The Cloud Revisited

[Lee]

A couple of years ago I did a piece on Cloud Computing, and thought I would revisit the subject to see if any of you who were around have changed your mind.

My stand on it back then was I would never go to the Cloud and to this day still haven't. One thing I have noticed is it seems to be taking off at a fairly good clip. Commercials on TV and the internet are being one of the main entities for revenue these days. It would appear those who own tablets/pads, and smartphones at present are the main draw. People appear to be drawn to the Cloud by the promise of having there photos, music, documents, etc. available at any time and any where (this seems to be the main catch).

Haven't seen any of the above reasons needed regardless of how far away my files are.

What are your thoughts. Do you use the Cloud (which service), and do you find the experience rewarding.

 

[Bumpkin]

I don't use the cloud and don't think I will any time soon.

My ISP (satellite) is really too slow to upload much, it would take couple of weeks to put all my data in the cloud.

But for users of tablets and smart phones I can see the advantage.

 

[solarmystic]

I use SkyDrive sparingly for ease of document transfers between colleagues. It does okay for a free service.

However, this recent trend of herding everyone to the cloud is a rather dangerous one. In an age where corporations like Google (Chinese hackers), Sony (PSN fiasco) and Microsoft can have their servers hacked and data mined by groups like Lulsec, Anonymous, operatives and their governments, and cannot definitively secure our stored data, one would be wise not to place any important data onto their services.

Redundancy is king; Local Redundancy is the best option for quick file access...

Also, re:Megaupload and how the legitimate users of that particular "Cloud sharing service" lost all their data with no hope of recovering any of it when the US Government decided to go "World Police" and ordered the New Zealand authorities to raid KimDotCom's services in New Zealand... a raid that is now considered by the New Zealand courts to be illegal

Raids on Megaupload Mansion Ruled Illegal | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

Kim Dotcom judge rules mansion raid was illegal | Technology | guardian.co.uk

What happens when the cloud sharing service of your choice is deemed criminal and is shut down next?

 

[Bumpkin]

@ solarmystic

Very good point.

Another reason to not put all your eggs in one basket.

 

[Sbrideau]

I have stayed away from the cloud and will continue doing so. I don't believe in putting my files on unknown servers that can be anywhere in the world, and that can be datamined by hackers and such. Especially when there's software you can install on your computer to get your documents from anywhere, such as FTP servers. With my fiber connection I can get my files from anywhere in the world, and even have an open-source streaming server that I turn on whenever I feel like listening to music I don't have with me and such.

Everything is possible, I don't need the cloud.

 

[Lee]

I use SkyDrive sparingly for ease of document transfers between colleagues. It does okay for a free service.

However, this recent trend of herding everyone to the cloud is a rather dangerous one. In an age where corporations like Google (Chinese hackers), Sony (PSN fiasco) and Microsoft can have their servers hacked and data mined by groups like Lulsec, Anonymous, operatives and their governments, and cannot definitively secure our stored data, one would be wise not to place any important data onto their services.

Redundancy is king; Local Redundancy is the best option for quick file access...

Also, re:Megaupload and how the legitimate users of that particular "Cloud sharing service" lost all their data with no hope of recovering any of it when the US Government decided to go "World Police" and ordered the New Zealand authorities to raid KimDotCom's services in New Zealand... a raid that is now considered by the New Zealand courts to be illegal

Raids on Megaupload Mansion Ruled Illegal | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

Kim Dotcom judge rules mansion raid was illegal | Technology | guardian.co.uk

What happens when the cloud sharing service of your choice is deemed criminal and is shut down next?

Very well put. These are some of the points I originally made, and it is good to see there are individuals like yourself who see the problems that can arise from Cloud Computing.

 

[gregrocker]

I've looked at clouds from both sides now. I like Skydrive, especially its new app to sync your User folders to the cloud and then to any other devices. I like being able to use my laptop in the other room and have the same exact files available that I just updated on my desktop. Sync Any Folder to Your SkyDrive Account | PCWorld

It has a risk that you'll edit a file which syncs before you can undo it then lose the original. Previous versions isn't reliable to keep up with this in real time - although Recycle Bin will catch mistaken deletes.

So I have SyncToys do a rolling add of all User folder changes to a backup folder weekly which itself is on Skydrive, thereby having all my previous versions within immediate reach. I may change this to daily. I'm waiting to hear from others if they find a better method.