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?
