Cloud storage online. Which cloud storage to choose
In this article we will talk about the best cloud storage systems of 2017 that will allow you to store your information remotely, conveniently and securely.
For some computer owners, finding enough space to store all the data they have purchased is a real challenge. Some people invest in larger hard drives. Others prefer external storage devices such as flash drives or CDs. Desperate computer owners may delete entire folders of old files to make room for new information. But some choose to rely on the growing trend - cloud storage.
Although cloud storage sounds like it is associated with weather fronts and storm systems, it really refers to storing data on a third-party storage system maintained by a third party. Instead of storing information on your computer's hard drive or other local storage device, you store it in a remote database. The Internet provides communication between your computer and the database.
What is the difference between cloud storage and hard drive?
Cloud storage has a number of advantages over traditional data storage. For example, if you store data in a cloud storage system, you can retrieve that data from anywhere you have internet access. You don't need to carry a physical storage device with you or use the same computer to save and retrieve your information. With the right storage system, you could even allow other people to access the data.
So, cloud storage is convenient and offers great flexibility, but how do you choose it?
The best cloud storage services of 2017
Dropbox - cross-platform and convenient
is one of the only services that offers clients work on Linux and Blackberry, along with conventional operating systems such as Windows, Mac OS X, Android, iOS and Windows Phone.
The latest update adds the ability to sign PDFs directly from Dropbox, as well as some iOS-specific features like sharing files in iMessage and watching videos from Dropbox while working in another app on your iPad.
The free account comes with a measly 2GB. This is a lot for documents, but if you want to store any media files, then you will need more space. You can upgrade to the 1TB plan for RUB 600 per month, but Dropbox offers 500 MB of additional free space for each friend you invite to the Dropbox service. But for a free account there is a storage limit of 16 GB.
You can get another 1GB by setting up a mailbox account, and you'll get 250MB for learning the basics of Dropbox. If you enable the camera upload feature, you will get 3GB and automatically back up your smartphone and tablet photos to the cloud. We've seen situations where users received 50 GB of storage on Dropbox for two years.
Dropbox works on the same principle as other cloud storage services. It creates a specially designated folder on your disk, which is then synchronized with the service. Therefore, if you want to upload any file to a cloud storage service, you just need to transfer it. But on smartphones and PDAs the process is a little different: you can select files for offline access on your tablet or smartphone (they're all offline by default), and offline editing is some of the best we've seen.
Folders and files can also be shared with other users, but you cannot set permissions for a Basic account, so your files can be edited and deleted not only by you, but also by other users of this service. The basic account isn't a complete disaster, though, since Dropbox backs up any changes to files for 30 days.
If you pay 600 rubles per month, you will automatically receive a Dropbox Pro account, which will allow you to manage files and rights to them.
Verdict on Dropbox - Should I use it or not?
Dropbox is the best service of its kind and has many competitors. But nevertheless, he is the only one who takes first place in terms of convenience, comfort and cross-platform functionality, which is very important and necessary today.
Microsoft OneDrive is convenient, accessible and native for Windows users
From Microsoft is a cloud storage service for Windows users as it is built into Windows 10. However, the basic account only offers 5GB of free storage. This is enough for some people, but 15GB was previously available. Of course, there are paid plans that offer 50 GB of memory for just 150 rubles per month. And if you pay for the Office 365 Personal application for 4,200 rubles per year, you will automatically receive 1 TB of space.
OneDrive uses Microsoft's modern user interface design. Folders and files can be created online, including in Office and OneNote formats, through limited integration with Office Online. Selective sync was introduced with Windows 10, meaning you don't have to have all your OneDrive files taking up space on every laptop and PC.
There is also a feature that allows you to remotely access files on another computer through the OneDrive website. It should be noted that Microsoft reserves the right to inspect your files for anything it deems inappropriate. These may be copyrighted materials or items of an explicit nature.
Verdict on Microsoft OneDrive - To use or not?
If you're a Windows user, it makes sense to sign up for a free 5GB account, and if you're willing to spend a little, at least RUB 150 per month for 50GB, then this service is for you.
Google Drive is a great storage service from Google
Just as OneDrive connects to Microsoft products and iCloud connects to Apple, Google Drive is at the heart of the various online services that Google offers. You definitely should try it!
You get 15GB of free storage when you create a Google account—or link to an existing one. In fact, you already have a Google account if you use Gmail, Google Calendar, or even YouTube.
Storage space is shared between all of these services, so if you have large email attachments, they'll count at 15GB, and turning on automatic photo backup to Google+ from your smartphone will be the same.
Google used restrictions that you can upload photos no larger than 2048x2048 pixels, and videos no longer than fifteen minutes.
Google Drive works the same way as most storage services, with a local folder on your computer linked to a duplicate cloud version. Version control is supported, as well as real-time collaboration on documents using the Google Docs application. Clients are available on PC and Mac, with mobile versions for Android and iOS.
Overall, the app's interface is quite smart and easy to navigate. You can choose files to be available offline in mobile versions, and they can be edited if they were created in Google Docs and then synced when brought back online. For other formats (such as Word), you need to open them in another application - this creates a duplicate.
Data stored on Google Drive, like Apple's, is encrypted in 128-bit AES rather than the 256-bit used by Box, OneDrive and Dropbox. Google says it won't search the contents of your information folder unless forced by law enforcement, and you can set up two-step verification on your account to add another layer of security.
Verdict on Google Drive - To use or not?
If you live in the Google universe, then this is a really great option for storing your information.
Mega - New Zealand storage service
Mega is a New Zealand company created in 2013 by German-born entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, who is no longer related to it
Unlike some of its competitors, this service provides encryption in every part of the process. This way, everything you send to the cloud is encrypted locally, along the route, and at the destination server.
Mega itself has no way to access your information since you hold the encryption key. The upshot of all this is that anything you store on Mega can only be opened by you. There are local clients for this for Windows, OS X and Linux, and there are also plugins for the Chrome and Firefox browsers. Applications are available for all modern operating systems.
The standard free package provides a whopping 50GB of storage. If that's not enough, you can purchase 500 GB for 6,000 rubles per year, 2 TB (12,000 rubles per year) or 4 TB (18,000 rubles per year) and increase your bandwidth with each package so you can share files with friends and colleagues.
Verdict on Mega - To use or not?
Featuring a generous free account, fast service, cross-platform appeal, and reliable service experience. Mega is a very good choice for most people looking for an online storage service for their information.
PCloud - get 10 GB for registration
Opening a new pCloud account will give you 10GB of free storage (double the OneDrive and five basic Dropbox offerings). The storage can be increased up to 20GB by completing various activities such as recommending friends (1GB per person), completing a tutorial (3GB) and various social media links, but the real temptation is the very reasonable prices of the larger storage options. For example, 500 GB will cost you about 200 rubles per month, while 2 TB (Premium Plus plan) can be purchased for 400 rubles per month. Among other things, there are clients available for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android, and you can also access your account through the website. The iPhone recently introduced a handy auto-delete feature that deletes photos from your phone after they've been copied to the cloud.
There are import options that can automatically transfer files from other cloud services, including Dropbox and Google Drive, which is handy when switching from one or just for an extra backup of important files.
As with all online storage, you can share your content with friends or colleagues by sending links or allowing access to folders and documents. They also provide permissions so you can determine whether someone can edit or just view the file. One good option for sharing information is a download link.
One of the most specialized features of pCloud is the folder Crypto Folder, in which you can place files that you want to protect from prying eyes, be it hackers or certain government agencies. The contents of this folder are encrypted locally on your device, and even pCloud employees will not be able to read it without your key.
Verdict on PCloud - To use or not?
PCloud plays well with other cloud storage providers, is easy to use, and offers plenty of free storage space, as well as very competitive rates for larger capacities. The Crypto folders option for security is also a nice feature, especially since it doesn't require encrypting the entire drive. Therefore, you should try this service.
Well, today we looked at the best cloud storage services for 2017. So now you need to make your choice.
Video: Cloud Technologies - Comparison
Various information storage services have been very popular among users from all over the world for quite some time.
And this is not at all surprising, because such services are extremely convenient.
They allow you not to use the physical memory that is on your computer, phone, tablet, flash drive or any other storage medium, but to download everything to such storages.
By the way, they are also called cloud ones.
This name is due to the fact that the user, having a login and password, can use data from storage on all of his devices.
This feature is a big help for anyone who is constantly running out of memory and cannot expand it.
In addition, these repositories can be accessed by several users at once.
This means that now a person does not need to dump information onto a flash drive and go with it to his friend to download the necessary files to him.
Now you just need to upload everything to the information storage service and simply send a link to a specific file to your friend.
Among such services there are those that have very extensive functionality.
Some of them are installed on a computer and give the user the opportunity to use the storage as a regular hard drive.
This means that he will see the same folders that he usually sees, but all the information will not be on the hard drive, but on the “cloud” (on a distant server).
But there are also services that are a simple site where you can upload a file and receive a link, without any downloaded files and folders on your computer.
The first ones are called cloud storages, and the second ones are called file sharing services.
Benefits of use
So, any information storage service makes it possible to store all information not on a hard drive or any removable storage device, but on a distant server.
The advantages of this approach are quite obvious and are as follows:
- If these are cloud storages, the user will be able to use all files very conveniently and quickly. In Figure 1 we can see an example of using clouds from mail.ru. In each folder, the corresponding inscription is displayed on the right side (highlighted in red).
By clicking on it, we find ourselves in a folder with files. It looks exactly the same as any other folder. And you can edit all the information in the same way. But, as we understand, all this is on the server, in this case, from mail.ru.
- Files can be accessed from different devices by different users who have access. This already applies to both types of storage.
- In the case of the cloud, editing information on one device will be reflected equally on all others that have access.
- Information is uploaded to the server very quickly.
- Doesn't take up memory on all your devices. Accordingly, information does not clog up memory and does not slow down the operation of devices (usually, when too many files accumulate, this greatly slows down the operation of computers and gadgets in general).
Of course, you have to pay something for such services. Actually, this is the main characteristic of information storage services.
The second most important is the amount of allocated memory, that is, how much information you can download.
In the case of articles on the Internet, advertising also plays a role.
We will divide all such services into two categories – file sharing and cloud storage.
Cloud rating
So, clouds are information storage services that allow you to access files on a server in exactly the same way as regular folders on a computer.
To do this, you just need to download the installation file of the corresponding repository.
According to various opinions of users that we were able to collect on the Internet, the best such storage facilities are Google Drive, Dropbox and Cloud mail.ru.
Let's consider their main features.
No. 1. Dropbox
In general, Dropbox is simply the most popular cloud storage service in the world. And all because this service is one of the first such sites.
There may have been others, but the creators of Dropbox invested heavily in advertising and are now reaping the benefits of their once successful actions. Only 2 GB are available for free here (15 GB on Google Drive).
After using these two GB (and this usually happens very quickly), you will have to pay an additional $100 for 1 TB. However, this payment will only be valid for a year.
After it ends you will have to pay again.
To be honest, Dropbox’s functionality is quite standard. You need to download the installation file, install the program on your computer and see the Dropbox folder on your computer.
After each update, this folder will be synchronized with what is stored on the server. The Dropbox interface itself looks as shown in Figure 2.
No. 2. Dropbox interface
In general, Dropbox remains as popular simply because most users simply do not know about the existence of other much more functional storage facilities.
No. 2. Google Drive
Google Drive or simply Google Drive is very popular among corporate clients. It is also very popular among those who need such a service for work.
For example, freelancers often create reports on the work done using Drive.
Its huge advantage is that you can work with all files without any downloads or installations - everything happens online.
The algorithm for working with Google Drive is as follows:
- Let's go to Google. Click on the additional functions icon (highlighted in red in Figure 3). In the menu that opens, select “Disk” (highlighted in green)
No. 3. Google.ru and menu of additional functions
- All basic actions are immediately available in the disc menu. This way you can go to the folder with files that the user himself created earlier. This happens by clicking on the “My Disk” button (highlighted in red in Figure No. 4).
You can also go to user-accessible files (highlighted in green). Or you can create a new file using the “Create” button (highlighted in blue). Let's try to do the latter - click on the “Create” button.
No. 4. Google Drive main menu
- After this, we will see a menu where possible options will be available (shown in Figure No. 5). Here, each type of file corresponds to the main Microsoft Word package. For example, the item “Google Sheets” is the same Excel.
When you open it, we will see almost the same window as in Excel (shown in Figure No. 6).
No. 5. Menu of options for creating a document in Google Drive
No. 6. Google Sheets window
Only in this case, two or more users can work with the same table (or any other document) simultaneously.
In this case, everyone will see online the changes they make to the document.
Notice! In fact, there are simply no analogues to Google Drive in this regard. In other cloud storage services, users will not be able to see changes that are happening right now. In general, a very, very functional service!
No. 3. OneDrive
Quite standard cloud storage from Microsoft.
The main characteristics of this information storage service are as follows:
- the maximum amount of information that can be stored on OneDrive for free is 5 GB;
- for those who are eligible for a free update and Windows 8 users, 25 GB are allocated, and for those who use Office 365 – 1 TB;
- Business version available;
- for each folder you can determine whether it will be accessible to everyone, not accessible to anyone, or there will be some intermediate value between these boundaries;
- support for Office Online (this means that the user will be able to use the office suite online, similar to what happens in Google Drive, although here this feature is developed somewhat less well).
OneDrive supports a huge number of formats and a lot is written about this on the official website of this product.
Although, any other information storage service can boast of this advantage.
In any case, the main thing that attracts the client's attention is the cost of service. As mentioned above, you can store only 5 GB for free.
The “Basic” package for 50 GB costs only 72 rubles per month.
The package that includes the use of Office 365 for 1 TB costs 269 rubles per month.
No. 4. iCloud
iCloud is one of the by-products of Apple. In 2011, it was released as a replacement for MobileMe. To use you need to have an Apple ID, that is, be a user of Apple products.
You can purchase one by registering and purchasing something from the iTunes Store.
iCloud works on Windows, OS X and iOS operating systems. iCloud is not a traditional cloud storage service, which is just a place to store data.
This is a large user package that includes a calendar, contact list, notes, reminders, iPhone search app and more.
In principle, for users of phones or any other non-Apple devices, iCloud is of absolutely no interest.
But for the lucky owners of apple products, this is a very useful product.
And the main advantage of iCloud is that if you lose your phone, using this service you can, if you don’t find out its location, then restore all your personal data.
Apple users get 5 GB free of charge.
Prices for tariff plans vary for different countries. For example, in Russia 50 GB costs 59 rubles per month, 200 GB – 149 rubles and 1 TB – 599 units of national currency.
No. 5. Yandex.Disk
In the video at the end of the article you can see detailed instructions on using the cloud from mail.ru. The use of other similar storage facilities is almost the same.
And a year later, it’s safe to say that cloud storage and its position in the world have changed.
Many cloud storage services continue to evolve and develop for the better, while others, on the contrary, are losing user loyalty. There are also younger cloud storages that look extremely attractive. Although it’s nice that there are no longer such a huge number of new cloud storages, which appeared in huge quantities just a few years ago, “died” in the same huge quantities.
I’ll make a reservation right away that this top will only include cloud storage services that provide users with at least a little free space. There are also fully paid cloud storages that please with their quality, but they will not be included in this top.
Cloud storage from Microsoft, which replaced the closed SkyDrive. The storage is tightly integrated into the company's ecosystem and many applications. High speed, 15 GB of free space and integration with Microsoft Office Online. Everything was fine, but Microsoft managed to ruin the entire reputation of its storage.
Office 365 subscribers received unlimited storage on OneDrive. The description said 1 TB, but when the limit was reached, the available space was added automatically. Some users began to abuse the trust of Microsoft, as a result, hundreds of terabytes of data, all photos, the entire film library, heaps of games downloaded from torrents, and much more accumulated in their accounts. OneDrive was originally designed to be a tool for storing, collaborating, and transferring documents, not as a permanent repository for everything you relatively need. Microsoft was angered by this and the company took a step that undermined . There will be no unlimited accounts from the first quarter of 2016. The free 15 GB and bonus for automatically uploading photos were also seriously reduced. It is planned to give only 5 GB on a free basis, and the remaining 10 GB and the bonus will simply be taken away from users who did not manage this space in time, using certain manipulations.
The cancellation of unlimited accounts can still be justified, even a reduction in the free volume can be justified, but the fact that the company wants to take away the already existing free space has an extremely bad effect on further trust in OneDrive. As a result, we are left with cloud storage of lesser quality, but due to the lack of trust in it, only tenth place.
9. MEGA
Last year, MEGA cloud storage was much higher in the ranking. Over the course of a year, the web interface of the repository changed, there were problems with the operation of the repository itself, and in the end, Kim Dotcom, who once founded MEGA, announced that . Is it possible to trust a grieved husband from whom his creation was taken away? Not sure.
Among the minuses, it is worth noting that over the year the repository had problems with access, problems with synchronization, especially of a large number of documents and through the web interface. In addition, some noted that sometimes they could not access their files and the servers simply did not respond.
After the redesign, MEGA lost all these problems. Moreover, it received the function of encrypted calls between users of this service. And don't forget, MEGA still gives 50 GB of free space to all its users. But adding up all of the above, this storage cannot be called exemplary, although it has not sunk to the antics of OneDrive, hence the higher position.
Initially, in this place, when the draft version of the top was written, there was a cloud storage “in Safe”, which was recommended by readers in the comments to the 2015 top. By the end of 2015, vSafe announced its closure, and, as the developers assure, everyone was warned by mail. But for some reason this letter did not arrive and was not in the spam folder, so all the files were lost. It's sad, but we need to look for a more reliable alternative.
There was nothing better than SpiderOak. Cloud storage has been around for many years and differs from all of the above by its high level of confidentiality. Reliable encryption that has never been broken by attackers. Many secure smartphones and other gadgets that specialize in the security and safety of user data recommend SpiderOak.
SpiderOak has applications for a large number of operating systems. There are also some disadvantages, in particular, only 2 GB of available space is given for free. So, all that remains is to either store only the most valuable data in a more securely encrypted storage, or switch to a paid account. Many call SpiderOak the benchmark for encrypted cloud storage.
7.Box
More and more this storage is moving into the business segment. Data encryption, built-in note-taker and 10 GB of free space. All these are good indicators, along with stability, because Box can be called one of the oldest cloud storage services.
It’s just that the file size and many other indicators are significantly limited in the free version, and it’s not getting any better; the rules are becoming more and more stringent. If this continues, Box’s position and the loyalty of ordinary users will come to naught. However, on a paid account there is much more space and much fewer restrictions.
6.Copy
Copy storage pleases with its stability. It simply gives 15 GB of free space and works stably. No interruptions or other problems. It simply synchronizes all your data, which is the main criterion for any cloud storage.
However, this storage system lacks an ecosystem, connections with other services and applications, and the ability to open at least some types of files directly in the cloud, without the need to download them (now we are talking about the web version).
There are a lot of Apple device users and all of them are essentially iCloud users. ICloud stores settings, user data, synchronizes a huge number of files, and much more.
Even on Apple operating systems, problems can arise when working with iCloud. How to upload a file, why does the iCloud Drive application appear only after manipulating the settings? With the Windows version everything is even worse, and on other systems there is no such storage at all. The closed nature of iCloud does not allow us to rank it higher.
4. Yandex.Disk
One of the most popular repositories for Russian-speaking users. Over the past year, Yandex.Disk began to support more file formats, learned smart photo sorting, and received deep integration with Yandex.Mail. 10 GB of free space is also here to stay.
Don’t forget about the numerous promotions during which you also get free space. For example, you were pleasantly surprised when, after inserting a new flash drive, you suddenly received 30 GB of space for a year as a gift. In addition, after the recent update of Yandex.Disk, Microsoft Office Online, which means you can easily create and work with office documents directly in the browser.
3. Cloud Mail.Ru
The main competitor of Yandex.Disk, despite the fact that it launched much later, managed not only to catch up, but also overtook its competitor. If the first users who wanted to test the “raw” version of this storage received 1 TB of free space, beta testers received 100 GB, now they give only 25 GB, but the volume is no longer going to be reduced.
The storage not only provides a fairly large volume, which is more than enough to store documents, projects and photos, but also can work with office documents, thanks to integration with Microsoft Office Online. Don't forget about integration with mail either.
Last year's leader is still inferior in functionality to this year's leader. This is the case when the cloud storage itself has not changed, moreover, it has become much better over the year, but the competitor has become much better.
This is the oldest of the cloud storage services. In many ways, it was Dropbox that gave birth to this type of service. Over the course of the year, Dropbox acquired even greater support for formats, improved speed, added the ability to leave comments on files, and, thanks to cooperation with Microsoft, was integrated into Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office Online. Thanks to the latter, you can now also edit office documents directly in the browser. Built-in collective work with documents has also appeared
1. Google Drive
The undisputed leader among cloud storages. 15 GB is not the most important thing it gives. There is also a built-in office suite, Googel Docs, which supports many more formats than its main competitor, Microsoft Office Online. In terms of the number of supported formats, Google Drive is ahead of all its competitors. In addition, there are extensions that, if desired, can allow you to perform all the necessary actions with files: office work, listening to music, watching videos, working with archives, directly in the cloud storage, from the browser, without the need to download files to the device.
Videos and photos are not of very high quality and are not taken into account at all when calculating the occupied space. Also, the Android application, starting with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, begins to synchronize the settings of your phone, tablet or other gadget, making it easy to restore your data to a new device. Backups are also not taken into account when calculating available space in Google Drive.
As a result, we have cloud storage, the level of which no competitor has yet reached. The capabilities of Google Drive are impressive and its development is not stopping.
A few days ago, Google began to pursue an aggressive pricing policy in the cloud file storage market. The company left its competitors far behind by sharply reducing the cost of additional space on Disk: 100 gigabytes of space fell in price by more than half, and 1 terabyte by five. How profitable the offer of the Internet search engine turned out to be - read in the comparative analysis of “clouds” from Vestey.High-Tech.
Google Drive
Launch year: 2012;
Available for free: 15 GB;
: No;
Tariffs: 100 GB - $1.99/month, 1 TB - $9.99/month, 10 TB - $99.99/month, 20 TB - $199.99/month, 30 TB - $299.99/month ;
Platforms: Windows, OS X, Android, iOS;
Advantages: integrated online office, low prices, smart search;
Flaws: There is no automatic and direct uploading of photos to Drive from the mobile application, as in Dropbox. Instead, the company offers to use the backup function in the Google+ client, which is convenient for few. Data on Drive, as well as in iCloud, is encrypted using the AES encryption algorithm with a 128-bit key. This is a very reliable option, but information on competing services - Box, OneDrive and Dropbox - is more protected, using 256-bit encryption;
Who is it suitable for?: users who are “tied” to Google Internet services, owners of Android smartphones and especially Chromebooks, since “Disk” is built into the Chrome OS operating system;
Evaluation of Vestey.Hitek: 9/10 .
Google Drive is not just a “virtual flash drive” that allows you to download a file from one device and then open it on another. Each user who gets a Google account, in addition to the cloud, automatically gets access to a set of online office applications (word processor, spreadsheet and presentation editor) with the ability to edit documents directly in the browser. You can store anything on Disk: photos and videos, music, PDF files, Photoshop, Microsoft Office. The search function, as you would expect from Google, is very powerful: you can search, for example, the contents of scanned documents, Word files or Gmail emails.
Drive features include unlimited storage of photos if their size does not exceed 2048x2048 pixels. In addition, documents created using Disk tools do not take up space. On the other hand, Drive keeps records of all correspondence in Gmail, as well as attachments to letters.
Dropbox
Launch year: 2008;
Available for free: 2 GB;
Opportunity to "earn" a place: yes;
Tariffs: 100 GB - $9.99/month, 200 GB - $19.99/month, 500 GB - $49.99/month;
Platforms: Windows, OS X, Linux, Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Kindle Fire;
Advantages: there is no limit on the size of the downloaded file through the client; simple interface and setup, cross-platform; Dropbox support is widely integrated into numerous iOS/Android applications;
Flaws: if you need to rent more than 500 GB, you will have to buy a business account (at least 5 users);
Who is it suitable for?: owners of mobile devices and computers with a variety of operating systems. For those who need an easy "cloud" to store files and, if necessary, quickly send links to them to friends. Due to its flexible pricing policy, Dropbox can become the choice of corporate users;
Evaluation of Vestey.Hitek: 9/10 .
Unlike Google, this company builds its business solely around file storage. The Dropbox website has a very user-friendly interface with easy navigation, and its many clients make it extremely easy to set up. At the time of registration, users are allocated only 2 free gigabytes, but additional space can be “earned” (16 GB maximum) by inviting friends (500 MB per referral), connecting your account to Facebook and Twitter, uploading photos and videos, installing the Mailbox application, etc. p.
"Yandex.Disk"
Launch year: 2012;
Available for free: 10 GB;
Opportunity to "earn" a place: yes;
Tariffs: 10 GB — 30 rub./month, 100 GB — 150 rub./month, 1 TB — 900 rub./month;
Platforms: Windows, OS X, Linux, Android, iOS, Symbian, Windows Phone;
Advantages: fast file synchronization, better cross-platform functionality;
Flaws: poor integration with mobile applications;
Who is it suitable for?: for sharing “large” files and for those who prefer Yandex services;
Evaluation of Vestey.Hitek: 8/10 .
Developers of mobile applications (VLC, GoodReader, etc.) integrate support for Dropbox and Google Drive on equal terms, allowing you to download new videos and e-books directly from the cloud. Yandex.Disk, a service from the most popular search engine on the RuNet, is not popular among foreign developers, but its strength lies elsewhere. Firstly, it provides high synchronization speed, because... The company's servers are located in Russia, not in the USA, which can be useful for exchanging “heavy” files. Secondly, you can connect to Yandex.Disk in a variety of ways, including using any WebDAV client, Winphone, and even the almost dead Symbian. Thirdly, the “cloud” will help you easily transfer information (SMS, contacts, call history) from an outdated phone (Java, Windows Mobile, etc.) to a new one (Android, iPhone).
The basic volume for storing content on Yandex.Disk is limited to 10 GB. To expand it, you can bring friends to the service (512 MB for each) and participate in various promotions. Now, for example, the Russian search engine gives buyers of products from the Samsung ATIV series 50 GB “on top” for a period of two years.
Launch year: 2013;
Available for free: 100 GB;
Opportunity to "earn" a place: No;
Tariffs: No;
Platforms: Windows, Linux, OS X, Android, iOS (iPhone only);
Advantages: huge base capacity;
Flaws: not very functional at the moment;
Who is it suitable for?: in the future - to users of Mail.ru services; in the meantime, for those who want to have a lot of space “in reserve”;
Evaluation of Vestey.Hitek: 5/10 .
"[email protected]" is a very young service, opened only in 2013. In this regard, it does not yet have paid options, and many functions are in development. For example, there is no client version for tablets, there is no integration with Mail.ru mail and downloading attachments from the cloud, the web interface is not very convenient.
The service launched late, so the company has no choice but to lure users with large volumes: the basic 100 GB is not offered by any competing cloud. Moreover, in December last year, Mail.Ru decided on a generous gesture, promising pioneers a free terabyte “for free and forever.” This promotion, however, was valid until January 20 and has already ended.
iCloud
Launch year: 2011;
Available for free: 5 GB;
Opportunity to "earn" a place: No;
Tariffs: 10 GB — 650 rub./year, 20 GB — 1300 rub./year, 50 GB — 3250 rub./year;
Platforms: iOS, OS X;
Advantages: free web office (Pages, Numbers, Keynote), easy setup;
Flaws: limited by the Apple ecosystem, small amount of free memory;
Who is it suitable for?: owners of "apple" products;
Evaluation of Vestey.Hitek: 5/10.
Apple's "cloud" is not a "magic folder" on your computer into which you can drag and drop the desired file. iCloud is a service that synchronizes a certain type of information exclusively between the company's own products. For example, if you take a photo or video on an iPhone, you can save it to the cloud, but you won’t be able to view the captured content on an Android or Windows smartphone.
iCloud is convenient, but only if you use several Apple devices - say, a MacBook laptop and an iPhone. Once you set up the service, you can forget about transferring reminders, contacts and Safari bookmarks. However, if you want to take full advantage of iCloud, you still have to buy additional storage. The 5 GB provided for free, even though purchases and photos are not taken into account, is clearly not enough to store all the necessary information: passwords from Keychain, events from Calendar, application data, letters from Mail, backup copies of i-devices and other things.
Box
Launch year: 2005;
Available for free: 10 GB;
Opportunity to "earn" a place: No;
Tariffs: 100 GB – 10$/month;
Platforms: OS X, Windows, Android, BlackBerry, iOS;
Advantages: high reliability, flexible privacy settings;
Flaws: strong limitation on the size of the downloaded file, lack of version history in the free subscription;
Who is it suitable for?: business users;
Evaluation of Vestey.Hitek: 7/10 .
Box is one of the oldest "clouds", but it is not as popular among ordinary Internet users as Dropbox. Firstly, this service is focused on corporate and IT users. It offers them fine-tuning of file access rights, shared folders with an “expiration date”, ample opportunities for previewing and editing documents, FTP access, recording logs, etc. Secondly, the “weight” of one file in Box cannot exceed 250 MB, while Dropbox does not impose restrictions when downloading from a mobile client. Thirdly, the free Box account does not support version history, i.e. It is impossible to “rewind” the contents of a file back a couple of days.
Still, Box is considered reliable storage. It uses 256-bit encryption, and all information is transmitted to the cloud via a secure SSL protocol. The service is integrated (plugins required) with Microsoft Office, Salesforce, NetSuite and Adobe Lightroom, and the browser version can create simple text documents.
OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive)
Launch year: 2007;
Available for free: 7 GB;
Opportunity to "earn" a place: yes;
Tariffs: for 50 GB - $25/year (up to 200 GB);
Platforms: Windows, Windows Phone, OS X, Android, iOS;
Advantages: integration with the Microsoft Office office suite;
Flaws: linking to a Microsoft account, which allows access to services that may not be needed (Outlook, Xbox Live, etc.);
Who is it suitable for?: active users of Windows devices, including tablets and Windows phones;
Evaluation of Vestey.Hitek: 7/10 .
OneDrive, formerly known as SkyDrive, is Microsoft's "cloud" with the benefits that come with it. The service provides deep integration with computers and laptops based on Windows 8 and 8.1, Xbox and Windows smartphones. However, unlike the closed iCloud, OneDrive can be run on competing platforms. More importantly, OneDrive is tightly coupled with Windows apps (Office, Photos, etc.), meaning users can easily open and edit documents with just a few taps.
You can get more space in two ways: invite a friend (additional 5 GB) and set up automatic synchronization of your file storage with your smartphone’s photo gallery (another 3 GB).
Data storage devices have come a long way in evolution. If it all started with bulky floppy disks that could hold a very small part of information, then modern flash drives have tens of thousands of times more memory, while maintaining their compact dimensions. But more recently, even they were replaced (formally speaking, of course) by an even more advanced device for saving and transferring data. We will talk about it in this article.
Cloud services
When we talk about some more advanced form, we mean the so-called cloud technologies. This is a completely new and much more promising medium, if you can call it that. Its essence lies in the fact that the data that we upload to the cloud is not stored anywhere in a concentrated form. They are distributed over a service that is united by a large number of physical servers. This, firstly, allows you to store many times more information on them than one specifically dedicated server could accommodate; secondly, such technology has a huge number of advantages.
And there is also nothing complicated about how to create a cloud for storing files. Today, this type of virtual media is used by both professional programmers and authors of Internet projects, as well as ordinary users who have a folder with photos.
And in this article we will discuss not only how to create a cloud for storing files, but also talk about it itself and its features.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Let's start with the shortcomings. We will start from the end of our point, since cloud solutions really have fewer negative sides than positive ones. If you are looking for how to create a cloud for storing files, then you probably agree with this statement. The main disadvantage is the need for an Internet connection.
This means that if you do not save the necessary information on a portable device and end up in a place where there is no network access, you simply will not be able to retrieve the information and read it. That is, you can work with the cloud only with an active connection to the network or files on your hard drive.
The second negative point is the fee for memory expansion in the cloud. Users must use the service on a subscription basis by paying certain fees each month. It all depends on how much data you use. In free mode, for example, you can get 2 Gb from the same Dropbox service, and if you pay $10 a month, this space will increase to 1 Tb. For $15, location restrictions are removed from your account. So, as you understand, the fee is symbolic, so for many it will not be a problem.
Service Providers
Other services (for example, Google Drive or Yandex Disk) also have their own tariff plans. For Drive, 15 Gb are allocated for free, for $2 - 100 Gb, for 10 - 1 Tb, for 200 - 20 Tb, and for $300 per month - 30 Tb of data. Google Drive, unlike Dropbox, has wider functionality, allowing you to edit files in convenient applications of your own design.
Yandex.Disk allocates 10 GB for 30 rubles per month, 100 GB for 80 rubles, and 1 terabyte of memory for 200 rubles.
There is also a cloud from Mail.ru, whose users are allocated 25 GB of space to host files for free.
Getting started
So how to create a cloud for storing files? First you need to decide on the service. They have some differences. As mentioned above, Dropbox and Yandex Disk are services that allow you to simply store files in your cloud disk space without worrying about their safety. You can create a cloud for storing Mile files, like other services, only after registering an internal account.
These services (with the exception of Dropbox) create one account for the user across all platforms. This is convenient, since a person can have both mail and Yandex, Google or Mail. For Dropbox, you will have to create an account separately.
The second stage of how to create your own cloud for storing files is to visit the storage from a browser or on a PC, phone, tablet. You can choose the platform you work with, and as a result, your account will be synchronized across all devices.
Form
In fact, using a browser or a special application is a rhetorical question. Of course, the program allows you to create a cloud for storing Yandex, Google, Mail or Dropbox files much more conveniently and quickly. But, of course, this is additional software that needs to be downloaded to your device. It's much easier to use a browser. So, you will have to go to the service website, log in - and you will see all your files.
Safety
Having described what negative aspects cloud services have, as well as which companies provide them, we will begin to list the advantages and benefits of such services.
So, for example, you can create a corporate file storage cloud for your business. This is very convenient: your employees, using their accounts, could make edits in some files at the same time, having access to a single repository. This way, there would be no need for you to sync all projects.
Extensions
We have already mentioned that each of the services has the possibility of expansion. In fact, if you pay a certain amount (equal to the cost of this or that option), you actually get more space. However, most often, such services are not of interest to private users for posting photos. Most likely, business owners and developers are interested in such solutions.
This is especially true for entrepreneurs who fear the seizure of company servers or searches by intelligence agencies. It is very easy to prevent these actions if you close access to your files in time. Since all the information is actually in the cloud, even taking your computer away won't help you retrieve it.
File durability
So, you know how to create a cloud for storing files for free. All providers have a free access mode, that is, they allocate some space on their services for users free of charge. As a rule, this volume is enough to publish some personal photos and something personal. Thus, such data placement can significantly free up space on your PC.
But there is another very important positive factor to remember. If you want to create a cloud for storing files (Google, Yandex - it makes no difference), remember: this data will always remain available. They won't be deleted by the system, so you don't have to worry about, for example, physically damaging your computer. After all, in the end, all the information can be downloaded again from the cloud, where it will feel great.
That is why now everyone has so actively begun to upload their most important, most valuable and worthwhile information to the Internet. On the one hand, it may seem strange that all the most valuable things are uploaded to the network, but on the other hand, this information will be available only to one account owner. Therefore, there is no need to worry about them.
Cloud technologies continue to develop. Now the amount of memory that becomes available in free mode is also growing. So perhaps very soon customers will be able to access unlimited space for just a dollar... Time will tell!