Ever wonder how long it takes to upload 3 terabytes to the cloud?

^You're totally correct, but you missed a few advantages of "the cloud"

Security: You can have it just as easily as with private storage, but commercial services don't make it easy (or sometimes don't make it possible). Commercial services have transport encryption, but for online use you want file encryption, so that when stored online the plaintext of your files is not readable by anyone who doesn't have the key - and the only person who could access the key should be you. For commercial services you can usually just encrypt the file first using something like EncFS. Tahoe-LAFS encrypts by default such that the files are only readable by the uploader. So security in "the cloud" has gained a bad reputation the same way that e-throttle has: Shoddy implementations done for no good reason.

Remote access speed: You can get greater speed with swarming downloads than you could with private storage.

Reliability: If you want to make your own distributed storage system you need to personally pay for and maintain multiple computers and connections. This is cheaper in "the cloud."

NSA: Again, encryption, use it. As I always tell people, "they're not magic."

In reply to GameboyRMH:

Ok, so if I have a USB 5Tb drive, when it's unplugged, the security of it will always be superior to anything on the market that is remote accessible storage. Done.

If I'm using the system for storage for archives and back up- access speed isn't terribly relevant to me.

As for distributed storage- that's a different game. That's like web pages- where the data is stored somewhere so that many people can access it. If I'm doing that, then remote access by someone else is generally the only game out there. I suppose I could host that at home, as I know some people who do.

But using the word "cloud" for remote storage of files makes it sound so very nice. It's just remote storage of files- that's it. One that is accessible via the internet- just like the entire web is. It's not that special.

It is interesting that people can stream their bought music, which does save space on their mobile devices. But all it actually is, is remote storage of files you can stream. Just like the entire web.

I agree that "the cloud" is far less special and useful than companies want to make it seem (I sure as hell don't want all my music streaming over expensive cell data, for example. MicroSDs are a cheap one-time cost).

The only reason companies are pushing it is to get regular subscription payments and lock you into their services so that they keep on coming. This has only recently become possible with bandwidth improvements. But it does have some legitimate uses.

Distributed storage isn't necessarily about letting many people access it, it could be about having the data backed up in multiple locations in case of data loss or loss of connectivity in one location (or again, for swarming download speed). Somebody has to plug in your offline backup drive to access it, and if your house floods or burns down you'll have to roll the dice on a data recovery service, and the minimum wager could be in the 5 digits. If someone steals your unplugged drive and it wasn't encrypted, you're SOL too.

In reply to GameboyRMH:

All of those problems are pretty easy to solve.

But the reality of what "the cloud" is prevents me from embracing it as something super valuable at home, and is something we've been doing at F for decades. Many big companies have been dealing with big computer data since the 60's, so security, and multiple back ups in various locations are already here. Maybe that's why I don't see the cloud as a big deal. I don't even know how many remote drives I'm currently connected with- not counting the internal web stuff. One we've been using since at least 1998.

You're right, it's not a big deal for most big companies, and to the average user it's not very valuable at home either except as a user who doesn't have to know what's going on behind the scenes. For the advanced user, it lets them use the kind of systems that were previously only affordable to big companies, that's where it's kind of a big deal.

In reply to GameboyRMH:

And I'm very clearly not an advanced user. So that's a good reason I don't get it.

I've had one video game in my recent life, and gave it away over a decade ago (Grand Prix Legends). I don't count the game that came with the force feed wheel.

Nor am I a video person- either taking or looking at.

So the stuff that's really big- I just don't do.

Work wise- while I pretend to generate big files, reality says quite differently- I have a 500GB hard drive that is way way less than half full. Granted, I do have time limits of how long I can keep stuff. But it's still not that much.

In reply to petegossett: PM sent. Call me at nine five four, five three zero, seven one eight nine

GameboyRMH wrote:

ProDarwin wrote: RPi + 4tb external drive + BT Sync is the way I want to do it, just haven't ever gotten around to doing so. You put another in your parent's/friend's house and partition the drives so each person is using the other's home for offsite backup. Hell, 5 or 10 people here could get together and basically create their own free cloud backup that way. Anyone else want in?

I've been thinking of doing the exact same thing (well, I already have a home server so no RPi) so you can count me in. Edit: I think Tahoe-LAFS might be a better choice than BTSync, but same concept.

New thread?

A Pi is my home server so it works well for me. Also for those who aren't Linux gurus (like myself), its just a matter of burning an image and can plug/play to join the fun.

ProDarwin wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote:

ProDarwin wrote: RPi + 4tb external drive + BT Sync is the way I want to do it, just haven't ever gotten around to doing so. You put another in your parent's/friend's house and partition the drives so each person is using the other's home for offsite backup. Hell, 5 or 10 people here could get together and basically create their own free cloud backup that way. Anyone else want in?

I've been thinking of doing the exact same thing (well, I already have a home server so no RPi) so you can count me in. Edit: I think Tahoe-LAFS might be a better choice than BTSync, but same concept.

New thread? A Pi *is* my home server so it works well for me. Also for those who aren't Linux gurus (like myself), its just a matter of burning an image and can plug/play to join the fun.

As luck would have it, I an putting W7 on my in laws computer at home, this would be a perfect time to set that up.

GameboyRMH wrote:

logdog wrote: Every time some body mentions cloud storage I think of when I was in a meeting with a senior manager who wanted to move all of our training materials to the cloud. He drew a globe on the white board and a pretty cloud above it with arrows pointing to it. He told us that is where the information needed to be. My immediate manager was also in the meeting and drew the same thing every chance he could to explain the project.

LOL do they look like this guy?

Almost. Shorter and more Italian.