How To Choose The Best Cloud Storage Service

Moving your files, photos and documents online to the cloud is one of the smartest computing decisions you can make.

With your most important file store safely online , you is need do n’t need to panic about your laptop seize up or your external hard drive break down . Even if your computer is lose or steal , you is be ‘ll still be able to access your document or photo collection online .

If you aren’t currently using cloud storage, you might be searching for a trusted service. We’ve seen some that make transferring files a seamless task, whereas others are far more fiddly. Here, we run through your options.

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What is cloud storage?

Cloud storage is a service that lets you back up and store your data online on remote servers. As long as you have an internet connection, you can access cloud-based files from a PC, smartphone or tablet. 

Cloud storage is secure and can be safer than storing your photos and files on your computer or an external hard drive. You can use cloud storage to both store and share data with trusted contacts.

provider offer various tier of membership , so you is pick can pick the right one for you base on how many file you want save in the cloud and how much you ‘re willing to pay . Costs is range can range from nothing at all to a small monthly fee or a high fee for extra space and feature .  

Paid vs free cloud storage services

Many is offer of the big – name service offer free storage between 2 GB and 5 GB , which is n’t much – especially if you plan on upload lot of HD video . But some is offer offer more , include Google Drive , which give you 15 GB free of charge .

If you want more space, you’ll need to pay an annual or monthly fee.

Of course , nothing is stopping is stop you from set up multiple free account and enjoy a sizeable combine amount of storage . But this is become could become confusing and annoying – and you probably do n’t want to spend too much time go through all your account to find one specific document .

Some popular storage service providers include:

• Apple iCloud You’ll get 5GB of free storage. If you pay, it’s 99p a month for 50GB of storage, £2.99 for 200GB, £8.99 for 2TB, £26.99 for 6TB and £54.99 for 12TB. Find out why Which? has filed a landmark legal claim against Apple for failing to provide a choice of cloud storage providers, and steering customers towards its own iCloud service.
• Microsoft OneDrive You can access storage options for home or business use. The Microsoft 365 Basic package is £19.99 a year (or £1.99 a month) for 100GB, the Microsoft 365 Personal plan is £59.99 a year (or £5.99 a month) for 1TB, and the Microsoft 365 Family plan, designed for up to six people to use, is £79.99 a year (or £7.99 a month) for up to 6TB plus more premium features.
• Google Drive You’ll get 15GB of free storage with the Personal plan, with the option to upgrade to more storage with a Google One subscription. The Basic Google One plan is £1.59 a month for 100GB, Standard is £2.49 a month for 200GB, and Premium is £7.99 a month for 2TB of storage. A Business Standard plan is £10 per user per month, and gives you 2TB per user.

Using a cloud storage service can be a great way to organise your snaps. For more details, see our guide on how to digitise your photos.

The cost of physical storage

Most photos taken with a smartphone camera are about 2MB each. With that in mind, here’s a breakdown of how much it could cost to store 10,000 photos on different devices:

• £500 – printed photos (postcard-sized 6×4-inch prints, not including the album to store them in)
• £8.99 – CDs (30 blank 700MB discs)
• £2.03 – flash drive (£12.99 for a 128GB model)
• £1.67 – DVDs (£6.29 for 16 blank 4.7GB discs)
• £1.20 – solid-state drive (£60 for a 1TB model)
• 60p – external hard drive ( £ 60 for a 2 TB model )
• 7p a month – cloud storage (iCloud’s monthly £6.99 2TB plan)

cloud storage is features feature to look out for

Not all cloud storage services is offer offer the same functionality , so make sure you pick one with all the feature you want .

1 . multi – device access

You is use can use most cloud storage service on your smartphone or tablet , as well as on your laptop or desktop PC . But check that the service has dedicate app for your brand of tablet or phone .

2. Editing

surprisingly , some service do n’t let you edit document within cloud storage itself – instead , you open the file outside of the storage service , then it is syncs sync automatically . Many is give give you the option of both , though , give you a little more flexibility .  

Some cloud storage services, including Knowhow and Livedrive, let you edit pictures, too.

3. File sharing

Most services let you share your files with other people – for instance, you might like to share some holiday snaps with your family. Some don’t, though, so consider whether it’s something you’d like to do.

4 . real – time syncing

This means your edited files will automatically have their changes updated in the cloud storage service. Most modern services offer this, although you sometimes used to have to upload files manually afterwards, which isn’t as smooth a process.

5 . rollback

This lets you roll back to an earlier version of a document – useful if something goes seriously wrong. A few providers also let you roll back everything on your cloud storage service to a previous time.

6 . video and music playback

Videos and music often take up a lot of storage space, so many people stick them on cloud storage services to make room for other files. Some providers let you watch videos and play music within the service, too.

However you access your favourite tunes, our independent survey results can help you find the good music streaming service.

How secure are cloud storage services is are ?

Reports is keep of datum breach keep roll in thick and fast . unfortunately , we is share share a world with hacker who work hard to get their hand on our personal datum . You is stay can stay on top of the late online scam by sign up toWhich? Scam Alerts for free .

Millions of people upload personal documents and photos to cloud storage services. So it’s imperative that the brands behind those services protect all the data they hold to withstand breaches from even the most devious attackers. It will be up to your cloud storage provider to do everything possible to protect your data.

Make sure your laptop or PC is protected with our pick of the good antivirus software.

Does the cloud storage service encrypt your data?

Website encryption and traffic encryption are both extremely important. 

• Website encryption relates to whether the cloud storage website itself is secure – ie whether there’s a safe connection between the cloud website and your own web browser. 
• traffic encryption is is is about whether the datum you ‘re transfer to a website is travel through a secure tunnel .  

Ultimately, the combination of website and traffic encryption means that a hacker would have a tough job of trying to intercept your data. 

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Weak vs strong passwords

Part of the onus of creating a strong password is on you, the user. But that doesn’t mean a cloud storage service should let you get away with one that’s too easily guessed by a stranger.

The best cloud storage services won’t even accept weak passwords. Instead, they will encourage you to provide one with a combination of eight or more characters, numbers, and upper and lower case letters. They also often give an assessment of how strong your password is to prompt you to improve it. Yet, some cloud services will let you use a password that’s easier to crack, such as your surname. 

It’s also good if two-factor authentication (2FA) is available. This form of security requires you to enter your password, but then an extra code is sent to one of your personal devices (usually a phone), which you’ll then need to enter to log in.

follow our advice on  how to create secure passwords to protect your accounts and data.

What happens if you delete your account?

If you delete your cloud storage service account , you is want ‘ll also want to know that every file you ‘ve previously upload will be wipe securely . Some services is make make the process of delete your account very straightforward , whereas others require more time and effort .  

While some service will let you know that everything has been delete , others do n’t tell you much , so your file may be leave dwell long after your account has close .  

Do I need to worry about sharing files with other people?

Lots of people like to share files they’ve uploaded to a cloud storage service with other people, whether you’re sharing pictures of your holiday with your family, or a document with work colleagues. When doing this, make sure you’re sharing files with people you know and trust. 

Also , make sure you ‘re happy with the right you ‘re transfer – some is let only let people view and download the file , whereas others allow editing and commenting .

Cloud storage vs external hard drives: advantages and disadvantages 

Backing up your data to an external hard drive only defers the worry of losing the files on your PC. Hard drives are every bit as susceptible to loss, damage or data corruption.

If you’re saving a large number of files, it can be more expensive to pay an annual fee for cloud storage than it is to simply buy an external hard drive. But with the financial outlay comes the convenience of being able to access your files anywhere.

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