i cloud ?

[devonwoody]

Read the information about I cloud at Apple.

So the idea is that I save files and folders on icloud via my internet connection (virgin)

But does that mean if my internet is down I would not be able to access those pics. and other downloads whilst down?
PC W7 user.

Over the 16 years of PC ownership my pictures and music most probably add up to 16gbs. I assume that lot does not upload easily?

 

[morfa]

Read the information about I cloud at Apple.

So the idea is that I save files and folders on icloud via my internet connection (virgin)

But does that mean if my internet is down I would not be able to access those pics. and other downloads whilst down?
PC W7 user.

No, you have them stored on your local machine and on the cloud account. From a quick look, it seems like it works like dropbox.

Over the 16 years of PC ownership my pictures and music most probably add up to 16gbs. I assume that lot does not upload easily?

Assuming you have a standard ADSL connection, it'll take a while yeah. You may find that you can't put 16gbs of data on there however. I'd imagine if it's like dropbox, then it'll upload them in the background, so you won't notice it much.

 

[KevM]

A useful transfer time calculator is here: http://www.calctool.org/CALC/prof/compu ... nsfer_time
A speed tester for your connection is here: http://www.speedtest.net/

For me at ~0.35Mbps up/5.5Mbps down on ADSL that would be nearly 100hrs to upload or 8hrs to download 16GB - assuming I was doing nothing else with the connection. Those are fairly artificial numbers though, and I imagine that the service should do some kind of bandwidth throttling to avoid hogging your connection. Of course if you're on superfast broadband you're laughing. I use Dropbox, and although it took days to initially synchronise all my data it did it in the background without any impact on my use of the computer or internet, and now small incremental changes occur much faster. Dropbox keeps a directory on my computer(s) synchronised with cloud storage, so I can access the data off my local hard drive but it's synchronised to the cloud for the convenience of the NSA & GCHQ 8)

 

[CHJ]

My limited take on the facility as a relatively new user of the same is:-

The Cloud, (off site storage) be it Apple, Amazon, BT or whoever is offering it, is only a back-up or convenience facility for most users.
It allows you a secure repository of purchase records for purchases such as books or personal files that can be recovered from anywhere you have access to your account and won't be lost if your access PC, Tablet etc. goes into meltdown.

Very useful if you want to recall files on a limited storage capability device such as a tablet, or retrieve an example file for reference whilst away from base. I can choose to download and read a new book or play purchased music from my cloud storage records that is not currently on my tablet when away from home.

I doubt very much that a free allocation from any source will give you 16GB of space.

All you need is a device, PC, Tablet, 'Phone etc. capable of connecting to the internet and logging into your cloud account/s. The facility usually by it's nature synchronises the file information between your devices.

If in doubt I ask my young grandson to sort it out for me.

 

[MMUK]

Personally I wouldn't back up ANYTHING onto a device I don't have in my possession. Call me skeptical if you like but I don't like trusting any kind of computer data to a third party.

 

[carlb40]

Personally I wouldn't back up ANYTHING onto a device I don't have in my possession. Call me skeptical if you like but I don't like trusting any kind of computer data to a third party.

Same here. Hence having 6 drives in one PC alone plus various external drives. All of which are getting full so will need to get some 3TB drives soon.

 

[Flynnwood]

Personally I wouldn't back up ANYTHING onto a device I don't have in my possession. Call me skeptical if you like but I don't like trusting any kind of computer data to a third party.

Same here. Hence having 6 drives in one PC alone plus various external drives. All of which are getting full so will need to get some 3TB drives soon.

One benefit of off-site storage is that you have protection against:

Fire
Water damage
Hardware theft

 

[PhillyDee]

Like everything, it has its uses. I use DropBox and SkyDrive for business stuff. Working between home and unit means everything gets saved "to the cloud". Means it does not matter if I am at one location or another, and even on my mobile and tablet / laptop I can get any file anywhere. Very powerful and very versatile. I also have an 8TB storage array for movies which I have ripped from the DVD's (Which I do own!).

 

[MMUK]

Like everything, it has its uses. I use DropBox and SkyDrive for business stuff. Working between home and unit means everything gets saved "to the cloud". Means it does not matter if I am at one location or another, and even on my mobile and tablet / laptop I can get any file anywhere. Very powerful and very versatile. I also have an 8TB storage array for movies which I have ripped from the DVD's (Which I do own!).

You could just remote in to your own home network. Just as secure and at least then the contents of the drive are physically in your own hands.

 

[PhillyDee]

I used to, but had far too much downtime on the server. Plus, uploads are terrible from home. It was perfectly fine where file access was at a minimum, but now is required pretty much constantly.

There is probably far more security in dropbox (and similar) to the bog standard tech used in home systems.

 

[RogerS]

I really can't see any benefit in cloud computing. Does anyone actually use it?

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks for the knowledge.

I suspect in the future this cloud system will develop, and you will access program usage via cloud and pay usage time, the above is just in its infancy?

 

[RogerS]

.....and you will access program usage via cloud and pay usage time, the above is just in its infancy?

No, that idea is as old as the hills and was floating around about 10 years ago but never really got off the ground. It had a TLA but which for the life of me I can't remember.

EDIT: Found it in Brittanica. It is exactly as I told it.

In the late 1990s, a number of companies, called application service providers (ASPs), were founded to supply computer applications to companies over the Internet. Most of the early ASPs failed, but their model of supplying applications remotely became popular a decade later, when it was renamed cloud computing.

 

[KevM]

I really can't see any benefit in cloud computing. Does anyone actually use it?

Does anyone actually use it? Yes, in all probability you right now, but to what extent largely depends on your perspective and hence definition

- Scientific computing - distributed computing, many resources that are not necessarily co-located contributing to a common end
- Network based services - e.g. web hosting, the servers for these forums are in all probability hosted on virtualised servers, this improves redundancy and availability at a lower price point than dedicated hardware
- Most commonly - it's a flabby synonym for the internet and all therein, including your email, iTunes, Amazon shopping...

Not an exhaustive treatise, more a quick illustration, there's loads of information out there 'in the cloud' if you're interested.