Which cloud storage?

I have lots of documents and photos on various memory sticks.

I'm thinking about transferring them to some sort of cloud storage.

Would you think this is a good idea?

If yes, which cloud storage would you choose? If no, what else would you do bearing in mind each time I load the Memory sticks now..... there is some sort of driver issue.

And is it an easy transfer from stick to cloud? I mean...if I google the how of it will it be easy?

Thank you all so much

Re: Which cloud storage?

Cant comment on Cloud storage, though there are plenty of Photo hosting sites out there, Picassaweb, Flickr, etc, not sure if thes are the same as CS.

Very easy to upload photos to these, not sure if i would be happy putting documents up though.

I have lost images due to computer problems, so having them on line means they were not lost forever.

Im sure some of the more Techy types will give you a better answer.

Re: Which cloud storage?

Thanks Nom ( cute name!)

Re: Which cloud storage?

I do use Cloud storage because its convenience, but I have an inherent distrust of storing personal files on someone else's server - see where that got Sony just lately, where someone is hacking their data at will. By all means store data online, but nothing beats also having a backup on a DVD or external hard drive.

Storing data on DVD and CD is very reliable. I have a backup on a DVD that is 15 years old and it still works fine - and, yes, I do have more recent backups! It was just I found that one lurking down the side of my bookshelf a few months ago.

Re: Which cloud storage?

I'm not well up on these things Kim but while Clouds may be OK I wouldn’t put anything personal or private on any cloud. I think Tachyon’s advice is far safer, all my old photo’s, documents, and family video’s are safely stored on two outside hard drives, each of 500 GB’s, plenty of space left to add more stuff if I wish, and you can carry them around with you anywhere should you wish.

Re: Which cloud storage?

Thank you both so much. My fear is that the external hard drive could go poof or ( as lately with one of mine) the driver just went poof ( this is a technical kim term!!)

And then all could be lost.

Any thoughts?

Re: Which cloud storage?

With blank DVD's costing pennies there's nothing to prevent you making a weekly backup. It's vital people DO make backups as someone's hard drive died and they asked me if I could salvage the pictures off the drive for them. There were photos on it they hadn't backed up for 5 or 6 years - holidays, birthdays, Christmas, etc., but the drive also had the last pictures taken of their late daughter. If they were unrecoverable they had lost all the keepsakes of her going back years! Luckily they were recoverable, but it could have been a catastrophe.

As Jem says, drives are pretty cheap too, so I think a good backup system would be to use software to make an automatic synchronised backup to another hard drive at least once per week (internal drive or external) and make backups to DVD every now and again. By all means use Cloud storage but apart from security risks you have to bear in mind that you'd need Internet access to get your files off the Cloud.

My friend's daughter swore by using Google docs for all her work documents, meaning she could work on them at home as well as in the office and on the move. She loved Cloud storage so much she never bothered with a backup on a USB drive. Then one night, as she had a deadline the next day to deliver some documents she was working on, her wifi went down... She doesn't rely solely on Cloud storage now.

Re: Which cloud storage?

If you back up internally and your puter dies does that mean its all lost?

Re: Which cloud storage?

No, just take the drive(s) out and put them in an external drive casing or into another PC, and you can read them that way, usually. If a PC dies it's often just a motherboard component or sometimes just the PSU that has blown and the hard drives are fine.

Even if the hard drive has become corrupted there are ways to retrieve some, if not most, of the files. Success is not guaranteed though.

Re: Which cloud storage?

Wow....well if anything goes wrong I'll come and knock at your door!! Thank you!