Announcement posted by iCloud Inc 14 Jan 2012
Providing a way to give consumers access to everything they do on a computer from anywhere has become the brass ring for digital services and thanks to a number of cloud providers, there are options for ways to store, secure, access and manage it. The amount of digital data is rapidly growing at a rate as high as 80% each year. Knowing just how much space will be needed to store copies to protect their information while predicting future needs presents a challenge for consumers as they look to take responsibility for protecting their information against data loss.
Some cloud providers propose 1GB – 50GB of storage for free and through proprietary campaigns, additional storage space may be available but you are restricted to the device you use, the types of files you store. While 5 gigabytes of storage might potentially be enough to fit 1,000 MP3 music files and 1,000 photos, it won’t be enough to hold an entire collection or your other important files.
With iCloudDrive, clients benefit from unlimited packages and terabyte service plans. iCloudDrive ProSuite provides 5 Terabytes of service (that’s 10,240 GB) while iCloudDrive Backup service is an unlimited service! iCloud clients have an incredible amount of flexibility with storage space for their complete collection of music, documents, photos and shelves of high quality video and full-length movies. It’s impossible to know just how much space you might need when selecting your provider and if you exceed your service limit, you are at risk of getting hit with a lot bigger bill than anticipated.
Following is a comparison of services that offer features and sharing beyond just storage:
Provider |
Service |
Service Overview |
Approximate Cost /GB/Year ($USD) |
FREE |
iCloud Inc. |
iCloudDrive ProSuite 5 terabyte service |
5TB Service at $204.00/year |
$.02/GB |
Free Unlimited lifetime iCloudDrive Backup account |
Amazon |
Cloud Drive |
1000GB at $1000/year |
$1.00/GB |
5GB + songs purchased from Amazon do not count towards storage |
Apple Inc. |
iCloud -for Apple iOS/OSX users only |
50GB service at $100.00/year |
$2.00/GB |
5GB + purchased items on iTunes do not count towards storage. |
Dropbox |
Pro100 |
100GB at $199.00/year |
$1.99/GB |
-2GB on starter plans -50GB Free Lifetime Storage for LG Android Mobile Device users |
|
Google Docs |
16TB for $4100/year |
$.25/GB |
1GB + Gmail (7GB) and Picasa (1GB) |
SugarSync |
|
100GB for $149.00/year |
$1.49/GB |
5GB |
Consumer services that primarily offer backup and storage for your files include:
Provider |
Service |
Service Overview |
Annual Cost $USD |
FREE |
iCloud Inc |
iCloudDrive Backup |
Unlimited, no restriction on size or type of files, accessible on any digital device across all platforms for all your computers |
$60 |
Entire account is free for a lifetime when you make a referral and they become an iCloud client |
Box.net |
Box |
-50GB storage space cap with 1GB file size limitation |
Free 50GB |
Service is free up to 50GB. |
Carbonite |
Carbonite Home |
Unlimited, size limitations on files, 1 computer limit |
$59 |
|
Moxy |
Moxy Home |
125GB, limitations on file type and size, 1 computer limit, not accessible from mobile devices |
$109 |
|
Microsoft |
SkyDrive |
Integrates with Windows Live Mail (Hotmail) and other Windows Live services (online version of Microsoft Office). Limitation to size of files uploaded (50MB) |
Free 25GB |
Service is free up to 25GB. If additional space is required, must look to alternative solutions. |
The price of storing files in the cloud has dropped and there are services designed to fit any budget. For many consumers, storing copies of all of your music, photos emails and documents in the cloud is now an affordable option — and one that will protect you from waking up with your memories erased.
If you are looking for a storage solution where information can easily be shared, iCloudDrive ProSuite service scores the highest when it comes to the amount of space and at a fraction of the cost of what any other cloud provider is offering. iCloudDrive service offers simplicity and it’s easy of use on all fronts. Through a true cross platform service, users log in through any web interface to manage, upload, download and work on files on any Internet-enable system: Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry and Symbian devices. Backups are made automatically, the service is feature rich and highly secure with zero footprint on all devices connected to the web. With iCloudDrive so many features, so much more space…consistency runs across their services with their iCloudDrive for Business delivering 10 terabyte storage (10,240 GB) for pennies/GB. To learn more about iCloudDrive services, visit www.i-cloudinc.com/iCloudDrive.