If you're like me and you like to hoard old images, videos, and other files — cloud storage is your best friend.
However, as there are so many options and new ones keep popping up every day, I understand that it might be hard to navigate.
How do you know which cloud storage to choose?
Also, should you pay for it, or not? And what kind of features should you look for?
Stay tuned to find out the answers.
What to Look for in a Cloud Storage Service
1. Pricing and Capacity
Firstly, there are plenty of cloud storage options that offer their services for free. Of course, don't expect unlimited storage capacity and features if you go with them.
Still, I feel that most cloud storage services offer fairly sized free tiers.
For instance, the most popular clouds, Google Drive, OneDrive, and iDrive, offer 10–20 GB of free cloud storage. In addition, you can get more than 50 GB on cloud services such as Mega (50 GB) or Degoo (100 GB). Others, however, offer as little as 2 GB (Dropbox).
And should you pay for cloud storage?
Well, that's up to you. If you insist that all of your data sits in one place, then you'll need to pay a small monthly or annual fee to expand your free storage.
However, if you don't mind storing your files on multiple accounts, you can stick with free storage.
In my opinion, if you plan on using the storage professionally, i.e., for your business, I definitely recommend a subscription-based cloud service.
Not only will you get more storage space but also unlock plenty of useful features that can make your job easier.
2. Features
Aside from the capacity, you also might want to think about the features you might need.
Some of the most desirable cloud features include:
- Automatic syncing. This feature saves you a lot of trouble by automatically uploading new files to the cloud.
- Multi-device access. Thanks to this feature, you can access your files whenever and wherever you want, no matter if you're using a PC, tablet, or smartphone.
- File versioning. File versioning allows you to automatically save multiple versions of a file. It can come in handy in case something goes wrong and you need to revert to an older version.
- Video and audio playback. In my opinion, having to download a file from the cloud and play it on your device is annoying. If you agree with me, then you might want to look for a cloud storage service that allows you to play media files within it.
- 24/7 customer support. You want to be able to get quick help in case your files get lost or if there's some other technical issue.
Ideally, a cloud should have all of these features.
However, in reality, that's typically not the case. So you might want to prioritize the features by importance, and then look for a cloud that offers them.
3. Security
Most people will agree — security is by far the most important feature of any cloud storage service or I would say in cyberspace.
Before creating an account, make sure that you read the privacy policy thoroughly.
Obviously, a good cloud service will ensure that all of their users' information stays protected from cyberattacks and other security breaches.
Conclusion
We had concluded the 3 main points that you should be considering if you are seriously looking for cloud storage.
Do not settle for anything less as that might cost you dearly. Always make a comparison and perform your own due diligence. Browse through all the best cloud storage recommendation sites if you do not know where to start with.
Usually, they will give you a glimpse of thought on what you should be at least worth checking in or what's not.
Store safe.
Author bio: Joe is an Electronic engineer graduate who loves hands-on guys stuff. He loves to take things apart and kind of a habit. Who else is crazy enough to have monitored over 20+ cloud storage servers continuously at GoodCloudStorage.
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