Online File storage?

[ababysean]

Is there a free online photo storage website?
My hard drive is filling up and I do not want to buy an external right now, but I don't want to delete either... lol
I am wondering if anyone knows of an online file storage website?
Thanks so much
Crystal

 

[mwcfarms]

Hey Crystal, I use Mozy online, its not free its 4.95 month but pretty darn close. I also burn to DVD's and an external HD. Im neurotic. Oh and I am paranoid about losing my files again.

Oh I might have misunderstood. i use mozy to back up not to store pics. Sorry my bad.

 

[lordfly]

Adrive.com apparently gives you 50 gigs of storage space for free.

 

[cyngus]

dropbox

 

[MrBarney]

Consider the network performance before deciding. If you have an 8Mbps DSL connection, for example, then you're looking at:

8Mbps = 1MB/second

50GB = 51200MB

That's about 14 hours to download. If it's the same as the UK, then the upstream speed is much less - the best you could get here would be 1Mbps upstream, which makes it about 5 days to upload :shock:

I think external storage is the way to go. USB hard drives are cheap.

 

[Mbnmac]

I'll second dropbox, I don't use it but I know a lot of people in the .jpeg business that use it and rave about it


That's about 14 hours to download. If it's the same as the UK, then the upstream speed is much less - the best you could get here would be 1Mbps upstream, which makes it about 5 days to upload


The thing is, you leave it running in the background, it'll get done when it gets done, then it'll constantly update as you go.

Although having an extra backup is also well worth it, an online file system means you can access anywhere in the world

 

[MrBarney]

The thing is, you leave it running in the background, it'll get done when it gets done, then it'll constantly update as you go.

I think the OP is looking for some extra storage rather than a backup or archive solution. I agree that as a backup or archive, online is just fine within practical limits. Browsing or searching for files on this kind of setup will be a chore though. I suppose if it's free then it's only your time to try it out, assuming you have true unlimited DSL; somethine which is a rarety this side of the atlantic.

 

[Big Mike]

I personally wouldn't be comfortable 'storing' important data on-line. If it's backup, that's OK...but not as your only version.

As mentioned, hard drives are ridiculously cheap compared to what they used to cost. You don't even need an external drive, if your computer has room for another internal one.

I've been 1 tetrabyte drives getting down to around $100 CDN, so I'm sure you can find something cheaper in your neck of the woods.

Although, the one thing that bothers me, is that it wasn't long ago that 300-500 GB drives were $100-$150. But now that 1 & 2 TB drives are getting cheaper, I'm not seeing $50 500GB drives in any stores. I know they are available, they are just hard to find.

 

[MohaimenK]

send them to me Crystal I have like 5 TB of space in my server

 

[lordfly]

Although, the one thing that bothers me, is that it wasn't long ago that 300-500 GB drives were $100-$150. But now that 1 & 2 TB drives are getting cheaper, I'm not seeing $50 500GB drives in any stores. I know they are available, they are just hard to find.

Walmart was having a sale for 500gb external drives for $55...

 

[supraman215]

I personally wouldn't be comfortable 'storing' important data on-line. If it's backup, that's OK...but not as your only version.

Agreed. Off-site, or on-line, storage is not a good solution as the ONLY storage location for your data. Your data should always be stored in 2 places at the very least. Off-site backup is the industry standard for enterprise backup and the SAFEST way to backup data.

Get a new HD to accommodate your files then go with Mozy, unlimited online backup $4.95/mo. This will not work as a storage location only as a backup, any file not on your PC is removed from mozy after 30 days. So if you accidentally delete a file you have 30 days to figure it out before Mozy removes it.

Of course the first time you run mozy it may be slow, it took me more than 2 months on the first run 450gb, but now it runs nightly at 3:30am and since it's only doing a couple gigs at most is very quick.

 

[JG_Coleman]

+1 for external disk drives over on-line storage.

When looking into online services some time ago, I found that there are also important size limitations for individual files. Certain places offer a whole lot of space but put a ceiling on how large any single file can be. Most individual photographs, including RAW files, will usually be small enough to fit. But when you start talking about stitched, full-res panoramas and rendered TIFF files... some services may not have you covered.

There is also the issue of whether or not you take videos with your camera, as these videos can easily be many times larger than a RAW photograph... even larger than a big 90MB TIFF file.

So if you do go the on-line route, be sure to check out the maximum file size... it differs with each service.

External hard drives are remarkably cheap these days, as has been mentioned by others.

External hard drives offering 2TB can be had for between $130 - $170... and will hold an enormous amount of information.

Even if that size is a bit more than you really need, one can 320GB, 500GB, even 1TB drives for $60 - $100, respectively.

Self-storage is best policy, really... especially with how affordable external mass-storage has become.

 

[supraman215]

+1 for external disk drives over on-line storage.

I don't really see it as an either, or. You need the space locally to store all of your photos, so external drive, flash drive, internal hard drive whatever doesn't matter. Online BACKUP not storage is the #1 way to protect your data.

When looking into online services some time ago, I found that there are also important size limitations for individual files. Certain places offer a whole lot of space but put a ceiling on how large any single file can be. Most individual photographs, including RAW files, will usually be small enough to fit. But when you start talking about stitched, full-res panoramas and rendered TIFF files... some services may not have you covered.

There is also the issue of whether or not you take videos with your camera, as these videos can easily be many times larger than a RAW photograph... even larger than a big 90MB TIFF file.


So if you do go the on-line route, be sure to check out the maximum file size... it differs with each service.

Wow that sux. I know I have 4.7gb ISO files on Mozy so they don't have this limitation.

Self-storage is best policy, really... especially with how affordable external mass-storage has become.

Unfortunately this is not true. You're not protected in the case of a disaster at your home (which of course I would hope would NEVER happen to anyone) but if there's a fire, hurricane, flood, break-in, you're external hard drive is not protected. If your home your #1 priority is your safety and family, pictures second. If you're not home your pictures are gone. Even as simple as a power surge Sure power strips offer a warranty and will replace your external drive but so what, and I would assume your external HD and computer would be plugged into the same power strip. What's $150 when you've got hundreds of hours of editing time and photo taking time into that drive.

So while an external drive (assuming having pics stored on internal and external drives) is better then just having them on an internal drive only it only really protects you against physical drive failure.

 

[JG_Coleman]

Indeed, multiple fallbacks are preferable to one. And if somebody wants to have a mass-storage external backup drive and also maintain a mass-storage online mirror of their files... more power to em. I'm on board with that idea, supraman.

However, in my experience, it's difficult enough to get people to back up their files, at all... much less convincing them to follow-through on maintaining redundancy. The ordinary person usually stops at a single backup... for better or worse. And if only one is going to be chosen, I would choose an external drive... for convenience, flexibility, and speed.

Granted, online storage does offer certain benefits not offered by self-storage... including, as you mentioned, protection against disasters that could destroy your hard drive. I just think that very few people are likely to reliably and consistently go through the work of maintaining both an HDD backup and online backup.

If my house burnt down, my photo library would be missed... quite honestly, though, it would be the last thing on my mind when confronted with misfortune on that level.

So, I do agree... external hard drives paried with online redundancy is a great idea. Whether or not an individual will realistically maintain such a backup system is the real question, though. I foresee many people being unwilling to... and instead choosing one or the other, even if that's not the ideal way to go.

My method: redundancy on two external drives. If my house burns down... yeah, I'm screwed. Moreso cuz I'll have no place to live... much less so because my photo library will be gone.

Admittedly, for individuals that make considerable income from their photos, there may be more reason to protect their photo library against any and all possiblitity of loss. In which case, supraman's suggestion is the only way to go.

 

[supraman215]

No place to live would be temporary, the photos are gone forever. Assuming no one (or pets) is home and you have no other personal artwork in the house it would be the one thing you would miss the most. Every time there is a disaster and they interview the people the thing they always say first is photos. Everything else is replaceable, even a house, pictures aren't.

I agree with you having the external HD backup and online might up might be a little much for most people. But if you backup online only there's no need for the external drive backup at all. Also with the online backup you could be on the road and backing up, i.e. vacation, without having to carry around an external drive with risk of it getting lost with your luggage or damaged in transport. The online backup I have is also completely automated, and runs on it's own. They have their own software and it's very easy to set up.

If you're a pro I think we can agree it goes without question you NEED off-site storage. If you lose someone's wedding photos they will be pissed come their 5th or 10th anniversary and they want copies. But for a person just taking photos for fun, it would be about how important those photos are to you. If it's worth $60/year to you.