Google launches 'Drive' cloud storage service | StAugustine.com
Another choice for cloud-based storage rolls out to consumers this week. Personally, I already use Box and like it, but I'm willing to look at Google because I already use several Google services. Although I'm hesitant to store sensitive information on the cloud, certain data is a no brainer. Take photos, for example. Over the past two years, I've copied nearly all my digital photos to web storage. I still have them on personal media, but having them in the cloud gives me a back up. The importance of this is critical. Cloud storage is more secure against crashes and regularly backed up by the service. About two years ago, had both my main computer and my external hard drive back up crash with weeks of each other. Between the two, I had years of digital photography stored that chronicled my childrens' early lives. The media on the computer was totally lost after back up to the external drive, so when the external drive crashed I lost all access to those image (and other important data). The external drive can be recovered, but it's expensive and I haven't had the funds to do that yet.
Obviously, cloud computing isn't perfect. Google would be well served to remember that many users still have unreliable data access, making total cloud computing impractical. For users like me, who choose not to subscribe to mobile access, cloud computing is likewise not a full-time solution. Data protection is also a concern. What assurances do I have that other entities are not accessing data I consider confidential if I put it in the cloud? So there are still several critical concerns that need to be addressed before full-time cloud computing becomes a reality for all users. For now, however, cloud apps are a great way to share and collaborate, and cloud storage is excellent for easy back up.
