Save money, time and space by living in the cloud

[Forskaren]

I have noticed that handling local files have become more and more of a hassle. Sorting files anyone? Losing files due to a bad hard drive or syncing errors? Ever started working on a version of a file that was an old version? I am talking about using cloud without locally synced copies, unless specifically needed.

I have currently 40 GB of storage for free from Microsoft in my OneDrive storage. I can write free word, Excel and PowerPoint documents in my web browser. My photos are automatically uploaded in full quality to my OneDrive from my phone. My calendars are synced to my phone from my employers exchange server and my private Microsoft account.

If I don't sort my files in folders, I can still search my cloud storage. If my apartment burn down, I just log into the cloud to access my files. I don't feel the same need any more to buy hard drives , usb-sticks and extra memory cards.

[jacob]

Yes and no. Obsolete file formats is why I like the *nix way of thinking about files which should all be humanly readable. I prefer to keep everything in txt or pdf.

The following is what worries me about cloud storage.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... ces-closed
In addition, it's a common business model to start out offering a service for free and the proceed to charge for it once the users have been locked-it. There's a rather well known data storage company that's rather notorious for this.

And of course, by relying on cloud storage, you're invisibly locked into maintaining a strong ISP connection. Cloud only really became viable once comm lines became cheaper than hardware. It's similar to the terminal/server split up to about 1990.

In practical terms, what I do is to store daily use files on the cloud. Things of commercial value or things with permanent value, I store locally on USB or discs (and of course the working directories on my harddrives).

[Forskaren]

Good points about changes to some cloud products.

I use Microsoft for the cloud since that is a well know company with relatively good track record concerning stability and backwards capability. Office is a well know product with long track record. The most critical files I also got on my Google drive and got some other way of getting them back. Work files doesn't concern me, since I store those on my employers server and therefore their problem to keep secure.

If I got paid $5000 I would happily wipe all my data and accounts at Microsoft today without taking any backup. So like most of my physical stuff, my digital files doesn't own me. It is far more likely that I lose $50000 on the stock market than that I lose all my online data in OneDrive, so the risk seem acceptable for me for the sake of convenience.

[George the original one]

Cons
Reliance on the cloud for data storage is fraught with potential for abuse by governments and criminals without your knowledge.
Denial of Service attacks can slow down your access and sometimes preclude access.
You generally do not have the option of refusing a service update (e.g. you can't choose to wait-and-see).
No revision control system for your documents.
Troubleshooting options are limited.

Pros
Data center operations (ensuring adequate backups, installing updates) are no longer your responsibility which is time better spent on your proficiencies.
Mobile users highly satisfied.

***
I use Google Drive and find it serviceable. If the data I've placed there disappeared, it would be inconvenient, but not catastrophic. My Flickr & YouTube accounts are for entertainment purposes. My Steam account was necessary for some game, but I find their updater annoying, especially now that I'm on a metered connection.

At my former office (the one I retired from 2 weeks ago), we had switched to the Cloud version of MS-Office. We used the full local apps and most data was stored locally with the big exception of email. Email was often a frustrating experience because there'd be behind-the-scenes server updates and maintenance that we wouldn't know about until it caused problems. Latency in the email system was also too high for business use and frustrating because we had no way to see what caused the latency.

[GandK]

I use the cloud for backups of critical information, not for primary storage.

Periodically I research encryption solutions for the folders I sync to the cloud, but I have yet to implement one.

[Forskaren]

I noticed that if you want to use cloud services for mobile, it is a greater risk that it will cost money than when using the same services on a Laptop in the browser.


Lastpass, Office, etc

[daylen]

Home server with redundancy and fire/water protected case, best of both worlds.