Storing in the cloud

[Pudsey Bear]

I've been using Dropbox for quite a while and it's been okay but I'm getting close to the limit of my SSD drive so I've stopped uploading pictures etc which is proving inconvenient, the cost is reasonable to store in the cloud but are there any where I can have access to files but not have them all on my PC too?

 

[trevskoda]

I used to store stuff on d box but now just store on drives or one of my backup pc/hard drive caddys.
Always wondered if a cloud service went down id loss all my kids pictures and other stuff, hence tripple back up.
Learned this years back when a h drive died on me, so now make many backups.

 

[wildebus]

I've been using Dropbox for quite a while and it's been okay but I'm getting close to the limit of my SSD drive so I've stopped uploading pictures etc which is proving inconvenient, the cost is reasonable to store in the cloud but are there any where I can have access to files but not have them all on my PC too?

You could use Google Drive? not sure off-hand what the price is but I think about £10 for 100GB?
I've not got round to using it for this purpose, but the hosting I use for my Websites gives me unlimited storage so I could use that instead of Google Drive actually.

So Dropbox is a "sync service" and if you delete a file on your local drive, it disappears from Dropbox? Not used dropbox for a long long time but wasn't aware you could not just upload a file without it being linked to a local one.

For photos, I use Flickr. That gives you 500 images for the free service, but if you upgrade to the PRO option (which I have), that is unlimited storage.
After using Photobucket and getting mugged by them, I don't believe in 'Free' cloud storage and personally wouldn't save anything I cared about to such a service.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I have several thousand files mostly pictures but a lot of documents.

I'd [refer to not have local storage at all as it can fail, I have tried back up drives in the past which were a PITA, Dropbox would be good apart from having to have local space taken up.

 

[wildebus]

I have several thousand files mostly pictures but a lot of documents.

I'd [refer to not have local storage at all as it can fail, I have tried back up drives in the past which were a PITA, Dropbox would be good apart from having to have local space taken up.

if you are talking about documents, compressing them with winzip or similar can save upto 90% of the space.
Photos taken with the typical camera nowadays are rediculously large. You can convert to an image 5% of the saved size by reducing the image size and quality and not even notice the difference if you are just viewing on a computer screen. For example, on my website, I upload standard pictures and there as an automated compression app that converts them to .webp images and that makes them way smaller (main benefit on a website is speed of loading, but it also saves space of course).

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I know what you mean David, but I need access when not at home so need the cloud, a lot of the docs are scans and PDFs.

Is it possible to have stuff in the cloud only but instantly accessible? is the real question I should have put in the OP I think.

 

[wildebus]

I know what you mean David, but I need access when not at home so need the cloud, a lot of the docs are scans and PDFs.

Is it possible to have stuff in the cloud only but instantly accessible? is the real question I should have put in the OP I think.

if it is on the cloud only, it cannot be strictly speaking instantly accessible can it? I think what you are meaning is like a virtual drive? I would say Google Drive is like that? you can have a file saved there (and nowhere else) and if you go to your Google Drive via a browser, you can click on a document and have it open.
Try that if you have not got a gmail account already setup - you get 15GB for free and with the Googgle drive you can set up folders like like a drive on your computer.

 

[RAW]

If you are happy with Dropbox then look at this https://help.dropbox.com/sync/selective-sync-overview

As @trevskoda said I would also backup data to an external device (triple backup) just to be on the safe side.

 

[Kyran]

I've been using Dropbox for quite a while and it's been okay but I'm getting close to the limit of my SSD drive so I've stopped uploading pictures etc which is proving inconvenient, the cost is reasonable to store in the cloud but are there any where I can have access to files but not have them all on my PC too?

If you have a sd card slot on your laptop you could get a 250gb sdcard most reliable online storage costs money

 

[Pudsey Bear]

if it is on the cloud only, it cannot be strictly speaking instantly accessible can it? I think what you are meaning is like a virtual drive? I would say Google Drive is like that? you can have a file saved there (and nowhere else) and if you go to your Google Drive via a browser, you can click on a document and have it open.
Try that if you have not got a gmail account already setup - you get 15GB for free and with the Googgle drive you can set up folders like like a drive on your computer.

Instant maybe pushing it but if I search for a file on my phone as I did in France it's is there in seconds which is good enough.

I used up my Google 15gb drive years ago though, I did look at upgrading it but wasn't that impressed with it, I also share a lot of stuff on forums and Whatsapp with friends and it is has limits unless you go for the large ones which are too expensive for me.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I just asked google and got this answer, Dropbox is good except for info normally, I've contacted them but never got a response.

With Dropbox, you can easily free up hard drive space by storing your files and folders as online-only. Best of all, you still have access to your files without uninstalling programs, deleting files or lugging around an external hard drive.

 

[wildebus]

I just asked google and got this answer, Dropbox is good except for info normally, I've contacted them but never got a response.

With Dropbox, you can easily free up hard drive space by storing your files and folders as online-only. Best of all, you still have access to your files without uninstalling programs, deleting files or lugging around an external hard drive.

Yup, I would have expected a online-only option.

Also, USB sticks are incredibly cheap nowadays for the size you get. I got a pack of 5 64GB ones for something like a tenner. Good for "near-line" storage for those files you might need to access.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I have several sticks but I only carry them in the van to download dash cam or phone cam to not as storage per se.

Although I now have a 512gb card in the phone, I still download any important stuff, and if really important I'll email it to myself.

Odd you mentioned Google Drive as said I have used it, I had a look, and quite a bit of stuff I had forgotten about, now moved to Dropbox.

I set the Dropbox head? folder to be online only and as a plus customer it should do the whole sub folders but it doesn't appear to have done any yet, so I still have the same issues with local storage.

 

[trevskoda]

You could use Google Drive? not sure off-hand what the price is but I think about £10 for 100GB?

And hand over to the spymaster, no mission.

 

[Rumour]

I've been using Dropbox for quite a while and it's been okay but I'm getting close to the limit of my SSD drive so I've stopped uploading pictures etc which is proving inconvenient, the cost is reasonable to store in the cloud but are there any where I can have access to files but not have them all on my PC too?

We have Google storage. We pay ££20 per month and that is 2 TB of storage and add free google. It has a VPN and lots of other apps. Photos are uploaded automatically from our phones and we can manually upload from the PC (not sure if that can be done auto!) We get Dark Web reports. Not perhaps the cheapest option, but been with Google for years. We do have Amazon Prime, that backs up photos in auto mode too, but doesn't cover my wife too, google does. I haven't checked about document storage, might be worth a look.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I think that's a bit too expensive, seems good though, I have Amazon prime too but not sure I want to give them more money.

I've been trying to figure out Dropbox all day with no results, it works on my phone but only on individual files but I want them all online only.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I was on a chat with Dropbox yesterday, it seems that although making files and folders online only does NOT free up ANY drive space, and if I deleted any files or folders they wpuld also be deleted in the cloud, it seems you have to sync them or somthign but I'm having some eye problems so I had to stop, but I'll go into again maybe next week.

Took me 30 minutes to write the above

 

[wildebus]

I wonder what the difference is between "make available online-only" and "make available off-line" is?
I would have expected a "make available off-line" would copy a file to the device you are using so you have that file available off-line?

Have you looked at/considered Microsoft One Drive? I used to use that a fair bit and found it quite nice for making sure a file I worked on on one computer I could access on my other PC. You can chose if you want the file synced or not, off-line (so saved to HD as well as cloud or just on-line access.
Price I don't think is bad at all - you can get 1TB of storage for £60 and that also includes the main products of MS Office as well. Goto the "family version" for £80/year and you get 1TB per person - so if Liz needs storage as well, gives you 2TB in total (and can have upto 6 people in the plan).

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/onedrive/compare-onedrive-plans

This is actually a lot better value than the extended Google Drive thinking about it at £60 a year for 10 times the storage of Google.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I wonder what the difference is between "make available online-only" and "make available off-line" is?
I would have expected a "make available off-line" would copy a file to the device you are using so you have that file available off-line?

Have you looked at/considered Microsoft One Drive? I used to use that a fair bit and found it quite nice for making sure a file I worked on on one computer I could access on my other PC. You can chose if you want the file synced or not, off-line (so saved to HD as well as cloud or just on-line access.
Price I don't think is bad at all - you can get 1TB of storage for £60 and that also includes the main products of MS Office as well. Goto the "family version" for £80/year and you get 1TB per person - so if Liz needs storage as well, gives you 2TB in total (and can have upto 6 people in the plan).

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/onedrive/compare-onedrive-plans

This is actually a lot better value than the extended Google Drive thinking about it at £60 a year for 10 times the storage of Google.

I'll look more into that.

 

[nabsim]

I have One Drive although I rarely use it now but I had it for exactly the reasons David gives.

I also have iCloud which won't be an option unless you have an Apple device, once you have it you can use on any type of device/manufacturer that can access the internet same as One Drive.

I also get unlimited photo storage as part of Amazon Prime although you are limited on video storage unless you pay extra which I don't.

Save your local storage drives for backups