Cloud storage update

While AeroFS is good, I think that in the coming months I will be switching all my data sync over to BitTorrent Sync. I am currently using it to sync one folder between my laptop and a server in another country and see that it matured to the point that sync is reliable. Moreover, it offers some serious advantage over AeroFS (which is going to focus on enterprise), and it is that it works on Windows, Linux and Android/iOS. I now spend more time in Linux, but my shares are on NTFS volume, and AeroFS refuses to work with fuse-mounted volumes, while BT Sync just keeps going. And Android/iOS apps perform real syncing, which is a pure win.

Walking in the clouds

Oh, the joy of assymetrical internet access speed. 1MB/s down and only 100KB/s up.

I have setup cloud sync for my files. 2x25GB in Skydrive plus 22GB in Dropbox and the rest (around 100GB) went into AeroFS (which is not a cloud, strictly speaking, rather cloud sync filesystem).

 

To get 70 GB up into the cloud, it will take approximately 9 days. In the meantime, bandwidth throttling between those 3 services and 3 PCs, is a real nightmare. AeroFS does LAN sync, Dropbox does both LAN and cloud sync at the same time, and Skydrive, (bad word goes here), syncs only through cloud. Sad, especially taking into account, that Windows Live Sync was blazing fast over LAN.

 

There is setting in all of them to throttle bandwidth, but when 9 instances struggle over 1 pipe, result is disastrous. As, Forrest Gump said circa. 1995, Internet is like a box of URLs, you never know what error code you gonna get.

 

P.S. It is possible to run 2 different Skydrive accounts on the same server (Windows 7 in my case), each under different account/session.

Cloud sync and backup

I have been using http://wuala.com for couple of years to keep ca 80GB in safely synced and backed up in the cloud, for free. But they changed from p2p storage to commercial centralized server model, as a result, I am going to loose that  free storage. What are my options at the moment?

I took a look at

- Windows Live Mesh (will become Windows SkyDrive and loose p2p sync ability). Storage limit is good though at 25GB.

- I have beta invite from Cubby (by LogMeIn) – only 5GB in the cloud, but promise of free and unlimited p2p sync

- Google Drive – only 5GB, but good gmail/gdocs integration, no p2p sync

- Dropbox – up to 16GB storage after referrals, hmm. Plenty of mobile clients, but nothing else going for it, other than ability to game it easily to grow storage.

- Ubuntu One, SugarSync, Megacloud – 5GB free cloud, some mobile clients

- Bitcasa – speaks about unlimited cloud storage for $10/month, using p2p similar to wuala?

I am sorry, to see wuala go nuts like this. Theirs was the best option for owners of 24x7 servers (e.g. home NAS + torrent server + wuala cloud peer). After fallout, not many options are left, most of them are good for usual users, who do not have own server and fully depend on the cloud for sync. However, I see opportunity to achieve most of what wuala did for free by combining various parts of different services.

Here is what I’m going to try

1) for unlimited p2p sync (which provides backup too) between my server and several laptops

2) to raise protection bar – e.g. unlikely event that both laptops and server are destroyed by fire at the same time – p2p sync to my parents PC – this is good for anything, bar nuclear strike :(

3) Google Drive for my working docs (5GB)

4) Dropbox/SkyDrive for my music/photos files (16+25GB)

Other services, like UbuntuOne, SugarSync, MegaCloud, Bitcasa – I do not see much use for, with current pricing. I will however, try them to see if I missed anything.