Today we are talking about the best cloud storage services. How many of us have lost our data, photos, and videos because of an HDD crash, a corrupted pen drive, or damaged DVDs? Isn’t that the case for nearly everyone? These electronic storage devices can malfunction at any time, resulting in the loss of our valuable data.
This problem is a more significant threat to various businesses & companies, as loss of data can affect their business. Nowadays, we have a solution called cloud storage. Cloud storage is a model of cloud computing that enables users to store data and files on the internet via a cloud service provider, which can be accessed through either a public internet connection or a private network.
The provider steadily stores, manages, and maintains the storage servers, needed infrastructure, and network to ensure you have access to the data whenever you need it. You must choose one of the best cloud storage services to keep your data.
Importance of Cloud Storage
Cloud storage offers cost-effective and sizable storage. You don’t need to worry about running out of capacity, maintaining Storage Area Networks (SANs), restoring failed devices, adding infrastructure to expand with demand, or operating non-utilized hardware when demand decreases.
Whether you are a non-commercial user, a small business, or a large enterprise, cloud storage can deliver quickness, cost savings, security, and simplicity so you can focus on your other tasks. For small businesses, you don’t have to worry about dedicating valuable resources to managing storage yourself; cloud storage allows you to resize it as the business grows.
i) It is Cost-Effective: With cloud storage, there is no need for hardware purchase, no storage to stipulate, and no extra capital for business spikes. You can add or remove storage capacity as needed, quickly adjust performance and customize features, and only pay for the storage you actually use. As data becomes rarely accessed, you can even move it to lower-cost storage; in this way, you can create even more cost savings.
ii) It Can Increase Agility: With cloud storage, resources are only some clicks away. You can reduce the time it takes to make those resources accessible to your organization from weeks to just a few minutes. This results in a dramatic increase in agility for your organization. You can free your staff from the tasks of procurement, installation, administration, and maintenance.
iii) Efficient data management: By implementing cloud storage lifecycle management policies, you can execute powerful information management tasks like automated tiering or locking down data. Using tools such as replication, you can also use cloud storage to create more comprehensive or global storage for your distribution teams. You can organize & manage important data in ways that have specific use cases, create cost efficiencies, and meet conformity requirements.
Best Cloud Storage Providers
1. Google Drive
If you own a Google account, then you already have 15 GB of free storage available in Google Drive. You can use this to securely store documents, photos, videos, and other items. Drive’s interface is simple & clean. The Drive has useful features like sharing links to folders (while customizing the level of control of the recipient) and accessing a file even if it’s opened on another device. Google Drive also offers apps for PC, Mac, iOS, and Android.
2. Microsoft OneDrive
Microsoft OneDrive is a cloud storage service that seamlessly integrates with Windows 10. Although the basic free tier of 5 GB can quickly fill up, it is still one of the best compared to many other services. They offer features like automatic photo backups, advanced search facilities, and web access to OneDrive; moreover, the Files On-Demand settings can keep files stored exclusively online rather than eating up space on your device.
3. pCloud
pCloud doesn’t offer office suites, video content, or other extra features offered by competitors like Google & Microsoft. Instead, this company sticks to what it does best: keeping your files safe, secure, and available to all your devices.
The free tier gives you 10 GB of storage. However, you can access 3 GB by completing tasks such as downloading the mobile app, uploading a file, or sharing the service with friends. You can upload any file size that your storage space allows, and you can restore files within 30 days.
4. Dropbox
Dropbox is one of the biggest & oldest names in cloud storage, helping to popularize the concept of cloud storage during its early years. Today, it has evolved into a business-oriented service that offers essential features such as real-time collaboration on PowerPoint and Photoshop files, the ability to create boards and team-based plans on its platform, and the standard online file storage options.
Tremendous third-party app support (including Google Docs) and integration with Windows & macOS mean that if you’re searching for a service you can depend on and that works with almost everything, then Dropbox is a great choice.
5. Mega
New Zealand-based company Mega used to offer 50 GB of free storage to new users, but that has now changed to 15GB with additional features provided for something Mega defines as ‘achievements.’ These include authorizing your account, installing the Mega apps, and inviting friends. This further complicates the situation because the bonus storage varies for each achievement and is only temporary, with expiration dates ranging from 30 days to a year.
6. Sync.com
This Canada-based company is known for being one of the best cloud storage providers for business. The platform prides itself on being a ‘zero-knowledge platform,’ encrypting data on your machine before uploading it to the cloud, where it remains encrypted.
One of the slight drawbacks is a limited choice of paid plans. Sync offers 5 GB for free, but the cheapest paid plan is for 2 TB (Solo Basic), and there’s nothing in between. Still, this price is very reasonable at $8 / £6 per month.
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7. Apple iCloud
This one is the best for all Apple users. Apple’s iCloud differs from other cloud storage services because it is seamlessly integrated into both macOS and iOS. You can access it via Windows computers, but it works best with Macs or iPhones. You can store not only files, photos, and videos from your iPhone or iPad, but also your messages, calendars, contacts, and various other data in iCloud.
8. Box
Users say this one is the best cloud storage provider for business. Although Box offers personal storage options, its primary focus is on businesses. However, the free package will give you 10GB of free space; there is a limit of 250MB for file sizes. The limit is okay for most documents, spreadsheets, and even high-resolution photos, but not videos.
The free account doesn’t support versioning (being able to restore previous versions of a file), and neither does upgrading to the Personal Pro plan, which will cost $10/£8 per month for 100GB of storage and a file size limit of 5GB.
9. Livedrive
Livedrive is one of the best cloud storage & online backup solutions. It comes with monthly and yearly plans. Users can back up an unlimited number of files. It offers solutions for personal backup, business backup, and reseller backup. Livedrive can automatically back up the files of the users. It has data centers in the UK. Livedrive monitors its data centers around the clock, and the team that monitors data centers is ISO 27001 certified.
10. PolarBackup
PolarBackup is a wholesome cloud backup solution that can protect your data. It can be utilized to back up local, external, and network drives. You can store files everlastingly. It supports file versioning. The tool can take automatic backups.
The platform is profuse in special features & can improve productivity. It works on AWS advanced technology. PolarBackup is an instinctive & user-friendly platform to manage, sort, locate, and preview files. It is privacy & GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliant.
Conclusion
Whether you want to back up your files on your device, share them with others, or work together on work, cloud storage services may be the easiest way to do it. All the best cloud storage services offer the essential feature of keeping your data safe. However, the amount of free usage you will have differs. You can always buy more storage in exchange for a nominal fee.
