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Author Topic: Do you use the "Cloud" for backups?  (Read 1805 times)

Offline Xairbusdriver

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Do you use the "Cloud" for backups?
« on: February 08, 2017, 11:25:29 AM »
<AWS, Google and Other Clouds Can Lose Data, Too, Web Hosting Talk FEBRUARY 8 2017>
QUOTE
It’s simple: No data stored in the cloud (or in any other single location, for that matter) is ever totally safe.
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THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
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And the United States = The Banana system
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Offline kimmer

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Do you use the "Cloud" for backups?
« Reply #1 on: February 08, 2017, 01:06:11 PM »
When you think about it, for years we all kept hard copies of things. Some folks were able to store things in a safe deposit box at their bank (those are hard to find these days), but mostly it was in our attics, garages, top shelf of the closet, etc.—and in the event of a disaster, we might not be able to grab all those boxes and salvage things. If we had time, we might be able to grab a few photos and mementoes, but most of the time it all went POOF. Now we store things electronically and hope for the best. If it all goes POOF, life goes on.

That being said, I do store a lot of my data in the cloud (dropbox), but I also have it backed up in TimeMachine and it's in my CCC backup. If it's really important to me, I also back it up to another external drive (I would hopefully be able to grab these drives if I ever had to flee from here).

In the long run, if I lost it all it wouldn't end my life. Yes it would be an inconvenience, and I'd hate to lose my photos of Sneakers and our 'memories', but I could move forward if it all went POOF.
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Offline Highmac

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Do you use the "Cloud" for backups?
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2017, 01:18:35 PM »
Not for backups, but I do use Dropbox, though mostly for sharing and a few documents that I might need to access away from the iMac. User manuals for example.

As part of my BT broadband deal, I could have 500GB of cloud space inclusive. BT is great for reeling you in with free things when you sign up but then they start charging for it. So free this year, then they decide to charge, say, 10 GBP a month... for 120 GBP a year it wouldn't take long to pay for a very large HDD instead.

And how long would it take to download 500GB at around 50 Gbps? Yes, I could work it out if I really HAD to biggrin.gif

Oh, and it doesn't have great reviews from users either.
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Neil
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Offline Jack W

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Do you use the "Cloud" for backups?
« Reply #3 on: February 09, 2017, 03:38:43 PM »
No way José
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Offline Paddy

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Do you use the "Cloud" for backups?
« Reply #4 on: February 09, 2017, 04:58:43 PM »
I use Dropbox, but largely for sharing things I'm working on with other people. Ditto Google Drive.

But I've never relied on the cloud for backup per se - I just have way too much stuff to back up efficiently that way. It would take at LEAST FOUR DAYS to backup 800GB+ on my main HD, and that's not including the additional 600GB or so of photos which live on external drives. And that's assuming it's running at the top 20Mbps upload speed all the time, with no interruptions or failures or time outs or.... well you get the picture. It would be insane. (Actually, I wouldn't back ALL that stuff up to the cloud - I'd pick and choose. It would be a slow process...)

The cheapest option out there if anyone IS trying to find a good deal for a lot of stuff, is Amazon cloud storage - unlimited storage for $59.99/yr (for once, the price in Canada is the same as the US price!!) It's definitely better than Dropbox at $99.99 USD for 1TB/year or any other service I've checked into. And it's free for the first three months.
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Offline Xairbusdriver

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Do you use the "Cloud" for backups?
« Reply #5 on: February 09, 2017, 05:14:51 PM »
I doubt that many individuals use cloud storage for their main backups. Frankly, I doubt even the majority of individual even use anything for backups. But large (and profitable) corporations have extensive and huge databases of textual data that is seldom used and need off-site storage. The profitable ones have used 'off-site' storage for decades. Smaller firms and businesses, especially that don't have "IT" departments have realized the need to have backups of their important data somewhere other than the buildings they work in. Those are the people who, in my opinion, use these 'cloud' storage services.

I hope that no one using the cloud would expect to be able download everything at one time! eek2.gif That kind of data transfer has been the problem with computers even before the Apple ][. Listened to Mr. Jobs speak about it when those machines started using floppies! Even at FireWire speeds, that is orders of magnatude slower than normal buss speeds. The cloud has its uses, but rapidly recovering data from it is not one of them. laughhard.gif
« Last Edit: February 09, 2017, 05:15:03 PM by Xairbusdriver »
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THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system
CAUTION! Childhood vaccinations cause adults! :yes:

Offline Highmac

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Do you use the "Cloud" for backups?
« Reply #6 on: February 10, 2017, 05:30:31 AM »
QUOTE(Highmac @ Feb 9 2017, 07:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
And how long would it take to download 500GB at around 50 Gbps? biggrin.gif

That should, of course, been 50 Mbps... just used Speedtest.net to check the figures. This is using our new MBP (wifi from router):

   

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Neil
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Offline Xairbusdriver

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Do you use the "Cloud" for backups?
« Reply #7 on: February 10, 2017, 09:01:48 AM »
Yes, it's nice to have "standard" numbers we can all compare... assuming we can remember the suffixes! wallbash.gif laughhard.gif

It's important to also remember comparisons depend on so many variables. Just ran a couple of different testing services within a minute of each other.
    Site 1
      Download: 86.6 Mbps
      Upload: 10.7 Mbps
      Latency: not reported
      Packet loss: not reported
    Site 2
      Download: 95.5
      Upload: 14.9
      Latency: 24 ms
      Packet loss: zero
Of course, it was ~8:45am here; most kids at school, many businesses not open, etc. etc. You may be on DLS, I'm on a cable LAN that is affected by the number of nodes just like our home networks are. dntknw.gif
Fortunately, the Moon is near its full phase... or is that when it slows our speeds... just another variable I can't control! wallbash.gif harhar.gif
« Last Edit: February 10, 2017, 09:03:05 AM by Xairbusdriver »
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THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system
CAUTION! Childhood vaccinations cause adults! :yes:

Offline Xairbusdriver

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Do you use the "Cloud" for backups?
« Reply #8 on: March 23, 2017, 12:11:11 PM »
I didn't know MS used Windows on its cloud servers!
« Last Edit: March 23, 2017, 06:51:14 PM by Paddy »
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THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system
CAUTION! Childhood vaccinations cause adults! :yes:
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