The Cloud – Data Storage

It’s summer and a good time to make sure you have a reliable backup system in place. We never know if we’ll be evacuated because of a wildfire, hurricane, tornado or other weather event. Using the Cloud to backup your data just makes sense.

Our Recommendation:

Our recommendation continues to be to store your data in three separate locations.

• First is your computer
• Second is the Cloud
• Third is an external solid state drive (SSD) stored in a place that is not near your computer.  Most people who follow this plan have two SSDs. One they keep with their computer for a current back-up. The other goes to a friend’s house, a safety deposit box, or their office. They swap those two drives – every week or two, so one is always up to date. Chris recommends a Samsung Rugged T7 Shield portable SSD. It’s available in 1TB or 2TB and in different colors. I have the 2TB, one in Black and one in Beige. That way I know which is which.

Most of us already have one or more backup systems that come with their device. Your iPhone comes with iCloud. Your Android comes with Google Cloud. If you use Microsoft Office or Outlook, you probably already have OneDrive. You can generally extend what you backup by fine-tuning the configuration – and probably paying more for the additional storage.

The Cloud:

What if you want something different? Different people have different requirements. In alphabetical order, these are the Cloud storage systems that we see most frequently.

Dropbox:

Dropbox has a Professional plan for $20/month which includes 3 TB of storage. I’ve been using Dropbox since 2011. It was easy to set up and has easily transferred from one computer and one phone to the next. I’ve configured it to automatically save all of my files to the Cloud. This includes all of the photos I take with my iPhone and iPad.

Google:

I started using Gmail ages ago and I don’t delete anything, so I have Google Storage save all my Gmail messages. Google Storage (with plans from 100 GB to 2 TB) also includes Google Drive and Google Photos. The Google cloud works best if you have an Android phone.

iCloud:

I use iCloud to store all the photos I take on my iPhone and iPad, my music, and to synch data between the two devices. They have several plans, billed monthly, from 50 GB ($1/month) to 12 TB ($60/month). They have different bundles available as well. Because I have an Apple Watch I want Apple Fitness which is included in the Apple One Premier plan. That subscription ($38/month) also includes 2 TB of storage and is available to a total of 5 people. Other Apple One bundles include the Individual plan ($20/month and 50GB), Family plan ($26/month and 200 GB for 5 people). The Apple One plans also include Music, TV+, and Arcade.

iDrive:

This is PC Magazine Editors’ Choice. I haven’t actually used it, but PC Mag likes it because it is fully encrypted, has fast upload speeds and you can have unlimited devices on each account. You can also use iDrive to back-up to an external hard drive. This helps meet Geek For Hire’s recommendation to store a file in three places. iDrive is $100/year for 5 TB. Here’s the link to the PC Magazine article if you’d like to read more.

Microsoft OneDrive:

Microsoft 365 comes with OneDrive. So if you have Office or Outlook, you’ve got it. The storage capacity depends on the plan you’ve chosen, from 5GB to 1 TB. You can set it up to store files in the cloud from any of your devices, including your iPhone or iPad. I like that it will automatically save files that I am working on. When I sign in to OneDrive, I can access all my files from any device.

Proton Drive:

I like Proton because of it’s end-to-end encryption and their overall privacy policies. If you’re sharing a file with someone, you can password protect it so only they can open it. You can set it up to save photos and other files. Proton Drive is $5/month for 200 GB. (They don’t have larger storage plans available.) This is an ideal solution if you have sensitive files, but because of the limited storage available, it’s not a solution for a complete backup system.

Conclusion:

Remember to set up your backup system BEFORE you need it! Give us a call if you need help setting up a Cloud backup or external SSD backup.