I've been using cloud data storage for a long time, and you may be using it, too.  At a previous employer, we used LiveVault for near real-time offsite backups.  I have several hundred megabytes of mail stored at Google.  You are probably storing mail with your provider.  We're already in the cloud, with only a password between us and the public.  If you use Mozy or Carbonite, both of which I recommend for personal use, your PC has been duplicated somewhere "out there" or "up there".

I just signed up to use ADrive. They offer 50 GB of free storage.  For a few extra bucks, you can get automated backup tools.  I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with ADrive, but I thought I'd check it out.  In the process, I've begun defining my ideal personal or small business cloud storage solution.  It would offer

• PKI encryption using the openGPG standards
  The process of sending to the site would encrypt with my GPG public key. Thus, only I could decrpypt data when downloading it.
• Two factor authentication
  Access requires both a password and a single use code sent via SMS.
• Crossplatform support
  Windows, Mac, Linux, with command line tools and, in the Linux world, support for rsync

What do you want from an inexpensive, comsumer cloud storage solution?

At the office, your IT guys probably back up your computer for you or force you to store critical files on a file server that they back up. I'll write later about how the Institute does backup at a corporate level. The concern of this posting is backing up personal computers. What are you going to do if your hard disk starts making a funny clicking sound, then stops spinning? Or when your notebook drops out of your hands and tumbles down a flight of stairs? Or when a nearby lightning strike fries your 5 year old surge protector and everything attached to it?