Other: Data - Cloud storage services, Can anyone recommend

R

robster180

Active member
Hi

Just a quick question to see if any of your use a Cloud back up system to store files?
I see that Amazon has an Unlimited Service (Glacier) which is cheap approx 1p per 1GB

My intention is to archive finished work which is no longer a 'Live' project

Thanks
Rob
 
Im using Backblaze but its only a mirror service so you cant store stuff without keeping the files on a disk. Saves you from buying extra disks though! And its only 50 bucks a year unlimited.
 
robster180 said:
I see that Amazon has an Unlimited Service (Glacier) which is cheap approx 1p per 1GB
Rob
Click to expand...

I assume they call it "Glacier" because of the speed! :-)
I cannot imagine using cloud services for video. A 2TB HDD with Thunderbolt connectivity is only about $50 and I have instant access and security.
 
Hi Doug
Yes I know that hard drives are cheap, however in the last year I've had 3 fail on me.
And besides Connections go out of fashion, I already have to have adapters for Firewire etc.
Cloud storage is hardware proof
 
I can't explain your bad luck with drives, but I have 2-3 copies of everything so it would just be a minor inconvenience if a drive went belly up. I buy naked WD or Seagate internal drives and then use them in docks. The drives just drop in like a slice of toast, and my docks have two slots. you can get them for any kind of connection you want, so the drives themselves are always compatible with your next computer. Also, usually when a drive goes bad it is the power supply or some other component other than the disk itself. The dock method totally eliminates that issue and is also very cost-effective and requires minimal storage space. Just food for thought.

It would take me days to upload 4TB of footage to the cloud that just takes a couple of hours on drives. Not to mention pulling the footage back down from the cloud.
 
"Amazon Glacier is optimized for infrequently accessed data where a retrieval time of several hours is suitable."

but I am surpriced how cheap it is.
 
robster180, are you looking to the cloud because you want your back-up off site, in case of fire or theft? If so, that's not a bad idea for valuable footage.

Unfortunately, the cloud isn't ready for video back-up unless you're rich. Amazon Glacier, at $.007/GB is actually cheaper than Doug Jenson's hard drive, at $0.025/GB. But you pay it every month. And he's right, it's called Glacier because it has "a retrieval time of several hours." I'm sure you would be fine waiting several hours to get something from back-up. But I think that must be when the retrieval finally just starts.

The problem is that network speeds have not kept up with storage (thank you, ISPs). How fast is your Internet connection? A decent plan is 20 Mbps. That would take you 4½ days to download 1 TB. Plus, Amazon Glacier charges you to download it. After just 1 GB per month, you start paying 9¢/GB. So that retrieval would cost you another $90.

And that's not the only problem. Your upload speed is probably a small fraction of your download speed. A decent plan might give you 3 Mbps. In that case it would take you a month to upload 1 TB. Uploads to Glacier are free, so it wouldn't cost anything for the actual transfer, just the aforementioned storage costs of $0.007/GB/month. That's why Amazon provides a box for you to ship your data to them. But that's $200 per tranfer, plus shipping.

Unless someone else has a better idea, I recommend doing what Doug Jensen suggests, which is to copy it to an external hard drive. I think I might use an SSD. External spinning-disk drives seem to fail a lot on me. It would cost a lot more though. I guess it depends on how much the footage is worth to you.

Then if you want the benefit of off-site back-ups, I would first consider a local friend or family member who would lend you a few cubic feet of space at their house. If that's too weird for you or them, consider a safety deposit box at your bank.
 
When we finish with a project, we move it off our primary, on-line server to an offline "archive" disk. This set of archives are just spinning disks, but we keep them in triplicate (archive 1, archive 1 Backup, and Archive 1 Offsite Backup, etc). It's probably overkill, but drives are relatively cheap next to the possibility of losing something and having to re-shoot.

One trick- get a solid 2 or 4 bay thunderbolt enclosure, and then purchase (and store) naked drives without their own enclosures.

Also, Hitachi Deskstar drives are some of the most reliable. I've had very bad luck with Seagate. I've also heard stories about problems with some of the "Green" Western Digital drives.
 
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