Compare the Consumer Online Storage Offerings…

If you are considering a cloud storage solution for your home use, there are a variety of resources for you to peruse to make the most informed decision. We keep a list of the consumer focused offerings in our directory of cloud storage services for individuals, but some other sites have more comprehensive reviews.

One that seems like a useful cheat sheet is OnlineStorage.org. This site has a number of useful links and reviews of seven major cloud storage players in the consumer space. The detailed review of each offering provides the pros and cons of the various options. Check out a sample: online storage review for ElephantDrive.

Update on Carbonite Incident – More Info From CEO…

In response to our recent post regarding Carbonite’s lawsuit against its hardware vendor, we received a comment from Carbonite’s CEO David Friend. The entire comment has been approved and published, but we wanted to make sure that his key points were recognized with a full posting, as opposed to just showing up in the comments of the original.

Key Point 1: Friend notes that the incident happened over a year ago and is “not an ongoing problem.”

Key Point 2: Friend asserts that while approximately 7,500 users were originally affected by the problems, only 54 users actually lost data (and most did not lose all of their data).

Key Point 3: Friend asserts that Carbonite has change its practices and its vendors to increase the reliability of its systems such that, according to the CEO, the chances of failure “are almost nil.”

It seems like a positive indication that Carbonite’s CEO is addressing this issue head on. The questions that remain are: 1) who is ultimately responsible for the problems that occurred, 2) is the new design Carbonite is using sufficiently reliable, and 3) how will this issue affect cloud storage providers and consumers?

Xdrive: Going, going… Sunset!

After two months of transition, the Xdrive service has officially closed. If you have any doubt, check out their site which simply says “Xdrive is closed”. Fortunately, the AOL team that decided to “sunset” the Xdrive product (along with AOL Pictures and the still nascent BlueString media management platform) gave the user base plenty of notice — they originally leaked the news in July of last year and then made the official announcement back in early November.

In spite of all that warning, it seems safe to assume that thousands of users will only realize that their data is toast now, when it is too late to retrieve the files.

Comprehensive review of online storage services with matrix

Our last post highlight a detailed set of user provided review for a handful of leading online storage service – we were impressed with the depth of the examination.  Today we found another very useful resource.  The ultimate review/list of online storage services has been posted at the blog ToMuse. The posting is aimed at capturing the free services, but details both free and paid solutions.

In addition to delivering a summary overview of each offering, the blogger has prepared a comprehensive matrix of all the services (note updated link) by category. The grid details all the relevant limitations and features, as well as helpful distinctions such as support type (email, phone, and/or live chat). This blogger deserves a medal – regardless of whether accolades are bestowed, he will certainly get a bump in traffic as the post is a valuable resource for anyone considering adding an online storage solution (or any writer considering an article on the space).

Downtime for Upline – HP starts off with a meltdown…

HP launched it’s online backup and storage solution Upline earlier this month to some fanfare and significant press coverage – it didn’t take long for it to reveal itself as simply not ready for prime time. TechCrunch got the scoop again and reported on the Upline failures.

Upline was the repackaging of the Titanize service, created by Opelin. The repackaging was great – the interface is slick looking and the demo sure seemed cool. That said, HP will have some explaining to do as to why it chose the Opelin technology (it was quietly acquired last year), as it appears to have failed under the first sign of load. Not the most reassuring debut…

Tell us more…

New storage demands drive online adoption…

Anthony Calypso reports that massive accumulation of valuable digital assets is turning consumers on to online storage. He cites Jonathan Steuer, a vice president and general manager for Iconoculture Inc., a Minneapolis-based cultural trend research company who says “consumers are having data storage issues that they’ve never had before … more of their assets are digital (i.e. photo content, MP3 files). As people accumulate more stuff, there is a notion of wanting to protect those [items]. It’s really part of the Web 2.0 world that we’ve seen building for a long time.”

Calypso notes that “Consumers might have an easier time breaking bad habits once they become aware of the online back-up options available today,” and recommends ElephantDrive, Mozy, and Xdrive as solutions.

CRN skeptical of SkyDrive

Channel Web ran a story today that went over the recently unveiled SkyDrive from Microsoft. The article was a little harsh, highlighting the problems SkyDrive would present for any enterprise or small business, and including this relatively damning quote:

“After extensive review, not only does the CRN Test Center not recommend SkyDrive, but it would also be advisable for VARs to suggest their clients block its access through content filters.”

Tough, but based on the security/compliance questions, perhaps accurate. This sort of logic flies in the face of the “everything will be free” movement, but might identify a real need in the market…

Reviews of online storage services from real people…

A couple of interesting posts address the needs of online storage users.

The blog author at “What I Think” posted on what he /she [corrected per the comment below]  thinks is important in the entry Online Storage: How It Should Be. Some good points, but it seems like a bit too much confidence in the as-of-yet mythical gDrive.

Also, at Doug’s Tech, Doug explains why an individual or small business might need to consider online backup, and what issues they ought to think about as they prepare to select a provider in Online Backup: From Start to Finish.

Daily Roundup for March 24th, 2008 – JungleDisk, LiveSpaces, and backup options…

Today’s interesting stories include…

• An interview with Dave Wright, the founder and architect of JungleDisk (one of the early front ends for Amazon’s S3)
• PC World discusses Microsoft’s Live Workspaces, with a focus on how the Redmond-based behemoth will leverage the product to bolster the highly successful Office suite against competition from Google Docs and Zoho
• A nice primer on the different ways to backup, both online and offline from the eBlox ecommerce blog

Hello world! Hope we can help you better understand your “Cloud Storage” options..

Hi! Hopefully you’re here because you’re interesting in “cloud storage.” What is cloud storage? It’s a method of managing your data (files, photos, music, video, whatever, etc…) from one or more web based solutions. Rather that keeping your data primarily on hard drives that are tethered to your computers or other devices, you keep it “in the cloud” where it may be accessible from any number of devices.

There are a whole bunch of solutions out there purporting to provide cloud storage. Some work, some don’t. Some are expensive, some are cheap. Some are simple, some are complex.

We’re going to try to make some sense of it all. We’d love your help.