Online Storage Blog

The ease with which we can add tons of data to online storage solutions means that in a few years’ time a person can build a substantial legacy on the internet. Photos, videos, texts, etc accumulated over a lifetime are being added online daily by millions of users. The amount of data uploaded to online data storage sites by businesses is even more.

It is not surprising that people have started nominating heirs to their online properties such as websites, blogs, contact management systems, their multiple log-in names and passwords, etc. Online diaries often carry sensitive information meant only for personal viewing, so too with online photo and video albums. People are opting for either nominating an heir or taking steps to erasing their online presence once they are gone.

Also, storage bills have to be paid each month or the painstakingly accumulated memories may get wiped out. Online data has become a valuable asset that requires attention when charting out estate details so that control of the material online can be passed on to designated individuals.

Till now, the most prominent online utility to take the demise of an individual into consideration has been email. Both Google and Microsoft offer access to next of kin upon furnishing of suitable proof such as a death certificate. Yahoo does not offer any such facility.

The remote backup service offered by EMC is now available to Mac users. Mozy terms its MozyHome service the first unlimited online storage service for Macintosh users and is available at $4.95 per month.

The free service allows uploads of up to 2 GB and there is no expiry date, you can store data for as long as you wish to. MozyHome for Mac runs on Mac OS X 10.4 or higher.

Mozy was born when EMC took over the Berkeley Data Systems last October. The beta version for Mac has been available since April last year and more than 43,000 people participated in the beta. Along with EMC’s purchase of Iomega for $213 million, the Mozy initiative will help establish EMC in the field of consumer cloud computing.

Other companies that could shortly introduce online storage for Mac and Linux users include Carbonite and Itronis Technologies. Mozy has plans to add Mozy MozyPro and MozyEnterprise to its roster later this year. These will target businesses. Mozy offers security in the form of online 448-bit Blowfish encryption and uses a 128-bit SSL connection for file transfer. As of now Mozy is offering incremental backup at scheduled times. It also stores 30-days version of the older data. Data recovery is possible via downloads or by ordering DVDs from the company.

Mozy claims 700,000 users of which 20,000 are enterprises. It has a backup of 6.2 billion files that add up to 7.5 petabytes of data.

From 23^rd May 2008, users of Windows Live in Ireland can avail 5GB of free online storage. SkyDrive is Microsoft’s initiative into the world of online storage.

A cool thing about the SkyDrive storage system is that there are three folder options that give you control over the extent to which you want your content displayed. These folder options are “Personal”, “Shared”, and “Public”. SkyDrive is connected to Windows Live Spaces, which is great for users of this social networking portal. As yet, the service has not acquired the community-driven feel of a site like Flickr or Digg but it is an important element of Microsoft’s drive for achieving success in software plus services.

In offering 5 GB of free online storage, Microsoft has beaten Google to it; although Google offers 5 GB of free online storage to Gmail users, it is cumbersome to send huge attachments via email.

Updated features of SkyDrive include –

§ Comment posting and reading recent comments left by others.

§ Add captions and describe the content of your images and files.

§ A cool widget that lets you browse through files in a folder.

§ More satisfying and larger image previews.

Perimeter eSecurity, a provider of online security services has jumped on to the online storage bandwagon. Along with its existing offerings that include affordable on-demand security and management of company LAN and WAN; the company is now providing remote data backup and recovery via the SaaS mode.

The company is looking to target the mid-market companies, as it is almost 80% of the company’s business comes from businesses with less than 500 employees. The remote data backup and recovery is based on proprietary technology developed by Perimeter eSecurity and allows customers to backup their content as well their operating system along with its configuration. The different backups can have different schedules and can be backedup fully, partially, or incrementally.

The files are encrypted before backup, during transmission, and at the storage site. Each customer’s data is stored at two locations for redundancy.

Natuba is a free online photo storage site that aims to target the discerning iPhone users who are different from the hoi polloi in matters of taste and a lot more. The company is keen to focus on iPhone users and its mobile upload feature. However, you can send photos from any camera phone that has internet connectivity.

Joining Natuba is a breeze and once accomplished Natuba account holders can email their photos with descriptions in the subject line. The photos are made public,a feature that may not sit well with a lot of users. You can rate and discuss photos online. Natuba allows you to display your photos on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites as well.

Phanfare, yes that’s how it’s spelt, is an online storage company offering web-based photo- and video-management. As of now Phanfare is the only company that offers free photo and video sharing as well as desktop software, Phanfare Photo, for both PC and Mac. The Mac desktop application has just been redesigned.

Phanfare makes money by offering unlimited storage at $ 54.95 per annum. Members can avail 1 GB of storage free; however all users are restricted to an upload limit of 10 GB per month and a download limit of 15 GB per month.

You can create and manage albums and also import music from iTunes via a web interface. Photo and video management is drag-and drop. There are over 70 album styles to choose from; sharing videos online is a breeze and the stuff is presented to viewers ad-free.

Drop.io is a cool online storage solution for those who wish to distribute large files for wide-audience viewing but feel restricted by the 10-minute restriction imposed by video-sharing sites like YouTube and cannot be bothered with zipping files to email them.

Drop.io, where the “io” stands for the Indian Ocean and the drop is the proverbial drop in the ocean. The name indicates the ease with which you can drop add file into the digital ocean. What’s more, you can avail free online storage for up to 100 MB of data. For as little as $10, you can add a GB of information. The online storage service is renewable annually. You can add files in a number of ways, via email, fax, text messages, and phone call. Once the file is uploaded, you can forward its link for download to anyone you wish to share it with.

Drop.io is open to use without registration, a unique feature offered by the site is that you can record your voice easily over here; the audio gets converted into an MP3 file and use it for broadcast from any computer. Your web address on Drop.io does not show up on search engines; an added security feature.

Storage as a service is the new SaaS. Although online storage solutions have been around for a long time, it is only now that they are coming to the fore. This blog will endeavor to bring to its readers the latest news and views on all things related to online storage.