Which Cloud Based Storage Provider Is Best For You

Don”t forget that cloud based storage is different from cloud services. With cloud storage, you are simply renting space on a server that is accessible to you and whomever you give permission to. Cloud services include processing capabilities that are not guaranteed with a cloud storage subscription.

How much are you willing to pay?

It”s important to know that a lot of cloud services offer one gigabyte or more for free. If you are looking for a place to stash your files to make them more easily accessible over having them on a hard drive, then one gigabyte may be all you need and you will not have to pay. Even if you want your employees to have their own space online, you can set up free cloud storage for them in their name and it won”t cost you a penny.

If you are looking for a larger storage space, then you may have to pay a subscription. Find out what each cloud service offers for their fees. Just because a cloud service offers lower prices, it doesn”t mean you are getting a bad deal. They may simply have fewer servers or offer higher prices the further up their subscription tiers you go.

You cannot be 100% sure of security, so do all you can yourself

The breach on iCloud is the most famous security breach in terms of Cloud services, but it is not the only one. Five of the biggest cloud services, including Apple iCloud, have had security breaches.

The trick is to follow all the advice the cloud services give you concerning security. They include changing defaults, having strong passwords and removing permissions straight away from people that you no longer wish to have access to your files. Here is a list of the top five Cloud services that have had bigger security breaches (Cloud Security Breaches).

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Where is the data kept?

Cloud servers may have your information mirrored across multiple servers. It may be up to you to find out where your information will be kept and if the country in which they have their servers is safe and stable. You may also like to ask, or find out, what they plan to do if your data is lost, be it through your own actions or the actions of the cloud services.

How quickly can you upload and download?

This is a big question if you typically have a lot of data to transfer at one time. For example, if you are building software, you may have to upload larger files to share with your co-workers and/or programming team/friends. Obviously, things are going to download and upload faster if you have fibre optic broadband, but the cloud service itself plays a part in upload and download speeds. For example, many cloud services will detect your location and have your information sent to the nearest server. On a similar note, you may want to ask about their downtime history and not their promises regarding downtime for the future. There is nothing worse than trying to upload or download and being unable to access your cloud service. It is annoying, frustrating and can waste a lot of time.