Category Archives: Cloud Storage
Sony’s Creator Cloud now allows photos & videos to be directly uploaded to cloud storage from the FX3 & FX30 – Newsshooter
Sonys Creator Cloud now allows photos and videos taken with cameras such as the FX3 and FX30to be directly uploaded to cloud storage.
After setting it up in Creators App or on Creators Cloud Web, you can connect your camera to the cloud storage and upload photos and videos directly without needing to do it via your smartphone. You can quickly check your captured images/videos from various devices, and get started on editing.
Huge image data such as high image quality photos and videos are able to be transferred to a smartphone both via Wi-Fi and USB cable. A wired connection provides more stable transfer.
From March 2024 onwards, the 1, 9 III, 7S III, and 7 IV will also be compatible with this function. Please note that to be able to use this feature you will need to perform a software update for the camera you are using.
Sony has four different plans you can choose from. If you own an eligible Sony camera, you can start with a free 25 GB plan. A 500 GB plan is also available for heavy users.
By linking your smartphone to cameras, you can control them remotely from the smartphone. This enables remote shooting, which may be useful for group shots or keeping cameras still in night scenes. You can also check camera battery and media information, set the date, time, or camera name, and more from a smartphone.
LUT files stored in the cloud storage (Creators Cloud) can also be imported to the camera via smartphone without using any PC and SD card.
Matthew Allard is a multi-award-winning, ACS accredited freelance Director of Photography with over 30 years' of experience working in more than 50 countries around the world.
He is the Editor of Newsshooter.com and has been writing on the site since 2010.
Matthew has won 49 ACS Awards, including five prestigious Golden Tripods. In 2016 he won the Award for Best Cinematography at the 21st Asian Television Awards.
Matthew is available to hire as a DP in Japan or for work anywhere else in the world.
It’s time to upgrade OneDrive’s paid storage, Microsoft – PCWorld
Its been literally a decade since Microsoft raised the cap on its paid Microsoft 365 storage plans to 1 terabyte of OneDrive cloud storage. Its time for an upgrade, dont you think?
Last week, Google changed its name of its Bard AI assistant to Gemini, launched Gemini Advanced, and in the most important change of all made 2TB of cloud storage the foundation for its new premium pricing tier. Okay, that last point is a lie. Because Google offered a free upgrade to its Google One plan six years ago, granting 2TB of cloud storage for $9.99 per month the same price as Microsoft charges for 1TB of storage.
Okay, even thats not totally accurate, since the same 2TB Google One deal is available to new users for $2.49 per month for three months, before returning to $9.99 per month.
The reason Microsoft loves subscriptions is that theyre sticky: You sign up, set it to autopay on your credit card, and forget about it. But as consumers start re-evaluating their streaming plans (do I really want to pay for Netflix if they cancel everything after two seasons?), its worth asking the same hard questions about Microsoft 365.
Microsoft 365 both the $69.99 annual plan for Microsoft 365 Personal and the $99.99 annual plan for Microsoft 365 Family give you Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, the main reason that most people sign up. But from there, it gets iffy. Outlook? Id much rather have Mail, thanks. Microsoft Defender? That comes with Windows, or there are other free antivirus solutions available. Clipchamp? I love it, true, but Microsoft tried to make that a $19 monthly subscription, too.
Mark Hachman / IDG
A consumer version of Teams, Access, Publisher, Forms, and Skype? Im going to argue that the value there is next to nil for many people, especially in a world with Zoom, Canva, Microsoft Designer, and other solutions. Yes, there are hidden reasons to subscribe to Microsoft 365, but they dont seem as potent as they once were.
Storage, though, matters, and its a travesty that Microsoft hasnt kept up with the times. In 2014, phones like the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 offered 16Mpixel cameras, even back then. Today, a camera like the Samsung Galaxy S23 or S24 allows you to shoot 200Mpixel still shots, plus 4K videos and even more. As long as you set your phone to automatically upload your photos and movies to OneDrive, the available storage space can be sucked up quickly. And, of course, a Microsoft 365 subscription includes all of the other files that you use daily, from Word to PowerPoint. In all, what you might call storage inflation is increasing, and it will only continue.
Mark Hachman / IDG
One of the reasons that Googles own storage policy change received such attention was that it felt unfair. Google used to offer unlimited photo storage, even compressed which, to be fair, it didnt have to do. But doing away with all that was just the first step in making all of the photos you uploaded count against your free 15GB storage cap, prompting you to pay for a Google One subscription, or at least additional storage. It was anxiety-inducing, especially during a pandemic when people didnt need extra anxiety.
Now both Microsoft and Google are asking consumers and businesses to pay an additional fee to access the top tier of their respective AI LLMs: $20 per month for a new Google One AI Premium subscription (Google Workspace, 2TB of storage, and Gemini Pro, among other benefits) versus $26.99 ($6.99 per user per month for Microsoft 365 Personal with 1TB of storage, plus an additional $20/mo for Copilot Pro). Google simply offers a substantially better deal.
Microsoft has historically jerked consumers around when it comes to cloud storage, enough that I had to consult OneDrives Wikipedia page to get it all straight. Remember, in 2014, Microsoft upgraded Office 365 subscribers to 1TB of OneDrive storage, giddily pushed it to unlimited OneDrive storage, then reneged on the deal and settled on the 1TB limit a year later. Its remained 1TB ever since. Even the Microsoft 365 Family plan (which offers up to 6TB of storage) doesnt pool the storage; its 1TB per user, with up to six users.
Its also worth pointing out, incidentally, that Dropboxs low-end Plus plan is, yep, $9.99 per month for 2TB.
If Microsoft executives want to make consumers pay through the nose to satisfy their shareholders, there are plenty of AI-related services to justify the cost. Enterprises can afford those premium services, too. But jerking around consumers with Microsoft Rewards points and failing to upgrade the OneDrive tier with additional storage feels a little slimy. Its time to get with the times, Microsoft, and offer more for our money.
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It's time to upgrade OneDrive's paid storage, Microsoft - PCWorld
Cloud DVR levels up with video expertise and operational agility from Ateme and AWS | Amazon Web Services – AWS Blog
This blog is co-authored by Francois Guilleautot, Director of cloud solutions, Ateme.
Since its introduction at the 1999 CES show in Las Vegas, Digital Video Recording (DVR) has existed in various forms. While the technology is not new (Ateme has offered DVR solutions since 2016), the transition to over-the-top (OTT) streaming has accelerated adoption, with the DVR market expected to grow from $6.4B USD in 2023 to $16.4B USD by 2030. Consumers now record more content than ever, and expect recordings to be available on any device, from anywhere. In fact, recording capability is now the most desired functionality for a streaming service.
Although demand for recording capabilities has increased with streaming, the concept itself is not new. Technology to record television for later viewing has been available for more than 50 years. In the age of analog TV, VHS and Betamax tape recorders were available to save copies of your favorite programs. Prior to that, television viewers may remember G-Code, VideoPlus+, or ShowView codes in the TV Guide to ease the pain of setting a recording time.
In the era of digital television, hard drives were integrated into set-top-boxes (STBs) to allow for recording capabilities. A large number of legacy STBs are still in use today. However, TV operators ultimately realized that STB DVR capabilities were inefficient and expensive. Video requires substantial storage capacity and high performance. Providing millions of users with hundreds of hours of storage means managing fleets of STBs with pricey, failure-prone, and rapidly aging hard drives.
To reduce management and services costs, Network Digital Video Recording (nDVR) platforms, such as Atemes NEA DVR, emerged. The concept is simple: rather than dispersed recordings over countless hard drives, providers merge their storage on a single unified platform. This improves efficiency and reduces overhead, leading to improved total cost of ownership for the operator. With nDVR, drives are part of an owned infrastructure with better protection and improved durability, while allowing customer access via the operators closed network or via the internet.
As operators improved operations, the viewers experience improved with recordings available from any device connected to the nDVR. Consumer began to record more content, in increasingly higher resolution, including 4K. One of Atemes customers scaled up to 300 racks of video storage for its nDVR system, accommodating content over 15 years of age.
Expanding video recording systems comes with a distinct set of difficulties. The first challenge is managing massive scalability. Modern streaming services generate anywhere from a few hundred gigabytes to tens of terabytes of recordings each day, depending on the legal status of the country hosting the platform. With Shared-copy permitted by most nations, if multiple users record the same content (e.g., a football match or a movie), a single copy is stored and accessed by all who record it. This shrinks the amount of raw storage space required by a factor of 10 or even 100. Even with shared copy techniques, network DVR platforms can expand to enormous scale, reaching hundreds of petabytes. Managing storage volumes of this magnitude requires substantial compute, network, and storage resourcesup to tens of thousands of HDDs or SSDs.
DVR places an incredible amount of pressure on storage. To ensure an optimal viewing experience (start time, resolution, re-buffering), high Inputs/Outputs Operations per Second (IOPS) are required to support throughput traffic on the storage. Commodity, high-capacity hard drives do not have the IOPS required to deliver content to thousands or tens of thousands concurrent viewers requesting high-resolution content simultaneously. Using more drives in parallel improves storage performance, but requires additional CPU capacity to fully use extra storage, which increases cost.
Beyond the sheer size and performance requirements for storage, availability (and therefore redundancy) is an important consideration. Subscribers expect their content to be available instantly, even months or years after the recording. To allow such a high level of availability, nDVR vendors use high-performance Network-Attached Storage (NAS) with large redundant arrays of independent disks (RAID), or a distributed storage system with a dedicated erasure coding mechanism for better performance and density. However, these systems have limited scalability. The additional storage requires matching compute power and networking to ensure smooth operation, compounding already difficult storage capacity requirements.
Such a large, high-performance video storage platform comes with high maintenance costs. Large recording platforms require hundreds to thousands of MWh per year in power and cooling, as well as engineers dedicated to the hardware management who may encounter frequent disk failures and other hardware issues across hundreds of servers. Engineers must regularly roll out operating system and software updates to fix bugs and avoid ransomware attacks. A recent example is the 2021 LOG4J Zero-Day vulnerability.
Migrating DVR platforms to the cloud provides an elegant solution to the problems previously listed, namely scalability, operational complexity, cost, and security. For example, Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) offers virtually unlimited storage capacity with high-speed, built-in data transfers, and data redundancy by writing across multiple Availability Zones within a region. This provides 99.99% availability and 11-9s of durability for recordings. Adding a geo-redundancy dimension, not economically viable with on-premises platforms, improves recording availability. On top of offering better reliability, Amazon Web Services (AWS) also handles the undifferentiated heavy lifting of hardware and OS security. AWS offers additional security features such as encryption at rest and in transit, and integration with AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) for fine-grained access control of video content.
The major benefit of migrating to Amazon S3 cloud storage is native storage tiering. Storage tiering is a feature that Ateme offers with its legacy nDVR system and that AWS offers natively. This allows you to choose from different storage classes based on data access patterns, with less frequently accessed video files located to lower-cost storage tiers, optimizing costs without compromising accessibility. This is especially relevant for video recordings as usage patterns change over time, with older recordings requested less often than recent recordings.
Ateme uses four Amazon storage services to optimize cost over the course of an asset lifecycle. In an end-to-end cloud-native OTT platform, an asset starts its lifecycle on premises or on Amazon gp2 Elastic Block Storage (Amazon EBS) as part of a live channel rolling buffer for time-shifted TV (TSTV) for maximum performance (IOPS). The asset then moves to an S3 Standard bucket to enable Catch-up or backwards EPG services. As the asset ages out of the backward EPG, its popularity and number of requests decreases. With a decreasing number of requests, it will be moved to S3 Infrequent Access and then to Glacier Instant Retrieval (GIR). GIR is the lowest tier of storage available to reduce prices while still allowing for instant playback. S3 Intelligent tiering allows assets to be programmatically moved between storage classes based on access patterns.
To best leverage the benefits of cloud storage, Ateme rearchitected its entire recording pipeline. In 2023, it launched a new cloud-native recording platform, NEA Genesis. Ateme designed NEA Genesis using a micro-services architecture to operate natively on AWS. This move away from a monolithic architecture allows Ateme to scale out logical blocks independently such as ingest, storage, and playout.
Ateme NEA Genesis High Level Architecture
Scaling logical blocks independently allows streaming platforms to optimize their non-linear video operations with a flexible and unified solution for VOD and recordings. With NEA Genesis, not only is it possible to grow storage independently of compute, but it is now possible to scale up ingest and playout dynamically. This provides flexibility to add large batches of VOD and event-based channels, or scale up playout capacity when demand surges. On-premises infrastructure scales these resources together, and typically only allows scaling up, which leads to over-provisioning. AWS infrastructure supports Atemes ability to scale ingest, storage, and egress independently, a major advantage over the limitation of on-premises hardware.
NEA Genesis includes additional modules for advanced functionality. For example, it supports encrypted or clear asset storage, with a dedicated packager/re-packager and encryption service to ensure platform compatibility with future standards. This means that assets can be ingested in a single format (e.g., DASH or CMAF) and redistributed in whatever combination of streaming protocol and DRM that is relevant in the future. NEA Genesis customers also benefit from both the advanced features of Atemes in-house built packaging engine and Atemes extensive integration library with CMS and DRM partners for frictionless onboarding.
To learn more about the benefits of cloud DVR solutions from Ateme, visit the companys website.
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Cloud DVR levels up with video expertise and operational agility from Ateme and AWS | Amazon Web Services - AWS Blog
What is Green Cloud Storage & Which Providers Offer It in 2024? – Cloudwards
Cloud storage is a type of service that can supplement your hard drive capacity and increase productivity. It does that by offering you a simple way to store your data in the cloud while providing you quick access. Thats pretty convenient, but the services might not be eco-friendly, so in this article well see which ones are get you some green cloud storage.
First, though, we have to add that cloud storage services can do more than just store your data. Their key features such as file sharing and device synchronization, or sync for short help improve collaboration, making these tools ideal for businesses, especially those that rely on remote work.
Many cloud storage services also let you take notes, recover deleted files, chat, share calendars, assign tasks and edit documents in real time with collaborators.
If youre looking to create an effective online environment for collaboration, you should start by consulting our list of the best EFSS (enterprise file sync and share) services.
Now that weve defined what cloud storage is, were going to see what makes these services environmentally friendly.
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Cloud storage data centers are designed to store data efficiently. The main difference between them and on-premise servers is their amount of resource utilization.
On-premise servers operate, on average, at 12 to 18 percent capacity, while cloud data center servers can reach a maximum of 40 to 70 percent of utilization, with the average being from 10 to 50, according to a 2014 energy efficiency report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit U.S. organization.
Increased server utilization in cloud storage data centers stems from the fact that these data centers use virtualization technology.
Virtualization enables multiple applications each in its own virtual environment to be run on a single physical server. This greatly reduces the number of servers and the amount of energy required to run a given number of applications.
The amount of power used is a major factor in evaluating efficiency, and the most common metric for that is power usage effectiveness, or PUE. The average PUE in 2019 for the global data center industry, according to the Uptime Institute, was 1.67 (lower is better), which represents an increase from 2018s 1.58.
However, having many servers requires a lot of power, which in turn increases their cost. This motivates some large-scale cloud providers to be more energy efficient than that global average.
Thanks to that, some services, such as Google, report a PUE of just 1.11. Plus, large data centers have more effective cooling, which, again, helps reduce power usage.
To recap, cloud storage data centers are inherently more green than on-premise data centers. Companies can reduce their carbon footprint simply by moving their data to a cloud providers data center, where they will use fewer resources and optimize their efficiency.
In this section, were going to list all the services that fit the factors weve mentioned in the previous section. The first one, in no particular order, is Google Drive.
As we mentioned, Googles data centers are one of the most energy-efficient out there, and that includes its cloud storage service, Google Drive. Specifically, Google achieves great power-usage results thanks to custom, highly efficient servers that waste less power.
On top of that, Google uses inexpensive ways to manage cooling, reuses old hardware and recycles what it cant reuse.
Google Drive is a good choice if you need to work online on office files and share them with co-workers. It also has one of the best customer support services on the market.
Google has many plans, and most of them provide a great value. Its web client and mobile apps are streamlined and easy to use. Plus, Google Drive has a network of servers that spans the globe, which helps it reach fast speeds. You can learn more about what Google Drive offers in our Google Drive review.
Another big name in the tech industry, Amazon, is far from a stranger to green technology. Its PUE is less than 1.2, and Amazon claims more than 50 percent of its energy is derived from renewable sources. Its easy to see how it can accomplish that because it uses six solar farms and three wind farms. Plus, Amazon has announced four new wind farm projects and one solar farm.
Microsoft achieved carbon neutrality in 2012 and has an average PUE of 1.125 for any new data center. Microsoft is also dedicated to sustainability, so it reuses and recycles products and makes its products sustainable. It also reuses waste and responsibly disposes of what it cant use.
Microsoft is also working on project Natick, which would eventually see micro data centers powered by renewable energy dropped on the seafloor.
Microsofts environmentally friendly practices include its Microsoft Azure data centers, which power Microsoft OneDrive, its cloud storage service.
OneDrive gives you access to Office Online, Skype, Outlook, OneNote (see our OneNote review to learn more about the note-taking app) and many other features from the Redmond-based giant. You wont have to empty your wallet to use it, either, because OneDrives plans have fair prices. The 1TB plan will set you back only $6 per month.
Plus, we like how attractive its desktop, web and mobile clients are. Theyre straightforward and wont give you issues. You can also share and collaborate on files while having capable file-sharing security. For more information about OneDrives sharing, read our OneDrive review.
Another cloud storage staple that is making moves toward more environmentally sustainable practices is Dropbox (check out our Dropbox review). Although we couldnt find any current numbers on its PUE, Dropbox announced just last year that they have set new sustainability goals for 2030.
This initiative contains four core goals, and for simplicitys sake well start off by just quoting them here:
As you can see, the goals are mostly pretty vague. Goal number three and four especially could amount to just about anything. The real meat of the commitment here lies in goal number two, as shifting the entirety of Dropboxs user base (estimated at around 600 million users) would be a pretty big deal.
Although Dropbox doesnt publish any PUE numbers like other companies weve discussed here, a study on the differences between distributed and centralized cloud storage estimated that Dropboxs data centers use roughly the same amount of electricity as the country of Luxembourg. We wont get into the precise math check out the actual study for that.
Obviously it remains to be seen whether or not Dropbox can actually succeed at these goals, and some more transparency on its end will be crucial to assess the progress.
Placing your data in the cloud has benefits that not only help you be more productive and take up less space on your computers but also reduce your carbon footprint. You dont have to search hard for a green service because most of the big names in the tech (and cloud) industry have already reduced their carbon footprint.
Weve outlined several services in this article, and most of them are featured on our cloud storage comparison list. If youre still not sure whats the best service for you, though, consult our guide on the best cloud storage services. We also have an article that details the best cloud storage for nonprofits.
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Large-scale data centers are more energy efficient, but according to The Independent, the expanding data center industry will consume three times as much energy in the next decade, so an increased effort to meet the new requirements will be necessary.
What do you think about green cloud storage and its future? Let us know in the comments below. Thank you for reading.
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What is Green Cloud Storage & Which Providers Offer It in 2024? - Cloudwards
Best Dropbox alternative of 2024 – TechRadar
Best Dropbox alternative: Quick menu
The best Dropbox alternatives make it simple and easy to set up and manage cloud storage services, without subscribing to Dropbox.
It's hard to imagine how it was ever possible to run a business properly without cloud storage, and Dropbox is among the most well known and most popular cloud storage providers on the market. Launched in 2008, it has longevity on its side, as well as the fact that it is a versatile service that is available on a variety of platforms.
However, it isn't perfect and it has been the subject of criticism around some of its performance and security issues. And given that the number of cloud storage and file sharing services has grown rapidly in recent years, it's always worth considering the other top options before deciding which cloud storage to go for.
With that in mind, we've looked at alternative cloud storage serivces that wont let you down, taking into consideration key factors like cost, cross-platform compatibility, third party app integrations, and robustness and reliability in our analysis.
Therefore below we'll list the best Dropbox alternatives currently available.
Also check out our roundup of the best business cloud storage.
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure youre buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
Best for those already using Google Workspace
Syncs desktop-to-desktop
Cross-platform capability
Store, save and backup files in real time
Third party app integrations
Require Google account for best usage
When you think of cloud storage, this is probably the first service to come to mind- and with good reason.
Google Drive lets you store your files in the cloud, and importantly sync these files and settings across multiple devices. It lets you backup your files, too so they will never get lost. Google Drive allows users to collaborate, sync and share data easily, and everyone can edit files and perform tasks simultaneously, and without any hassle. Google Drives generous storage allotment lets you save as many pertinent documents and important files as you need. It starts with 15 GB for free, and can be expanded to 100 GB for $1.99/month as part of the Google One Basic Plan, with an offering of an annual plan at a discount.
Much like Dropbox, with Google Drive, you can store, share, sync and access your files, photos, videos, songs, etc. from any computer and also other platforms through smartphone apps. Its super easy to use and is highly reliable in making your files safe and accessible. Google Docs and Google Sheets also can do word processing and spreadsheets, respectively to handle Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word files instantly.
Read our full Google Drive review.
Best option for users of Microsoft Office
Integrates with Microsoft Office
OneDrive Personal Vault protection
Scan and store documents
Require Microsoft account for best usage
Microsoft's OneDrive has no shortage of features that are more than likely to draw users in, including collaboration, backing up of data and protection, all in 1TB of cloud storage space.
The service also has a neat feature to let you scan in your document using your phone and store it directly into your OneDrive account, keeping it secure.
Furthermore, the Personal Vault, essentially provides an additional layer of protection, as well as being able to set an expiration date for shared files, giving all collaborators access for a limited time. Additionally, even OneDrives free version allows you to save folders that you can access offline, as well as search your database for files quickly by simply using keywords.
Read our full Microsoft OneDrive review.
The trusted choice for big business
Enterprise-grade security with password-protected files
Auto-expiration
Real-time collaboration
Can send large files
Lacking some features found in competitors
Box provides you with many of the same convenient features as Dropbox, plus it takes it up a notch. Its designed to be as easy as uploading your files in the secure server and also being able to access it from any device you can log in to. With a Box account, your files are kept secure, with always a backup ready.
Boxs enterprise-grade security remains an important reason why many Fortune 500 companies are using the service to keep their files secure. Real time collaboration, permission control, and access restriction are among Boxs more advanced features that offer the convenience you need from it.
Box also lets you store and share large files. Also its integrated apps let you access your work from any device and use other platforms such as Microsoft Office 365, Google Workspace and Okta.
Similar to working on Google Docs, Box has Autosave for your work, so you can revert anytime in case you need to undo or redo anything.
Read our full Box review.
Perfect pick for users prioritising collaboration
Encrypted storage
Can send files to non-Sync users
In-house support
Centralized storage
Lower storage option
Lack of some key features in competitors
Sync does allow you to store, share and access your files from any device anytime, keeping in mind some differences with other services on this list. For example, Sync only gives you 5GB of free storage (less than some other free cloud storage platforms), but your files are kept secure and private thanks to its end-to-end encryption, which prevents unauthorized access.
A unique feature of Sync is the ability to share files with anyone- as long as they have access to the Internet, with or without a Sync account. Collaboration is facilitated by having you set requests for access, password protection, expiration, and even notifications that your file is being accessed. Sync also has apps for Mac, Windows, iOS and Android, which enables having access from any device when needed.
Sync also offers premium plans for a personal (individual) or company needs. The plans, which start at only $8, can dedicate up to 6TB of storage and unlimited file sharing. Youll also get file recovery, password protection, two-factor authentication, real time backup and sync, advanced share controls, and a lot more.
Read our full Sync review.
Perfect for multi-platform usage
Enterprise level security
Compliant with regulations
3GB data storage for free accounts
Multiplatform support
Lacking high profile and features of bigger names
Lower storage limit
Tresorit supports the full gamut of platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS devices, adding to the convenience it offers in cloud collaboration. With its enterprise-level security, your sensitive files and data are kept secure from unwanted prying eyes, whether you're working on whitepapers, data sheets or anything in between.
On other platforms, when youre editing a file you may not be aware if someone else is making changes simultaneously. Tresorit aims to avoid this turmoil through an editing badge, to let collaborators know when someone is working on something. Sharing rights can also be set so your organization is safe from those who are not on your team.
Tresorits free starter tier, the basic plan provides 3GB of encrypted cloud storage across up to 2 devices. For those looking for additional storage, you have the option to upgrade to the premium plans starting at $18 per month. All plans can give you 1TB of cloud storage which is most of the time enough storage for small businesses and enterprises. Premium plans also let you access files across 10 devices.
Read our full Tresorit review.
A top pick for video and audio creatives
Strong security options
Unlimited file size
Access latest version of files
Password protection
Can be cumbersome to find files
pCloud provides secure storage in the cloud for your work files, videos, music, documents, and photos. As soon as your file is transferred from your device to your secure pCloud accounts storage, it goes through TLS/SSL encryption. Files are stored on three (or more) server locations just because security is taken very seriously and thats even for the free version, on top of 10GB free storage space.
If 10GB just doesnt cut it for the size of storage youll be needing, pClouds premium accounts can give you 500GB and 1TB. Of course, youll need these large storage spaces when youre regularly sharing and collaborating large files within your organization. pCloud also offers you the convenience of automatically uploading your photos directly from your camera roll, and even keeping older versions of your file for up to 30 days just in case you need to revert.
pCloud boasts of its built-in video player for easy file access (video sharing seems to be a common problem), and a built-in audio player and playlists when youre on the go and want the company of your favorite tunes. Sharing your links is also made a little more personalized as pCloud allows you to add a headline, a title and even a description so files are easy to find and identify.
Read our full pCloud review.
Best choice for a focus on privacy
Fast transfer ability
End-to-end encryption
Cheap plans
Lacking high profile of bigger rivals
Just for signing up, a free 20 GB of storage. Because why not? Mega makes cloud storage convenient and super simple to use without sacrificing security, especially that of sensitive data and files. The files you upload and even your chats are kept safe with user-controlled end-to-end encryption, protected by your very own password.
Security isnt Megas only strength though. Mega files can be accessed using any device thats connected to the Internet, and allows you to password protect your links and even set an expiry date for public and sensitive data. Uploading your files in Megas secure server is done quickly and efficiently, and the same goes with syncing. This is because of Megas user-friendly interface which also makes sharing folders/files as easy as a single click.
Communicating with your team is made easy with Megas awesome MegaChat feature which also encrypts your messages by the way because security is taken very seriously with Mega. Paid plans start at $5.08/month and will give you a massive storage space and no transfer limits. With Mega, you can upload your files, sync them, back them up and access them from just about any device you have on you, all in a series of steps that start with a single click.
Read our full Mega review.
The best cloud storage for iOS and MacOS users
Good mobile and desktop integration
Sharing options are improving
Polished and slick user interfaces
No Android support
Still lacks some advanced features
Lacks options for power users
For those that live only in the Apple ecosystem of iProducts, the Apple iCloud Drive is an easy choice when it comes to online cloud storage. However, taking a step back, this is not the best choice for Windows users as there are some issues, such as no Android support (with the painful workaround of using the mobile browser to log into the iCloud website). Another problem with iCloud Drive is that it is just a little less polished than its competition, such as Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, both of which have undergone multiple cycles of development at this point.
Still, iCloud Drive can back up the full variety of files at this point, everything from PDFs, and even info needed for a users iPhone apps. It also conveniently has its own app for both iPhones and iPads, for mobile access to data. Users get 5 GB of storage to start (less than some other competing services free tiers), and then it can be upgraded to Cloud+, where 50 GB of storage starts at an affordable $0.99/month on up to 2 TB of storage for $9.99/month.
Another obstacle is that iCloud Drive is tightly integrated with macOS to backup data, with no analogous process for Windows users. There are some notable features, such as the encryption of the data for privacy, and the iCloud Private Relay to hide IP addresses to keep users anonymous online. However, Apple iCloud remains a much more viable option for users of Apple devices than others.
Read our full iCloud review.
Forgiving price plans and fantastic security features
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Best Dropbox alternative of 2024 - TechRadar
Amove and Storj Simplify Instant Global File Access and Remote Collaboration – PR Newswire
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif., Feb. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Storj and Amove today launch their partnership at the HPA (Hollywood Professional Association) Tech Retreat, where global leaders in engineering, technology, creativity and business engage with the most compelling topics around the creation, management, and dissemination of content. Joining forces, Storj and Amove will advance their shared goal of rapidly delivering affordable storage solutions with industry-leading performance to organizations in the ever-growing file management, media and AI markets.
Storj provides cost effective, sustainable cloud object storage through groundbreaking architecture that distributes data to unused storage space in existing drives and data centers around the world, due to the fact that the average rate of server utilization is only 12-18%of capacity. This provides an extremely scalable and environmentally sustainable solution, thanks to eliminating the need to build, maintain and cool new data centers to meet surging demand. Storj's distributed model also is inherently more secure than traditional approaches, with no single point of failure, no geographic vulnerability to regional or local disasters and is designed using zero-trust principals.
Patrick Kennedy, Amove CEO stated, "Amove is storage agnostic, so we support every provider. After years of development and testing over 45 services, we chose Storj as the ideal partner to deliver our users instant capacity from Amove Drives with incredible speed, cost efficiency and performance within an innovative architecture that supports remote streaming and access from anywhere. Their price model is also strongly aligned with Amove's mission to deliver solutions to organizations of every size and industry."
Amove offers instant access to any cloud storage provider as a collaboration drive from the desktop, snapshots, backups and no cost unlimited migrations from AWS, Azure, Wasabi and 30 other providers into Storj. With a focus on simplicity, the Amove Drive allows users to mount their storage buckets directly from the desktop, providing a true multi-cloud management tool that delivers immediate access to the largest files from any cloud or on-premise storage.
Amove also offers up to 3 terabytes of Storj at no cost for each user when purchasing the Amove premium plan, $20/month per user with unlimited access. Other features include syncs between providers, file sharing, cloud to cloud migrations, backups, and AI powered deduplication. Storj is ideally suited for handling the large file sizes that media and AI workflows require.
Ben Golub, CEO of Storj said "Our partnership with Amove extends their commitment to delivering intuitive, flexible, connected and easy to use products to manage and protect the world's data. We are also pleased that Amove appreciates the growing urgency to embrace solutions that provide affordable performance and environmental sustainability in light of the massive growth in data and a critical need to manage and store it while reducing environmental impact."
About AmoveAmoveis the new cloud storage and file management SaaS, delivering a range of powerful features for organizations and remote teams of all sizes. Amove provides an entirely new way of accessing and managing any cloud storage with ease, cost efficiency and flexibility. Our public APIs are available for an ecosystem that looks to democratize data wherever it lives.
About StorjStorj is revolutionizing cloud object storage by securely and efficiently distributing data across underutilized drives. Users experience enterprise-grade durability and globally superior performance at the edge. Customers are realizing an 80% reduction in costs and carbon emissions. Make the world your data center at storj.io
SOURCE Storj
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Amove and Storj Simplify Instant Global File Access and Remote Collaboration - PR Newswire
Google’s Thomas Kurian: ‘We’re The Most Open Cloud’ For AI – CRN
As Google battles AWS and Microsoft in the AI arms race, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian says his company offers the most open cloud when it comes to AI.
Google Cloud is the most open cloud platform for businesses seeking to implement and leverage AI and generative AI, said CEO Thomas Kurian.
Importantly, were the most open cloud when it comes to AI, said Kurian as part of CRNs 2024 CEO Outlook project. Google Cloud is the only major cloud provider offering both first-party AI models and third-party AI models on equal footing, which is an incredible differentiator when our partners speak with customers.
Kurian said Google Cloud is not all in or dependent on any particular model but committed to offering a broad choice.
For instance, our Model Garden on Vertex AI offers 130-plus foundation models today, said Google Clouds CEO. The choice of models and depth of capabilities on Google Cloud will continue to grow.
[Related: AWS Vs. Microsoft Vs. Google Cloud Earnings Q4 2023 Face-Off]
Irfan Khan, CEO of Google Cloud AI partner Cloudsufi, said Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is very flexible, open and sustainable.
When we go to our customers, their services are highly scalable, very automated and the flexibility allows business to scale, Khan said. He added that there are customers in various industries seeking Cloudsufi and Google Clouds AI solutions in 2024, including health-care, education and government customers.
They love services like BigQuery for data warehousing, which is an AI platform for machine learning. Its a pretty powerful concept to do it. Its enabling businesses to analyze big data, sophisticated models, etc. Theres much more curation in Googles models coming in right now, said Khan.
In 2023, the three largest cloud computing companies on the planetGoogle, Amazon Web Services and Microsofteach poured millions into building new AI products and forming partnerships with AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
All three companies now offer generative AI solutions, such as large language models (LLMs) and AI collaboration tools and chatbots. For example, Google just launched its new AI LLM Gemini that looks to eventually power many of Google Clouds most popular products and services.
In terms of global cloud market share, AWS ranks No. 1 with 31 percent share of the worldwide cloud infrastructure services market as of fourth-quarter 2023. Microsoft ranks No. 2 at 23 percent share, followed by Google at 11 percent share.
Google Clouds CEO told CRN that channel partners will lead the way in the companys AI and GenAI push in 2024 and beyond.
Google Cloud partners are now seeing AI infused into virtually every customer engagement, said Kurian. Were committed to providing our partners with the right resources, tools, support and incentives to meet this opportunity and build their own thriving AI businesses.
To support Google Cloud partners, the company is increasing incentives and financial rewards around AI.
For instance, we are substantially increasing our incentives for partners across both Google Workspace and GCP, and increasing rewards for partners who drive more workload adoption and accelerate adoption of key products like AI, Kurian said.
In terms of Google Clouds top priority in 2024, Kurian said its all about generative AI.
My top priority of 2024 is: ensuring all organizations can build, use and successfully adopt generative AI to fuel their digital transformations, he said.
In fourth-quarter 2023, Google Cloud generated $9.2 billion in total revenue, representing an increase of 26 percent year over year. The company now has an annual run rate of nearly $37 billion.
For the first time in its history, Google Cloud generated a profit in 2023. In fourth-quarter 2023, the company captured operating income of $864 million, up significantly from an operating loss of $186 million year over year.
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Google's Thomas Kurian: 'We're The Most Open Cloud' For AI - CRN
Snag 20TB of Lifetime Cloud Storage for Just $90 and Skip the Monthly Fees – CNET
It's important to back up your files and cloud storage helps you spread out the risk of data loss. The problem is that cloud storage can get expensive, especially if you tally up the monthly fee over the lifetime of your account. But it doesn't have to be that way with this Prism Drive cloud storage deal at StackSocial, which offers you 20TB of cloud storage for life for just $90. That's a one-time fee with no recurring charges, making it an ideal failsafe for your crucial data.
How does that compare to Prism Drive's usual pricing? You'd regularly pay $249 per year for a 10TB account if you signed up directly via its site. There isn't a 20TB option there right now, so not only are you getting twice the usual amount of storage but you're paying less than half for it -- and you only pay that $90 fee once, making this a pretty sweet deal. StackSocial is also offering deals on lifetime subscriptions to 1TB, 5TB and 10TB accounts if you don't need as much space, but the 20TB remains the best value overall if your budget can stretch to $90.
Prism Drive lets you securely store your files and access them from practically anywhere using your computer, phone or tablet. You can upload just about any type of file, including MP4, JPEG and PPT, and you can preview files in the cloud without having to download them first. Note that there is a file size upload limit of 10GB.
The service uses zero-knowledge encryption to keep your data secure, and deleted files can be recovered for up to 30 days. There's no limit on the number of devices you can use to access your storage drive, and you can create sharable links to safely share files with friends and family.
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Snag 20TB of Lifetime Cloud Storage for Just $90 and Skip the Monthly Fees - CNET
NetApp Awarded Frost & Sullivan’s 2024 Global Company of the Year Award for Addressing the Unmet Needs of the … – PR Newswire
NetApp sets a new standard in hybrid cloud storage management with its BlueXP platform by delivering unmatched visibility, control, and automation across on-premises and cloud environments.
SAN ANTONIO, Feb. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Frost & Sullivanrecently researched the global hybrid cloud storage management industry and, based on its findings, recognizes NetAppwith the2024 Global Company of the Year Award. NetApp provides a unified platform that offers seamless insights and automation, enhancing the management of storage and data services across diverse environments.
NetApp delivers its revolutionary BlueXP platform based on its focus on innovation in hybrid cloud solutions and a deep understanding of data management challenges. BlueXP facilitates operations by streamlining multi-cloud management through seamless integration with multiple on-premises and cloud environments, delivering unprecedented visibility and control.
BlueXP enhances overall business efficiency, thus offering advanced analytics, robust governance features, and efficient data mobility across different environments. The platform ensures actionable insights and continuous improvement, in addition to meeting evolving market demands. BlueXP's innovative use of artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) demonstrates NetApp's visionary strategy in driving substantial productivity gains for its customers. This capability is particularly crucial because enterprises increasingly rely on a combination of on-premises and cloud-based infrastructure in an ever-evolving business landscape.
"BlueXP delivers seamless management across storage with integrated environment health and analytics, protection, governance, optimization, and mobility. It enables customers to create consistent and common policies, procedures, and services across all infrastructures under management, reducing the complexity of administering hybrid multi-cloud environments," said Karyn Price, Industry Principal ICT at Frost & Sullivan.
NetApp's approach to AIOps helps global companies automate and optimize complex IT operations. The company consistently improves the efficiency and intelligence of data management, ensuring a highly responsive hybrid cloud environment and reflecting a deep understanding of the increasing automation needs of the industry. The company, therefore, is committed to providing solutions that address the current market demands and future challenges in data and storage management.
As a result, NetApp is making its mark among the top participants in the global hybrid cloud storage management space and is increasingly differentiating itself from its closest competitors with a unique value proposition and groundbreaking solutions.
"While different than the standard hybrid management platform, BlueXP fills a much-needed gap in the hybrid cloud management market, managing data storage infrastructures across the hybrid environment. Its AIOps approach is forward-thinking and leads the market in terms of functionality for hybrid data and storage management," noted Price.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents a Company of the Year Award to the organization that demonstrates excellence, in terms of growth strategy and implementation in its field. The award recognizes a high degree of innovation with products and technologies and the resulting leadership, in terms of customer value and market penetration.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in various regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analyses, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.
About Frost & Sullivan
For six decades, Frost & Sullivan has been world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success.Contact us: Start the discussion.
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SOURCE Frost & Sullivan
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NetApp Awarded Frost & Sullivan's 2024 Global Company of the Year Award for Addressing the Unmet Needs of the ... - PR Newswire
Google One is hiding one of its best-value cloud storage plans is it winding down, or just making it difficult to … – TechRadar
Google may be about to make some significant changes to its cloud storage offering, if recent alterations to its website are anything to go by.
Reports have claimed that one of its most popular Google One plans has apparently disappeared from the company's website, with different default offerings appearing in its place.
This could be users are forced to compromise when signing up for Google One cloud storage, having to choose less (or more) capacity than they want or need, or facing paying more for extra storage that never gets used.
The change was first spotted by Google Watch Blog, which noted that when users visit the Google One signup page, they are now presented with three options, rather than the previous four.
Alongside the default 15GB storage package, potential customers are offered a choice between the "Basic" 100GB plan, costing $1.99 per month and the "Premium" 2TB offering, costing $9.99 per month.
Previously, there had been an option for 200GB, costing $2.99 per month - but this is no longer being shown.
We've replicated this change on our own devices - however, the 200GB option does still appear to be available, with users able to upgrade or downgrade to this package once they have signed up for any of the other tiers.
Google told 9to5Google that the 200GB plan is still available, and that it will still be provided as an option to those already subscribed to the 100GB plan, but its exact motivation in hiding the option is somewhat of a puzzle.
It could be that the company is looking to push signups to its Premium 2TB offering, which comes with Gemini Advanced - Google's latest flagship AI platform, which it is keen to promote to as many customers as possible.
Described by the company as the "most capable" version of its Gemini model, known as Ultra 1.0, Gemini Advanced offers "state-of-the-art performance" that's capable of handling "highly complex tasks" tasks that can involve text, images, and code.
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Google One is hiding one of its best-value cloud storage plans is it winding down, or just making it difficult to ... - TechRadar