How Safe are Your Memories from Loss?

THE CLOUD keeps coming up in conversation. I find myself talking to folks involved in cloud services, friends that know a great deal about cloud offerings, and other friends wondering about providers. In addition, I find myself encountering, “What is this cloud you speak of?”

If you’re a seasoned user of the internet, you’re likely accustomed to receiving news, writing email, listening to music and pod-casts, viewing entertainment, and reading all sorts of informative articles from a variety of places. You may even purchase tickets to local events, scout out the local movie listings, and preview your favorite restaurant’s menu online before going out. All of that information–indeed, this very post–comes from the cloud.

The cloud is just a term that refers to the many servers located around the world where data resides. When you call it forth through the magic of your PC or Mac, you’re accessing information that seems to come from the ether; it seems to come from the clouds. But why all of the current talk about the cloud? And, what does it have to do with photography or memory keeping? Well, quite a lot actually.

The cloud works both ways. It doesn’t just rain beautiful bits, you can fill the cloud with your data–your memories! Which you’ve likely already done to some extent if you’ve added anything to Facebook, have a blog or comment on blogs, commit photographs to Instagram, Flickr, or some other social site, and so on. Yet, the reason my friends are talking about it is for something that few of us have tapped into: Data storage/backup and these benefits:

• Automatic Backups: So you don’t have to remember to back up that new set of 100+ photos.
• Technical Expertise: This is very useful if the technical stuff of computing, bits, and data storage just isn’t your thing.
• Storage at a Different Location: Making it so that a fire, a computer virus, or some other local event has no impact on the backup of your files/data–your memories are safe.
• Version Control: So that if you accidentally modify and save data, the original isn’t lost.
• Restoration of Data/Files: So that when you upgrade your computer–or recover from that local event that caused you to lose your original files–you can have your original files locally, again.

Clearly, there are some valuable benefits from the cloud and it’s worthy of our discussion and consideration. Still, even if you know you want to utilize cloud services, how do you know which one to choose? Well, I’ve talked to a lot of friends–friends with knowledge and experience. In addition, I found a pretty good review via OnlineBackup.com. And, the review falls in line with what my more geeky/technical friends are saying.

So, what about you? What is your experience with the cloud and are your memories safe from loss?