[null]

I am using these cloud hosted storage offerings for some time now, but am very reluctant to store any confidential information on the cloud as of now. Also, I am put off by the "not so easy" working capabilities compared to the storage on your local desktop.

I would like them to provide
a) drive mapping (like how drivehq provides for example) - map your cloud drive to say, z:\ and you can use it like your local folder with windows explorer and the local apps like MS office and Adobe and oracle etc (not just MS i mean to say) on your computer instead of their apps with ease
b) drive level & file level encryption to prevent any misuse. Currently, I encrypt them manually with filesafe (one of the many encryption utilities on the internet), one by one, and upload.. I would like a easy integration of this feature in my desktop client.
c) Backup/restoration capabilities: I don't use any commercial service yet, so don't know the policies/pricing. As of now, I manually maintain the important information(like IT returns etc) at two different places. But maintaining consistency across 2 drives is always a pain. It would help if some tools/scripts take care of the synchronisation across drives for targeted files/folders.

I am not sure if any of these providers offer these capabilities.

Pl. do list the various tools/utilities which are being used by you for managing your data on the cloud.

[GTO]

Great discussion, thanks for participating guys.

I'm giving into Google Drive for three reasons:

1. Already part of the Google Ecosystem.

2. Ability to read & edit files online.

3. 5 GB free (vs Dropbox' 2 GB). Plus, that 25 GB gmail box is tempting (when I want to upgrade storage).

Typical of Google products though, I've already spotted a bug in <24 hours. It leads to windows explorer crashing all the time. Apparently, a known bug that Google still hasn't solved. Google's recommendation : Switch the file sync status icon off. If I spot more bugs, I'm switching to Dropbox.

Originally Posted by Rehaan;2910764Dropbox uses file deltas and such to [I

only[/i] upload changed parts of a file. I think google drive does this too.

AFAIK, Google Drive doesn't. Read it on the Truecrypt forums where folk were complaining that the smallest change requires the full 4 GB container to be uploaded again.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

If you do not immediate retrieval, do take a look at Amazon Glacier. Works out very cheap

Only the amazon.com store is for laymen. Their web services (AWS etc.) are way too complicated for someone looking at basic functionality, easy set up and user friendliness. Glacier doesn't seem to be for people like me.

Originally Posted by null

As of now, I manually maintain the important information(like IT returns etc) at two different places. But maintaining consistency across 2 drives is always a pain. It would help if some tools/scripts take care of the synchronisation across drives for targeted files/folders.

Please download secondcopy.com and set up multiple profiles to do exactly what you want. I can't recommend this wonderful software enough (have been using it since 5+ years). Simple, no bugs and does what it's supposed to. Enough said.

IIRC, the trial version allows you to create / edit profiles only for 30 days (but you can use it for as long as you want). I've gotten the paid full-feature version.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by GTO

Only the amazon.com store is for laymen. Their web services (AWS etc.) are way too complicated for someone looking at basic functionality, easy set up and user friendliness. Glacier doesn't seem to be for people like me.

For laymen, this is the best
http://www.backblaze.com/index-k.htm...xpid=5089566-5

Less than 5$/month, and will backup multiple computers

[nishantgandhi]

I use Dropbox primarily to share documents and MP3s. I like that it has a resident app for Ubuntu, pretty much integrated in the file system and you can seamlessly drag/copy files to/from that folder. However, I find Dropbox very slow in sync despite the 512 kbps upload I have. Also, the initial storage of 2 GB is very very less.

By the way, there is an awesome cloud storage for Ubuntu users, called Ubuntu One. It gives you 5 GB to begin with and has a seamless integration from 12.04 version onwards. I use that as my backup storage but since it is new, there are some sync issues that need to be ironed out.

Other than that, I have tried using Google Drive and quite liked its ease of use.

Worst in my experience was Microsoft Skydrive. As recent as an hour back, I was trying to upload an MP3 by the filename - 'Beastie Boys - Heres A Little Something For Ya' and it does not do so! Reason - Please enter a name that doesnt include any special characters, or begin or end with "."

This is SO LAME!

[download2live]

I intially started with google drive.
But now I have migrated to DropBox.

Reasons:
1. Google Drive used to crash too many times. Maybe the fact that I am still using XP is a factor.

2. Google Drive is not available yet on Linux.

3. There were times when Google Drive simply declared the file unsyncable. Might be because of editing which I used to do on same machine on Linux as well as Windows. My machine is a dual boot.

[Tats07]

I have been using Google Drive for a while, but thinking of switching, so this discussion greatly helps.

Pros with Drive:
1. Extremely easy to use
2. Installation on a PC provides a folder on the HD, which syncs when online
3. Accessible from Windows PC, as well as Android devices (phone/tablets etc.)

Cons with Drive:
1. My Android devices crash frequently, especially S2; however, my Windows explorer doesn't crash at all, unlike reported here. Maybe it's something to do with the RAM?
2. It doesn't work with Ubuntu (or I guess with Linux).
3. I have also had problems in installing Drive on a Windows Virtual Machine environment with Ubuntu as the host OS. Haven't found a fix yet.

[GTO]

*Update*

Public Poll has been added to this thread.

[ethanhunt123]

I have found dropbox to be the simplest to use - just install clients on Mac/Windows/Android/iOS and it does the rest.

Google Drive is also something i would try once i run out of space on dropbox.

[hellmet]

Originally Posted by null

But maintaining consistency across 2 drives is always a pain. It would help if some tools/scripts take care of the synchronisation across drives for targeted files/folders.

I installed Cygwin along with rsync and backup my huge music collection from my laptop to an external hard disk once every few days using a simple command that runs from a batch file on my desktop:

rsync -av --delete /cygdrive/d/Music/ /cygdrive/g/Music/

This copy is incremental and sync is very fast.


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I use dropbox to backup my documents. What I did is I set the dropbox folder as my default documents folder in Windows7, so now I don't have to drag and drop files anymore. One sorely missing feature on all these cloud storage services is the ability to use a STOP function on sync from all devices. You should be able to set a "Master" device that will be doing all the uploading, and "read-only" for some devices.


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[harjeev]

I know that it may sound a bit foolish/ kiddish but I'm using both. In the sense that I've created the GOOGLE DRIVE as a sub-folder within DROPBOX main folder on my PC.
I save all my (word/ excel/ pdf) documents in the GOOGLEDRIVE Sub-Folder which gives me the advantage of using them through google documents on the web and on my smartphone and also has the advantages of having the subfolder in DROPBOX too.

If I were to chose only one, I would choose DROPBOX as my preferred choice due to the ease of use and I've become very comfortable with the settings.

[hurricanes]

I'm using both Google Drive and Drop Box

Both are great but I am more into Google drive as I am already a part of its Ecosystem. I feel Google Drive has only two advantages over Dropbox
1) A greater variety of sharing options
2) Online editing of its own document types and previews of many others. (it can open upto 30 different types of files right inside your browser)

That being said, Dropbox is good too. In our office, we use DropBox and I personally use Google Drive.

[skartik2]

I am a sugarsync user, happy with the performance, price and service.

[vinu_h]

I find Skydrive to be a lot more convenient and user friendly than Google and Dropbox. I have Windows installed on my work and home laptop. Hotmail is my primary email and I skype a bit, so Microsoft - One stop shop.

[MotoNanu]

I am using all the three: Skydrive (being on WP, it's easy), Dropbox (cross platform sync: I operate between MS/ iOS/ WP) and Google Drive (love it for the editing feature).
Also, sometimes I do use iCloud too, but it's more of a compulsion than choice
I personally like Dropbox due to the cross platform compatibility and it's ability to interface with so many other apps. As someone has written before, even I have created my SkyDrive folder within the Dropbox folder.
I recently read that Google has enabled content to be saved to Drive directly:https://chrome.google.com/webstore/d...ofipeabaddhgne
There is one more app called CloudOn which basically allows to access DropBox/ Google Drive/ Box through single app and also enables editing
The interface is not completely satisfactory but the idea is good.

[MotoNanu]

Just found this article discussing the exact topic: (Source: Tech Radar)
http://www.techradar.com/news/intern...icloud-1120024