After recommendations for use with Apple devices, don't mind paying but I cloud is a pi$$ take and just cloud I have found to be particularly useless

Go on suggestions.....

I'd only ever cloud store stuff I didn't mind losing. For everything else, back-up, then back-up, then again for good measure.

I've been looking at running my own cloud 'server' based at home. But nothing conclusive from my research as yet...

Just bought a WD MY Cloud, well impressed got everything backed up and can view all my pictures (over 12000) anywhere on my iPhone.

Also has all my music on it and works great with Sonos as I can play any of my tunes using my phone.

I have a google drive account and a dropbox account. It's convenient and easy, but I'm thinking of just plugging a USB hard drive into my router at home instead. I would feel more secure that way, for sure.

I'd only ever cloud store stuff I didn't mind losing. For everything else, back-up, then back-up, then again for good measure.

 

Cloud isn't secure and it isn't particularly safe no matter what you've been told or what the adverts say.

 

Just like Lee says it's good for storing large amounts of unimportant stuff non-sensitive stuff.

 

If anything has value then you need to encrypt before you upload and back up locally.

 

There are really only 3 real cloud providers, AMazon (EC2), Salesforce.com and one other I can never remember. Everyone else is sub-letting from them unless they are specialist provider (like BrightSolid).

It's mainly photos, what's this about plugging into a router??

It's mainly photos, what's this about plugging into a router??

 

My router from TalkTalk has a USB port in the back that you can use to plug a hard drive into. Not sure if I need extra software to access it, or if you just map a network drive. I'll ask on the TT forums and report back.

dropbox?

 

never had any issues, I also use MS Skydrive Pro for work

Dropbox - 8.6Gb,

Copy - 27Gb,

Google Drive - 25Gb,

Box - 50Gb,

BT Cloud - 50Gb,

Skydrive - 7Gb,

UbuntuONE - 5Gb

 

Google Play Music - 18469 tracks (107Gb so far!) 

 

Never had a problem with any of them!

Crashplan

I don't trust any cloud provider at all, I use iCloud to backup my iphone and ipod and sync data such as bookmarks between iOS and OSX, no documents are stored in icloud. All my own data (photos, music, documents) are all held locally. I backup the data to three external HDDs, and these are all kept in different places away from my house.

 

What happens for example if google discontinue their music product,  or your dropbox is hacked and data deleted, or the provider of your choice gets closed down? You lose the data, be that music, photos, documents etc.

 

I have nearly 1TB of data, and to store that in the cloud is not practical.

If it really mattered and you just wanted a rarely accessed but safe copy, then I'd suggest:

 

http://www.arkivum.com

 

However that's not really aimed at the small home use.

 

For home users, I'd say keep some local copies and some copies in at least 2 cloud providers.

Ideally a physical copy off site with a trusted party too.

I'm not relying on a cloud just using it as a means to gather all my iPad iPod iPhone and wife's I phone together, I can then use my lap top periodically to put them on a HDD

The bonus being that it does it as I go. I can then access the cloud via lap top onto the HDD without everything going through I tunes!

Anyway went with amazon and for £32 I get the 100gb allowance which for photos is pleanty and the app and OS seem quite good

 100gb allowance which for photos is pleanty and the app and OS seem quite good

 

You obviously don't take many photos :-)

 

I currently have around 2 Tb worth 

You obviously don't take many photos :-)

 

I currently have around 2 Tb worth 

I know that feeling!

Jesus that's military grade tech!!!!!!

Na this does me nicely

For mobiles your looking at the usual "consumer" storage platforms (Dropbox, icloud, Google Drive, Skydrive etc)

 

Which you choose would really depend on your other hardware.

I use dropbox as i got 50gb free storage with my SGS3 and the apps are pretty good. auto photo upload etc.

 

For more serious stuff (ie computer backups) Crashplan is very popular - i know people who are syncing several terabytes on their unlimited plan.

 

For the geek (like me) Amazon S3 and Glacier FTW

I store drawings and cad data that are too big to email on the cloud and share them with specific clients but have noticed a lot of folks using dropbox to share data with me so may start using that now. Also any drawings or cad models I'm working on at home that I need to access at work I store on the cloud but I always keep a back up locally and on a memory stick.

My router from TalkTalk has a USB port in the back that you can use to plug a hard drive into. Not sure if I need extra software to access it, or if you just map a network drive. I'll ask on the TT forums and report back.

Exactly as the TalkTalk forum described, the hard drive plugged into the router appears, with no extra software, under "network" in Explorer.

At work we block access to all cloud storage from our network, since it can be used to leak confidential data from our network. Having to comply with PSN security standards has its advantages, the CESG have rules we must obide by. They classify all cloud storage as insecure, since you have no control over the data or who can access it.

At work we block access to all cloud storage from our network, since it can be used to leak confidential data from our network. Having to comply with PSN security standards has its advantages, the CESG have rules we must obide by. They classify all cloud storage as insecure, since you have no control over the data or who can access it.

 

 

Ditto although we're regularly forced to allow Dropbox by external agencies who insist on it.

 

There are a couple of BIL2 accredited services for files shareing, and one BIL3 (Huddle). A few others are being accredited at BIL3 right now.

 

On the PSN despite having worked on it both locally and nationally and fought the PSNA and Cabinet Office non-stop since May, attended meetings in Edinburgh and London to the extent where the Cabinet Office phoned me and asked me to stop making trouble, got us through our accreditation whilst advising 30+ other organisations at the same time. Our IT dept have insisted on having my role in all this removed from all reports that go to higher management because it makes them look bad. However they've put themselves forward for an award for achieving PSN compliance.

 

I'm not bitter noooo