is stolen....OR....your house is victim to a Tornado, YOU will still have all your data safely stored in the CLOUD.

Hope this helps many,

Berne

 

[zir_blazer]

Safe maybe, because these storage providers should be able to provide the redundancy required to make sure that no data is lost (Unless the ocassional "mistakes" that cost a wipe or so). Now... secure? With all the fuzz going around with data surveillance programs like PRISM, I don't know what could people be thinking by uploading personal data to the Internet. Its literally handing them over all of it voluntarily. So I just raise the middle finger to the cloud, specifically for any data that is not for third parties to see.

On computer crashes you usually just lose the data that you were working on, most applications these days got autosave features anyways. The only three real risk is data corruption on some rare crashes (Used to be more often on the W9x and FAT32 days), a Hard Disk that dies, and a theft. You just need two or three extra physical copies on things like Pendrives that you can hide, with files password protected.

 

[ch33zw1z]

ugh, the "cloud". It's your choice, but it's not longer "your" data.

 

[Concillian]

Yep, if you have your data in the cloud and you have a failure, you can just call the NSA to get a backup copy.

What I have isn't worth much to anyone but me, but it is mine, and I'll keep it that way by maintaining my own three tiered backup strategy.

Any cloud services that are "free" are costing you something. It may not be money (directly), but it's costing you something. It's also a common strategy offer an extended "free" period to get you hooked on their implementation, then your dealer, I mean service provider, takes away the free and you start paying.

 

[XavierMace]

I would also say if you are having that much trouble with data loss, you are doing something horribly wrong.

 

[Torn Mind]

The cloud is nothing more than a bunch of computers connected to each other over a giant network with data stored on hard drives. Granted, web servers have enterprise grade drives(i.e Constellation ES) or drives slightly more resilient than their consumer counterparts., i.e Constellation CS, and have more expensive ways to protect their data, but they are still vulnerable to data loss.

Yes, a natural disaster such as a flood or tornado would wreck a hard drive to the point it is helpless, but losing data from crashes should not be happening with a UPS and "disconnected" backups on tape or external hard disks.

Look at imageshack. THeir servers suck and losing pictures that you don't monitor happens all the time with them. You even have to pay them for backup.

 

[DaveSimmons]

"Free"? Ha!

I have over 300 GB of lossless FLAC files ripped from my CD collection. No reliable service is going to let me store that much data long-term for free.

I have a collection of 500 GB - 1 TB drives to back up those files and other ones that I care about, because reliable cloud storage would be ~$30-50 a month.

(With Amazon Glacier I could now do "ofline" storage for about $3-5 month, with no online access.)

 

[Blain]

Yes, a natural disaster such as a flood or tornado would wreck a hard drive to the point it is helpless, but losing data from crashes should not be happening with a UPS and "disconnected" backups on tape or external hard disks.

Define "disconnected" that would keep an external HD safe from flood or tornado such as you mentioned above.
I would add fire into that disaster mix also, since it's a fairly common disaster that can strike anywhere.

 

[Railgun]

...the only way to store your data safely and securely.... is by using an online file storage facility.

No it's not.

Everyone, take off your colander hats.

 

[Zxian]

"Free"? Ha!

I have over 300 GB of lossless FLAC files ripped from my CD collection. No reliable service is going to let me store that much data long-term for free.

I have a collection of 500 GB - 1 TB drives to back up those files and other ones that I care about, because reliable cloud storage would be ~$30-50 a month.

(With Amazon Glacier I could now do "ofline" storage for about $3-5 month, with no online access.)

Actually, Crashplan would let you backup all of that data for $5/month. Data is encrypted before uploading using 448 bit encryption. Not free, but the price of a cup of coffee every month. I've got 250GB uploaded to their servers and counting.

 

[Carson Dyle]

People have been successfully formulating and using backup solutions since well before the "cloud" ever existed. I don't know why it's so difficult for so many.

 

[Berne]

In the extreme....What about a 2lb hammer!

Gotta backup your data safely....all tangible methods can be lost.....we all hope those massvie server silos last for a long long time !

Some good replies people,

Berne

 

[zir_blazer]

In the extreme....What about a 2lb hammer!

Gotta backup your data safely....all tangible methods can be lost.....we all hope those massvie server silos last for a long long time !

Some good replies people,

Berne

Exactly. All tangible methods can be lost. What makes you think than "the cloud" is intagible, or that at the bare least is housed at a bunker with nukes, tornados, and earthquake protection?

http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/11/15/hangame-mmo-accidentally-deleted-shut-down-forever/
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cloud-computing-users-losing-data-205500612.html
http://www.pcworld.com/article/215365/hotmail_data_loss_reveals_cloud_trust_issues.html
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/5/9/technology/data-loss-reality-check

 

[XavierMace]

What makes you think than "the cloud" is intagible

Because it's the cloud. It's like everywhere.

 

[nusyo]

A good business practice is to keep a set of physical backup off-site anyway.

cloud :thumbsdown:

 

[aigomorla]

In the extreme....What about a 2lb hammer!

Berne

i dont even want to ask what and why a 2lb hammer came crashing onto hard drives...

But you know there are other options like something called a RAID-1 NAS.

And its a TON of a lot FASTER then a internet Cloud.

Give me 100mbit transfer upload rate... then i MIGHT consider online storage.

 

[Lorne]

100mbit would still be to slow for me, It would take days to get my friends and I own crap back, And not even talking the pron collection.
I myself keep critical info on BR or DVD and everything else on assorted HDD.
Dupes and its the best protections you can get.

Cloud is slow, Can be costly, Can be unreliable in some cases and if the company goes belly-up your crap goes home with somone else.
Its good for if you want multi location access.

 

[ch33zw1z]

100mbit would still be to slow for me, It would take days to get my friends and I own crap back, And not even talking the pron collection.
I myself keep critical info on BR or DVD and everything else on assorted HDD.
Dupes and its the best protections you can get.

Cloud is slow, Can be costly, Can be unreliable in some cases and if the company goes belly-up your crap goes home with somone else.
Its good for if you want multi location access.

You forgot to mention that your data is now the governments.

 

[corkyg]

In order to get data to the cloud, does it not have to be transmitted over the Internet? That makes it available to intercept. I prefer dupe drives, one of which will be in my safe deposit box. If it gets "nuked," so will I and I'll no longer have a need for it.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I have to admit, I'm loving Dropbox. I have four computers and I can sit down at any one of them (or take one with me) and I have access to 95% of my important files. But I _don't_ consider it to be a backup of any kind. Instead, I religiously backup the dropbox on my backup server and on an external drive that is stored off site.

 

[AdamK47]

"The Cloud" is just another term used in an attempt to dumb down the Internet. It really doesn't need any help.

 

[_Rick_]

If I lose my house, losing my data is among the least of my worries, to be quite honest.
If I do ever run into data, that would be more painful to lose, than losing all my other possessions, well, I have access to a cheap VM, with a few 100GB of storage, automated system backups, etc, for that kind of stuff.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I dunno.... I have literally thousands of man-hours invested in my files. It's not just about how critical the data is, but what it took to create it. I have thousands of digital photos that can't be replaced. I have software that I've written. I have my music collection, painstakingly ripped from over 1000 CDs and meticulously tagged.

If my house burns down, I can replace the furniture, the TVs and stereo systems, computers, kitchenware, clothing, even much of the artwork. Yeah, it will be a huge PITA, and listening to music will be the least of my worries for a while, but I do NOT want to spend years attempting to duplicate the work that went into creating and maintaining those files. Apart from some things like irreplaceable photos and a handful of documents like my birth certificate (kept in a safe-deposit box anyway) I can't think of many things more valuable to me than those files.

 

[lillyandrew]

Yeah it's cloud but then our personal data is not ours so its better to had USB or else to store our data & its ours & safe.

 

[Remobz]

My slow 2mb internet connection makes the cloud more or less useless for me.

Gonna buy a portable usb WD passport to back up files now.