Cloud Computing Big Data

Cloud storage features many Easter eggs that we might not notice. This article will help you unlock 7 interesting ways to store your files online.

Cloud Storage has been around for ages and it seems no one could deny its capacity and features. When it comes to cloud storage, several famous names pop up including Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, and Box. Names are different, however, all of them offer standardized services which enable you to store, access and manage your files easily.

How to use cloud storage effectively?

The question is are you really sure you have mastered cloud storage? Some existing features may be waiting for your notice. Let’s see how many cool things you can do with your personal cloud storage

Save Your Gmail Attachments To The Cloud

Google Scripts allow you to automatically set up the path for your Gmail attachments to your Google Drive. All you have to do is install Save Emails – an add-on that will help you save emails and files from Gmail to Google Drive. You can also use this add-on to save pictures, videos, documents, backups or anything from Gmail to Google Drive.

Once it is installed, the add-on will set up a mechanism to download your chosen files to the folder you created for Gmail files. The add-on is available for free, however, its premium version offers a few more interesting features.

In case you don’t want to save things from Gmail to Google Drive, Kloudless, an extension for Chrome and Firefox, to save your email content, and attachments into any cloud storages as you prefer.

Embed Video Using Google Drive 

Why bother using YouTube or any hosting site to upload and embed your videos while you can ask Google Drive to do the job for you. The process is simple.

• On Google Drive, choose Upload, or you can use drag and drop option
• Choose the video you need to upload
• Change the private setting from Piave to Public if you want to use it on a website. 
• After uploading, right click on the video and select Open with Google Drive Viewer
• Choose File- Embed this video 
• Copy the code and use it on your blog. 

File Previewer With Google Drive 

Google Drive supports over 30 file formats including .CSS, .HTML, .ZIP, .RAR. You can preview your files using Google Drive if it is less than 25 MB. More importantly, if you want to open vector files such as .AI or .SVG, you can also use Google Drive to preview the files.

To-Do Lists On The Cloud 

If you are busy and have a list of things to do during the day, it is important to use to-do lists to manage your tasks and avoid procrastination. But is it possible to create and manage to-do lists on your cloud? The answer is yes. You can use tools and applications such as Wunderlist to build up your to-do list via Dropbox. These applications often automatically deliver your daily tasks across devices so you can access to your to-do lists from anywhere.

Manage Your Documents On Google Drive Or OneDrive 

Google Drive and OneDrive are two giants in cloud service world. They are famous for many handy features. Among them, creating and editing documents is what make people interest the most. Besides, you can use these features to create online research, including managing tasks, planning events, create quizzes and collecting feedbacks.

You can manage your documents and files effectively with cloud storage.

Your folders and documents could be easily shared and accessed by your colleagues. They can comment and make changes on documents if allowed.

Turn Your Multiple Cloud Accounts Into One

You may have multiple cloud accounts at the same time. This allows you to have a bigger storage space but prevents you to access to your cloud accounts effectively. How to manage your files using multiple cloud accounts? Many available options help you to convert different cloud accounts into one single one. MultCloud is one example. It allows you to get access your files from multiple accounts in only one working page.

Other Options For Cloud Storage

Besides famous providers such as Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive, there are a few more options to name. For example, if you don’t want to use any of those mentioned above, you can create your own cloud platform. Some providers such as ownCloud ensure their clients by providing good packages and security.

An idea appears and you want to jot it down as soon as possible. Instead of opening Google Drive, you can use Evernote or similar applications to record and manage your thoughts instantly. Basically, Evernote could be used for anything that comes to your mind which need to be written down.

Today we will discuss cloud storage and how to gain maximum benefits from your personal option.

Nowadays, the question’s not whether or not to use cloud storage but how to maximize its tools so you can gain benefits from using the cloud-based system. There are many private cloud service providers to name: Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Mega and so on. Each of them offers public free cloud and pay-per-use service.

If you are just a newbie in the cloud world or you have been using the cloud since its premiere, it is essential to understand the functions and some tricks to maximize its features. Below are some tips to turn your cloud platform into something better, more powerful and secure.
Fasten your seatbelt, it’s time to step up your game.

Don’t ignore offline feature

No cloud providers want to lose their users. Therefore, they spend time and energy to make sure their servers are in good condition. However, no matter how reliable the server is, you could never tell when you will encounter situations when your files simply disappear for a while.
Imagine when you needed a specific file and you can’t find it anywhere in the cloud, what would you do? Or you were working on a file online and suddenly the internet connection is lost, what would you do? To avoid those annoying moments, all you need to do is to use available tools from the cloud to access your files offline.

Using the offline feature enables you to view and manage your files anywhere.

Dropbox, Google Drive, Mega, and OneDrive all offer their desktop and mobile apps, allowing you to have access to your data even without internet or in case of virtual system failure. Google Drive even offers desktop apps that enable you to process some certain files in Chrome without installing any additional software. Why not make a good use of it?

Increase the accessibility of your files

Since you can access your files and data almost anywhere with a smartphone or mobile device, you can increase the accessibility of the cloud by syncing parts of your computer’s folders to the cloud. Why does it help? Isn’t it better to manipulate your computer’s files irrespective of your location and device? You sure don’t want to synchronize all your personal data, but some basic system folders are a good choice.

Once you finish setting up the local cloud folder, you may want to adjust the location of some system folders so you gain better access to them. Those, for example, your Download folder, Desktop, or Documents could be on your list. Put them into the local cloud folder and you can access them anytime and anywhere without touching the computer. Any changes you make will show up instantly on your computer.

Backup your cloud storage

It is never too much to prevent downtime or data loss in the cloud-based system. Therefore, it’s necessary to have a backup storage for your cloud storage. The idea of building up a virtual backup cloud storage is an additional but not redundant move to keep your files safe.

Thanks to Mover, you can back up your files with ease. What you have to do is pretty simple. You connect Mover with two or more cloud providers, then arrange a schedule to back up your files. There are hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly backup options. You can choose to run a full backup at a time or only certain files. Mover is compatible with Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon, One Drive, and many more. If you want to use monthly on-going scheduled backups from Mover, you have to pay $20 for 15GB per month.

Secure your cloud server

Those cloud providers always try to ensure the security of your files. However, in the time like this, nothing can be certain and security threats can come from the users as well. To strengthen the security of your data, you can’t solely depend on the cloud providers. You should build multiple layers of security so that your files are constantly under protection.

The first step is to choose a trustworthy cloud platform. Those which encrypt your data by default. Do a good research on cloud providers and if necessary cross-reference and choose the best option. If you want to be extremely careful, encrypt your data before uploading. This may sound like a lot of work to do, however, it will prevent cybercriminals to get their hands on your sensitive information.

Last but not least, you should always use a strong password for your cloud storage. This initial shield will reduce the chance of getting hijacking by cyber-attackers. Don’t use only numbers or words to set up your passcode.

Whether you understand thoroughly about the concept of Cloud Hosting? Let’s check it in this article.

Cloud hosting is a fairly new term, so what is Cloud Hosting? What are the benefits of cloud hosting? In fact, Cloud Hosting works just like most other types of web hosting as we know, but the difference is that it runs on cloud servers so it's called Cloud Hosting.

What is Cloud Hosting?

Cloud Hosting is a new term for cloud-based Hosting services.

Physically, Cloud Hosting works similarly to the current types of Web Hosting.  Cloud Hosting also uses the same managed control panel Hosting as DirectAdmin, as well as configuring and setting up features such as Web Hosting. However, there is one difference between Cloud Hosting and Web Hosting is that Cloud Hosting runs on Cloud Servers (Cloud Server / Cloud VPS).
Cloud Hosting works based on the cloud computing technology, using the best server platform of the major servers in the world such as Cisc. In addition to Cloud Storage, the principle of distributed storage, it operates on the CloudLinux operating system. Moreover, it utilizes the load balancing technology among servers to provide access speed. Its speed is also faster than other types of Web Hosting. The data security is made sure to be higher as well as the minimal ability to Downtime for the Website.

Cloud Hosting operates based on the most advanced technology in the world today, allowing unlimited number of Servers to use a Website or a Website System. Cloud Hosting has a significant advantage over today's traditional hosting solutions such as the use of resources and the security of a cloud-hosted website. In fact, it is  always guaranteed on multiple servers instead of just one.The cloud computing technology also eliminates any physical limitations for the development and makes the data storage solution extremely flexible. The stability of the system Cloud Hosting compared to traditional hosting up to 300%.

Benefits from Cloud Hosting service

The users can benefit so much from Cloud Hosting service

The Cloud Hosting service allows even very small sites, without being famous, to benefit from the latest technology at a reasonable price. Cloud hosting works based on the most advanced technology in the world today that allows unlimited number of servers for a website or a website system. Cloud hosting allows for very high expansion, allowing users to use the resources and security of a cloud-hosted website secured by multiple servers. Cloud computing technology also removes any physical limitations for development and makes storage solutions extremely flexible.

Features of Cloud Hosting:

• You can choose Windows or Linux operating system
•  Server availability of SLA is made sure for 99.99%
•  Narrow or shrink resources when requested
•  100 Mbps Internet connection
•  Services include firewall, monitoring, and operating system patches
•  Data is back up and server can be restored
•  Technical support 24/7

Advantages of Cloud Hosting:

Cloud Hosting offer customers a lot of advantages

- Rapid expansion: Cloud Hosting allows you to add resources as quickly as you need them and drop them when you do not need them. Users only pay for what they actually use, but always get the resources when they need it.

- Reliability: Cloud Hosting does not depend on any single hardware, so any faulty hardware will not affect the availability of cloud hosting, up to 99.99% uptime.

- Full management: Cloud Hosting will include patches and operating system monitors, as well as security firewalls, back-up data from the high-tech cloud computing infrastructure.

- Windows or Linux platforms: Cloud Hosting supports both Windows and Linux operating systems. So, users who develop on Microsoft SQL or mysql, IIS or apache, PHP or ASP.NET are all compatible.

Some disadvantages

The cloud hosting model still has some disadvantages:

- Privacy: Are users’ credentials and data stored in cloud computing private? Are they used for other purposes that the owner does not know? These questions may be answered properly after you use the service for a long time.

- Availability: Cloud services can be "suspended" unexpectedly, and objective risks such as lost internet connection, etc., may affect if you are not using the services. Data access in a certain amount of time affects work.

- Data loss: when using cloud hosting technology, we rely entirely on the provider, if for some reason the provider stops working or no longer provides the service, the user must copy Saving data from the cloud to a personal computer. This is very time-consuming, and there may be cases where data loss can not be reversed.

- Ownership: When the user no longer uses the cloud provider's services, does the data replication take place conveniently, and whether the vendor cancels all customer data?

- Security Issues: The storage of cloud data is on security enhancements, but it also causes hackers to steal the data.

Some prestigious Cloud Hosting providers (2017) 

1. InMotionHosting.com

InMotionHosting is very proud to be ranked in the top 1 for cloud hosting service. It provides you with the RAM of up to 8GB and the SSD of no charge. Also, the free control panel are recognized with SSL criteria, and the elective root access helps you manage the servers well.

2. HostGator.com

When you need to upgrade and adapt the VPS solutions, HostGator is a great idea. With the huge capability, it can store all your data up to 80% compared to other services. Especially, HostGator offers customers the website builder with thousands of templates. Well, they cost you nothing!

3. Bluehost.com

The dominant feature of this cloud hosting provider is the good security for site backup and sitelock. Moreover, it offers you various choices of CPU cores and memory capability which are up to 8GB.

I hope you understand those basic things about Cloud Hosting. Have a nice day!

Upgraded cloud services will be launched by Google for all its users; this is welcome news because the new features will include better storage management and other related services.

One aspect of these changes Google is making in its cloud storage services that will appeal to all users is the reduced prices. Now, the new and better features of cold storage and other options can be more accessible to a wider range of customers.

If you fall into the category of customers who have huge demands regarding storage, there is no need to worry because Google has you covered. The new cloud storage system will also feature a multi-regional cloud storage services through which data will be easily accessible via all the Google cloud data establishments at different locations. This gives you faster and more reliable access to your stored information. What about the backup files? Companies backup files that are rarely accessed (archived data) and Google has rolled out a Coldline Storage services for organizations who need this service.

Many firms have launched their cloud storage services, and in order to remain competitive in this field, Google has made these changes to hold its existing customers and to attract new businesses. Google promises a reliable service which will promote internal operations in organizations and the recently launched Coldline storage platform has features which compete with important services in this field such as the Amazon Glacier Cloud services.

This chart shows the different tiers of Google Cloud Storage.

Customers who wish to use the multi-regional storage option offered on this new platform will be permitted to choose among the following locations to store their data; the U.S., EU, and Asia. The stored data will then be replicated and securely stored in Google’s data centers located in different regions. This means that customers will always have access to their data because if one center goes down, the data stored in other centers will be made available.

This service is priced at 2.6 cents per GB monthly. It is most suitable for applications such as serving video and businesses which deal with networks used for content delivery.

The Coldline storage system provides a means through which customers can archive their backup files. This data will, however, remain quickly accessible when the customers need the information. Reports have indicated that the content stored on this platform can be accessed in milliseconds after a request has been sent. The charge for these services is 7 cents per GB monthly. And customers will be charged 5 cents per GB of data retrieved from the system based on their requests.

 The Regional storage is the rebranded standard storage offer from Google. The stored files in this system are securely preserved in one GCP region. And now, this service is cheaper, at 2 cents per GB monthly. There were, however, no changes made to the features of the Nearline storage service which is designed for backing up files.

Google has identified the need to support its customers who wish to manage their cloud storage usage across the various storage offers by introducing the latest data lifecycle management feature. Now customers can store data in the multiple tiers provided by Google’s and manage the processes from on platform; it is essentially a collection of data stored in the GCP. Also, customers can take advantage of the new policy feature which makes it possible to move data across the various tiers depending on how long it has been stored. Customers’ data that have been stored for a long time will automatically move towards that Nearline (backup service) and the Coldline storage.

Customers will no longer have access to the Durable Reduced Availability tier of storage; it is an old system which allows businesses pay lower amounts for storing data that they will rarely need to access. Google is eliminating the DRA which was priced at 2 cents per GB the same price for the recently introduced Regional storage offering (Existing customers will still have access to their DRA storage).

Google has expressed high hopes that these changes and reviewed prices will encourage more customers to use their cloud storage services. New cloud storage products are always welcome especially at lower costs, but we will soon know how well the public acknowledges these new changes.

It can be a little risky to take your data to a provider's cloud platform. That said, various experts believe it's  not any more so than storing it in your own data center.  Risks can be a lot less if you do your homework and ensure you go with a cloud provider you feel completely comfortable with and you can trust with your information.


Stay away from storing sensitive data in the cloud.  Ask yourself whether certain information should be stored or not.  If you believe the information is sensitive, do not advertise it to the world.

You should know if you will need specific tools to move your data.

Providers who have cloud storage have a charge for their service.  Paying for your data being secured is very reasonable but find a balance between what you require for their protection. You should know if there will be any fees involved in moving your data.

Above and beyond, know the specific terms of your contract regarding moving your data. Always read your user agreement before signing on the dotted line. Find out how different cloud services work and which one will work best for you.

Many experts believe you should have an arrangement with your provider that will allow you to put your data on a removable hard drive that will then be sent to you at the end of your contract.

Have a combined plan for your main storage that is quickly available from your in-house framework.  You should ask the same questions about your provider's cloud data center as you would for your own backup system.

Encryption is by far the best way to protect your data. If you are moving a file to a cloud, use a software that will provide a password for that specific file.  Your file will become password protected and no one will have access without the password.

Ensure you have an agreement that will work with how you will be using your data.

Never outsource your data until you are completely confident they will take excellent care of your information and preferably better than you can.

Microsoft will acquire StorSimple to improve their Azure cloud service.  The details have not been disclosed as of yet.  StorSimple offers appliances that back up business data to cloud storage services.  Their approach is a seamless integration of in-house storage with cloud storage which lines up perfectly with Microsoft's Cloud OS.


StorSimple's products will allow IT organizations to reduce their cost of storing data for backup and archives.  Their software and appliances will allow an organization to run hybrid storage systems with Cloud-Integrated Storage that combines in-house storage and cloud storage.  Their service uses Microsoft's Azure service and third-party cloud providers to run on VMware's cloud platform.  The software can be run by a web console or the basic components of Microsoft's Management Console (MMC).  The console is simply a framework into which snap-ins are added.

StorSimple has products that have been used by many different industries services including healthcare, financial institutions, manufacturing, etc.  Outside of their well-known storage management, they offered excellent data protection allowing clients to schedule backups then choose to store in-house or in the cloud very quickly. Cloud snapshots are extremely important in case there is a need, due to a disaster recovery situation, because it will replace backup tapes and then restore this information to either a data center or an alternative site.

Upon acquisition, Microsoft integrated StorSimple into their Azure product suite. There has not been a lengthy discussion how StorSimple's products will be integrated into Microsoft's line of products. StorSimple marketed a cloud storage gateway computer appliance known as Cloud-Integrated Storage.

Cloud storage is a great way to store all databases for all businesses in the digital world.

Introduction

When using your computer, do you know that your hardware in the laptop is probably full? Also, you have other important databases that you need to secure and make a smooth backup plan as well. With a traditional plan, you have to take much time for doing this.

But now, there is something that can help you minimize the risk of keeping a database so that you do not get stuff with this issue anymore. I/we are introducing the cloud storage!

About the cloud storage

Cloud storage is saving databases on remote servers. You should find out the right location for these servers.

Some enterprises undertake their backup plan in the US, but if their businesses have to follow the EU Data Protection laws, they need to adjust the EU-based servers.

Also, cloud storage is a new term for managing database storage through a hosted network. Typically, this network is the Internet-based service.

There are several kinds of cloud storage systems have been developed supporting business usages and individual at once.

How the cloud storage works 

Comedian George Carlin talks about how humans spend their lives gathering everything. Once they have accumulated enough stuff, they need to find places to store all.

If he were updated our routine life, he probably makes the similar observation about computer information.

Today, everyone uses a computer takes lots of time storing their database and trying to find a solution to store these databases.

For some computer users, using enough storage space to keep all databases they have acquired is a daunting challenge.

Some owners have to invest in larger hard drives while others prefer using external storage devices like compact discs and thumb drives.

Computer users can delete all folders of old files to create space for new information, but some are selecting to depend on a growing trend – using the cloud storage system!

Some main categories of the cloud storage 

Personal file storage

The most standard form of cloud storage supports all users to upload personal files or folders from their personal computers to their central Internet server. This provides them to get backup copies of files in case their first versions are disappeared.

What’s more, users can also download their files from the cloud to other gadgets. Sometimes, they can enable to control the files for other people for sharing.

There are many providers give online file hosting services. File transfers have over standard Internet protocols like FTP and HTTP. These services include:

• Storage volume and network bandwidth quotas 
• Network transfer speeds supported 
• Price (both free-of-charge package and extra fees of data usage)
• The software interface (some packages are browser-based package, and some are dedicated applications)

These services are an alternative to home network storage systems such as Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices, email archives.

Enterprise storage

Businesses can use cloud storage systems as a commercial remote backup solution. Software agents running inside the firm network can transfer copies of files and databases to the third party cloud servers.

Unlike personal file storage, enterprise database quickly develops obsolete and backup systems as well, including retention policies which remove useless database after passing time limits.

Large enterprises can use these systems to reproduce large amounts of the database between branch offices. Employees working at one website or one local region ought to new files and have them shared with colleagues in other websites or countries.

Company cloud storage systems include flexible policies for pushing or caching database effectively through websites.

Build cloud storage systems

Cloud networks which support several customers are expensive to make due to the requirements for handling large amounts of a database.

The reducing cost of physical digital media storage has supported counterbalance these prices per gigabyte.

Database transfer rates and server hosting get the price from the Internet database center provider that can also be considerable.

Furthermore, cloud storage networks are more difficult technology because of their dispersed nature.

Disks should be arranged for error recovery, and diverse servers have to be controlled to deal the high bandwidth requirements.

Network security aspects need to consider the expertise of professional who consider comparatively high salaries.

How to choose a cloud storage provider 

When using a cloud storage system gets many good points, it also has some downsides and involves risk behind. Therefore, it is important to choose the right provider for your situation.

Before you begin with a service, you should think of how you will use the service. If you want to see your files on your smartphones or through the website, be sure the service you are considering offers this. Collaboration is another factor that the provider can give you from different packages.

Also, if you want your friends, family or your colleagues can access the files once they are connecting to the cloud storage, you should check this point carefully before you begin your process.
Here are some factors you should consider before making your final decision.

Price

Vendors charge fees for their service offerings. Service plans could be divided into levels due to usage with penalty costs if you require the specified quotas.

Free services ought to have serious quotas on the amount of database which could be stored or accessed from the cloud storage.

You should buy enough capacity and capability to help you, and your company prevents possible troubles.

Also, you need to avoid long-term contracts with a provider which can cause serious problems later when your needs increase.

Usability

Cloud storage systems should make controlling with a remote database as easy as the database on your local hard drives.

Carefully check the user interface which is the browser or separate application screens and responsiveness that is network latency of a provider’s system. By doing this, you can find out main time-wasting usability limits that affect your productivity.

Well-served reputation

A free cloud storage service could be costly if it gets regular downtimes, loses or corrupts database.
It also has had past security accidents. Find out the service providers you are interested in for reliable brand and how they serve their clients before deciding to one.

Also, you should consider a provider’s trial subscription before signing a long-term investment with them.

Please note that you should not load any particularly important database onto a service during a trial period of time.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, using the cloud storage system will save you lots of things like your time, your bucks, etc. Even if you use the cloud storage as a personal usage or enterprise requirement, this new trend ought to meet all your needs. Use the cloud storage right away!

You have a lot of choices when finding yourself the best cloud storage provider. Let’s see which one meets your requirements!

There is no doubt that the cloud storage service helps the businesses as well as an individual a lot. In fact, when clouds for data storage becomes a trend, people have trusted this service. It not only offers you the various options in the storage memory, but also guarantees the high security and convenience. As a result, you don’t need the heavy physical hardwares anymore.

However, users are likely to be put among the vast areas of many cloud providers. Therefore, you must take care in choosing a provider which gives you the option that belongs to your needs. It’s not easy because there are many providers in the market place. In this article, we would like to introduce some prestige cloud storage providers which are trusted by most of users throughout the world. From these, you can choose which provider is the most suitable for your business.

1. Dropbox

Simple interface inside a Dropbox account running on the web

Free storage: 2 GB.
Payment: $ 10/ month or $ 100/ year for 1 TB.

Currently, the software Dropbox (Android version) still holds the "throne" when compared with other companies in terms of the number of times downloaded and installed the most. It has been around for quite some time, but the attraction of Dropbox has not dropped compared to other competitors.
The simplicity of the website design style and the Dropbox software interface are considered to be very intuitive, easy to use. Dropbox supports drag-and-drop operations as simple as what you need to do: select and hold the content you want to save from the drop-down menu, then drag and Drop to the Dropbox website. It can be seen that Dropbox is suitable for many users who like the simplicity. It also reduces the "excess" operation when using.

Strength:

• Convenient, easy to use.
• Supports multiple platforms (Windows, Mac, linux, iOS, Android...)

Weakness:

• Low storage capacity of only 2 GB (free). If you want more capacities, you have to buy the storage packages. 
• The "excessive" simplicity leads to a lack of some basic features when it comes to managing data on Dropbox. 

2. Google Drive

Besides the storage function, Google Drive also supports a wide range of convenient features for users.

Free storage: 15 GB.
Payment: $ 2/ month for 100 GB, $ 10/ month for 1 TB and $ 100/ month for 10 TB.

Google Drive is recognized by users and technology experts as the most comprehensive online repository. Actually, Google Drive is a product of Google company, so it gets a solid support from the big boss Google. Therefore, Google Drive will certainly be available on a multitude of technological devices, especially mobile devices, as long as they use Google-related services. Some typical examples are Android and Gmail.

It's simple to activate and use the Google Drive service. If you already have an account with Google, you can go to https://drive.google.com to enable this service. The users can also access and edit documents such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. In order to manage or use Google Drive, you only need one device connected to the internet, then log into the Google Drive website. In addition, the Google Drive app is also available on today's most popular operating systems: Android and iOS.

Strength:

• Deep integration into Chrome OS and Android
• The free storage capacity is quite large, it’s up to 15 GB
• Supports editing Word, Excel, PowerPoint.

Weakness:

• Because it's built into devices that use Google services, some features may be "accidentally" enabled. For instance, your Android phone may update your photos on your phone to Google Drive. 

3. OneDrive 

OneDrive is integrated on most Windows and Windows-based devices.

Free storage: 5 GB.
Payment: US $ 2 per month for 50 GB, US $ 7 per month for 1 TB.

OneDrive is one of the online data backup models developed by Microsoft. OneDrive is also a relative of Windows 8 and Windows Phone. Currently, OneDrive storage service has been integrated within each Hotmail account, Outlook (the Microsoft Mail box service) right from the time the user initializes.

OneDrive also has an extremely close relationship with Microsoft Office. Accordingly, OneDrive is integrated with some very useful tasks such as Word Online, Excel Online or PowerPoint Online. These options support the user to create, customize, edit content with the same interface and features as the basic Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Even files and texts originally written on a PC, uploading them to OneDrive can be edited quickly and easily. You can easily access the OneDrive repository via any computer or mobile device, of course, that must be connected to the internet. In addition, Microsoft has released OneDrive software on a variety of mobile operating systems such as Android, iOS or WindowsPhone.

Strength:

• Deep integration on Windows 8 (or later) and WindowsPhone.
• The storage capacity is quite large, up to 15 GB.
• Very good at editing and archiving documents right on OneDrive.

Weakness:

• This service is the most perfect use on the OneDrive - Windows.
• The cumbersomeness when OneDrive is integrated with many other Microsoft services (Outlook, Xbox Live...)

4. Box

The interface of the Box is simple but clearly demonstrates the professional style designed to business users.

Free storage: 10 GB.
Payment: US $ 10/ month for 100 GB.

It is also a type of cloud storage service, but Box is aimed at users in the "business" segment separately. Box service is quite well-known for its high security mechanisms. It can support for interventions, and deep customization of how account holders communicate with other individuals.

Moreover, Box provides users many customizations such as the rights to decide which objects are viewed, downloaded for use or edited for each selected content. Users can also set password for each file, set limits for sharing time for each folder... Also, Box supports some basic features similar to Microsoft Office and Adobe Lightroom. Therefore, it’s very convenient for quick editing right on the Box.

Strength:

• Many security options and how to share data.
• The storage capacity is quite large: up to 10 GB.
• Good support for editing online photos.

Weakness:

• The use, management, and sharing of data are quite troublesome for non-users.

5. Mega

Free storage: 50 GB.
Payment: $ 5/ month for 200 GB, $ 10/ month for 2 TB, $ 20/ month for 4 TB and $ 30/ month for 8 TB.

Although the limit for each upload or download is only 10 GB every 30 minutes, the online storage service MEGA is still one of the services that provide extremely large free storage, up to 50 GB. MEGA is built for storage and sharing. However, MEGA has a drawback as its web interface lacks some of the advanced tools offered by rivals coming from larger companies.

6. Sync

Free storage: 5 GB.
Payment: $ 5/ month for 1 TB, $ 8/ month for 2 TB.

Sync emphasizes security with a secure backup system as well as easy sharing. This application provides standard mobile applications and desktop folder synchronization tools with online "Vault" memory available at competitive rates.

As you can draw from this article, every cloud storage provider has their pros and cons. However, these providers offer different businesses, individuals with different options. Therefore, you can base on your main requirements and choose which one is the most suitable. Good luck to you!

When it comes to the cloud storage, you should consider one of three service providers – AWS, Azure, and Google. Which one should you use?


AWS, Azure, and Google are the software giants on the cloud computing market; especially when you want to use public IaaS cloud computing. Each vendor has several selections for all clients to choose from the cloud storage. Therefore, this is the reason you should discover more information about these enterprises. Keep on reading!

AWS, Azure, and Google – What should you prefer? 

One of the most popular use cases for public IaaScloud computing is the storage, and this is a good reason to take into account.

You can use uploading database to the cloud and pay for how much they put there. It is not difficult to recognize. However, in fact, the world of cloud storage has many aspects to take into account.
Each of the three main public IaaScloud storage vendors that are Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform have various storage options and in some situations complicated schemes for how much it costs.

In fact, there is not any vendor which is better than the others. Each service provider has their good points and the drawbacks as well. These will depend on the specific usage situation. Here are three popular cloud storage use cases and how vendors kick off.

Block storage

Block storage is tenacious disk storage used with cloud-based machines. Each service vendor breaks their block storage into two types which are conventional magnetic spinning hard-drive disks and newer strong state disks (SSD). These are much more expensive, but they play a good performance.

Additionally, clients can also choose a premium to receive the main amount of guaranteed input or output per second (IOPs) that is a sign of how quick the storage will save new information, read, and store in it.

For instance, Elastic Block Store (EBS) is the product of Amazon which has a great handful of flavor.

Through Cold HDD and Optimized that are conventional magnetic and spinning-disk offerings, the General Purpose SSD is the next generation of drives and Provisioned IOPS SSD which are made for transactional workloads.

Furthermore, Azure has the block storage offering is called Managed Disks with standard or premium quality based on SSDs. Persistent Disks (PDs), on the one hand, is the version of Google which has the SSD or the standard option.

Object storage

Do you want to save a file in the cloud storage? Object storage is the right choice for you. The cloud service providers have different kinds of storage, arranged by how often the client expects to gain it.
Hot storage is a database which needs to be instantly reachable. Cool storage is connected more infrequently while cold storage is a classical material which is rarely accessed. In other words, the cold storage is less expensive than other storages.

The basic storage of AWS is Simple Storage Service (S3). It gives the Standard Infrequent Access for cool storage and Glacier for cold storage as well. With Google, they have Google Cloud Storage and GSC Nearline for cool storage and GCS Coldline for classical.

Azure, on the flip side, also has two main options with Cool Storage Blobs and Azure Hot. Clients can use the cool storage for accessing the database. AWS and Google have 5TB object size limit whereas Azure has more than Google and AWS (with 500TB per account limit).

Determine the price of object storage is more difficult because patrons probably select to host their database in a single region or more that they can run their backup plan in many regions. This is the best practice to make sure you ought to access to your database if there is a sudden incident in an area.

File storage

A new use case is the usage of a cloud-based file storage system. File storage looks like a traditional version of the Network File System (NFS).

Clients ought to put the files to the system from any device or VM connected to it. Then, they can read and retrieve files easily. This cloud storage is quite new, and it still does not have enough features compared to object storage and block one.

AWS offers the file storage is called Elastic File System which launched from beta version since June 2016. This supports users to get files from AWS Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) virtual machines through a virtual private cloud or from AWS Direct Connect and VPC.

With the file storage, there is not any size limitation. Thus, it automatically scales based on requirement, and it also gives a 50MB per second via per TB of storage. Clients ought to pay for up to 100MBps at $0.30 per GB each month.

Azure also gives Azure File Storage which is similar to the nature platform, but it has a great capacity up to 5TB per file and 500TB per account. Moreover, it requires manual scaling and provides a 60MBps via reading files.

Conclusion 

In fact, there have been lots of discussions on which cloud service provider is best. Our article does a great mission of comparing the aspects of the big 3 cloud storage provider – AWS, Azure, and Google.

We prefer using Azure, and we have found that it works well for our customers and us. However, you can choose two other providers. In fact, the world of cloud storage has many factors that you should consider. Each has several storage choices with a different price point in the specific schemes.