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By Nelson Schneider - 11/22/15 at 04:35 PM CT
“The Cloud” is the hot, new fad in the world of computer technology, and shows no indications of going away any time soon. While actual “Cloud Computing” is a term referring to easily-expandable virtual server architecture, when most average folks talk about “The Cloud,” they are, instead, referring to the many services that offer blobs of online storage for individual account holders.
Having recently come to join the 21st Century (15 years late) with real, usable Internet speeds, AND having recently started to run a good, old-fashioned Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game in “The Cloud” with Berzerk Games’ “Tabletop Simulator,” I suddenly found myself with an urgent need for and ability to utilize Cloud storage. Of course, I didn’t want to actually pay for the privilege, so I went on another modern-day pilgrimage, visiting all of the holiest of holy Clouds to see if any of them were worthy of veneration. While by no means fully comprehensive, the following is what I learned about the bigger names in contemporary Cloud storage.
Google DriveGoogle Drive is the obvious choice for Cloud storage considering that a) Most people already have a Google account and b) Google provides a fairly large chunk of Cloud for free. Yes, indeed, everyone who already uses Google’s web services for anything is granted a free 15GB worth of Cloud storage in Google Drive, with reasonably-priced upgrade options for folks who want 100GB ($2/month) or 1TB ($10/month) of Google’s Cloud. Google also has a desktop application for Drive available that creates a special Drive folder in the user’s libraries that will automatically sync anything put in it with Google Drive’s server (and vice versa).
Unfortunately, Google (and many others, as it turns out) has taken it upon themselves to wrap every uploaded user file in an incredibly annoying previewer script that makes it nearly impossible to just link directly to an original file (for example, an image to be embedded in a blog). While it can still be done, it requires a lot of tedious cut-and-paste nonsense to parse out a valid, direct-linking URL. Google Drive is also heavily worried about securing people’s files, as it is very difficult to accidentally share something with the public… even if that is the user’s intention.
OneDriveSince Microsoft wants to become the new Google, and is desperate to catch up with the modern era and reclaim the IT crown after stagnating for too long with their desktop/office focus, they have naturally created a Cloud service of their own. OneDrive is part of the OS in Windows 8 and newer (with a separate downloadable application for Windows 7).
Microsoft gives away the same generous 15GB of space as Google, but makes it easy to earn more free space by registering more Windows devices or referring friends. For those who just can’t get enough Cloud, OneDrive also has options for 100GB ($2/month), 200GB ($4/month), and 1TB + Office 365 ($10/month). So far, I have over 30GB of OneDrive space, and haven’t paid a penny.
Like Google Drive, OneDrive has a desktop interface that creates a special synching folder in the user’s libraries… but outside of the Windows 7 stand-alone app, requires the user to log-into their entire computer using a Cloud-connected Microsoft account. This extra layer of Cloud connectivity and potential security hazards naturally worries some people – including myself. I don’t want to use a Cloud account to log-into a local machine. Doing so seems like madness, though I would be perfectly happy to log-into discreet applications on a case-by-case basis… you know, like people do! Fortunately, there is a work-around for this overreach on Microsoft’s part, in the form of an old-school networked drive that can be created using one’s OneDrive login credentials, which works great. ( Update: After installing Windows 10 the day after this article was published, I discovered that the W10 version of OneDrive does indeed support single-app sign-in. So Windows 8.x is the only version with overreach.)
OneDrive also falls into the category of services that use annoying previewers, but actually has the least annoying one, as it is quite easy to view the original file from right inside the previewer… but for some reason “Tabletop Simulator” still doesn’t like the URL format, which limits OneDrive’s usefulness in my specific situation. At least OneDrive makes public sharing dead simple, as it provides a “Public” folder that automatically shares anything stored in it. ( Update: Microsoft has recently decided to drastically reduce the amount of Cloud they make available in OneDrive, both for free and paid users. Folks who already use the service can opt-out of getting their Cloud capacity ganked, provided they do so by Jan. 31, 2016.)
PhotobucketPhotobucket is an old-school hipster site. It was providing Cloud storage before Cloud storage was cool! Photobucket is, however, more limited than more modern Cloud services, as it is – as its name implies – a photo/image storing service, not a general file storage service. It also has numerous limitations, such as a small 2GB of storage and a 10GB/month bandwidth cap. It also has a bunch of features that make it feel more scrapbook-y than Cloud-y, such as a heavy focus on ordering physical prints.
Photobucket has a reasonably nice desktop application and a simple interface that makes it easy to share images and directly link them. It’s also the only one of the services I tested that works properly with “Tabletop Simulator” without a whole lot of extra messing around.
MEGA (formerly MegaUpload)Folks may remember MEGA from when it was known as “MegaUpload” and was at the center of a massively overblown copyright fiasco dealing with the service’s willingness to host pirated materials. After fleeing Europe to hang out in extradition-free New Zealand, the site’s founder, a rotund German who legally changed his name to Kim Dotcom, relaunched the site as a paranoid’s dream Cloud.
MEGA offers a whopping 50GB of free Cloud, but is one of the few modern Cloud providers that worries about bandwidth, limiting file transfers to a MEGA Cloud to 10GB every half-hour or so (which seems fair, if you aren’t trying to run a massive filesharing ring from your account). MEGA takes security seriously, using surprising amounts of encryption, and providing each user with a unique encryption key for their account that is necessary in addition to a standard password to log-in.
Because of its focus on paranoia and security, I found MEGA to be really terrible for publicly sharing files. But for those seeking to just hide their stuff in the Cloud, it’s a great choice.
BoxBox is one of the earlier instances of the modern Cloud, and is primarily designed around the concept of sharing files with a limited group of people in order to do collaborative editing across vast distances.
Box is kind of stingy, as it only gives away 10GB of free Cloud, and further imposes a 250MB maximum file size on uploaded files. Box also puts a 10GB bandwidth leash on free users. Box has fewer cheap price tiers for upgrades than its competitors, starting at $10/month for 100GB of Cloud and an increased maximum file size of 5GB, and ending with $15/month for UNLIMITED Cloud and the same file size cap. Enterprise users are encouraged to “call for pricing” for even more feature-packed pricing structures, but for the average personal user, Box doesn’t really offer much… and it uses the same terrible previewer as Google Drive!
DropBoxDropbox clearly wants users to give them money, as their free offering is pretty terrible: a meager 2GB of storage, further hampered by a terrible previewer script (like Google’s) and limited sharing controls. Users who pony-up $10/month get a huge 1TB of storage and “additional sharing controls,” while businesses can pay $15/month for UNLIMITED storage, more sharing controls, and “priority support,” so when the Cloud eats your presentation, you don’t have to wait in line on the phone system behind the guy who can’t get Dropbox to spit out a link that “Tabletop Simulator” likes.
Out of all these Cloud storage services, NONE of them is 100% satisfactory. I love Photobucket for its ease of use as a storage dump for publicly-shared images. I love OneDrive for its great interface, easy public sharing, and the ability to hack it into a Network Location in Windows.
Of course, I hate Photobucket for its old-school stinginess and I hate OneDrive for being a Microsoft Trojan Horse.
Out of the other providers I looked at, Google is the only one that offers a broadly-appealing product, with MEGA, Box, and Dropbox all targeting specific demographics (paranoids, small businesses, and enterprise businesses, respectively). Regardless, Google’s insistence upon creating the widely-adopted annoying previewer script has temporarily ruined their Cloud’s potential. But The Cloud is new! The Cloud is young! The Cloud will change, and that change will come rapidly… and hopefully for the better.
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