Forget the Cloud!
February 18, 2021•337 words
Cloud storage is neat. I love having a way to collaborate with clients and to see random spreadsheets created by number-crunching gamers. On the other hand, I hate OneDrive. LOL. I feel like a broken record on that note, but whatever.
I suspect that people who suffer from Shiny Object Syndrome love all the free storage on offer. But, unless you have a business need for cloud storage, I believe you're better off using iDrive to backup your most important stuff and then buying some large, portable hard drives.
I recently purchased a 4 TB Canvio Basics USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive for 89.00 + tax. To get that much storage "in the cloud", I would have to...no. I'm not going to calculate that! Instead, let's see what we can get for a yearly fee:
Google Drive: 1 TB, 99.00
Dropbox: 2 TB, 119.88
OneDrive: 1 TB, 69.00
There is a niche in the cloud services space called cloud-to-cloud management. Companies like Cloudfuze, oDrive and Multcloud claim to help you manage many of your cloud services. You can migrate, sync, backup, make pancakes and spend money.
Or, you could create a DOS batch file to do most of those on your own computer. Migration is not an option, due to massive download sizes. That would be the only reason I'd use one of these services.
I'm glad I spent an hour perusing the reviews and pricing plans. The exercise helps to dull the shiny objects to the point where I lose interest.
Keep in mind, "the cloud" is just a bunch of remote servers and they are essential for things like Gmail, Evernote, Standard Notes, Workona and your Words With Friends history. I personally prefer my Toshibas, along with iDrive, in case the house burns down.
I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be worried about my files if a real disaster strikes. Let's be real. Clean water and toilet paper are going to be higher up on my list.