Instead of buying pen drives, external hard disks, DVDs, etc, to store you data/files, you can upload them to any of the free cloud storage sites and save that cash. However the risk involved here is, those sites can be hacked or stop providing the free service(s) for some reason. So for you guys who use cloud storage services, do you back up your data by uploading it to several file storage sites or simply keep copies on your machine and other [data] storage devices?
Cloud storage is useful and a great marketing tool for Amazon so you can have cloud storage for your books, but for important files back ups and hard copies are still the way to go. Recently my hard drive failed which meant everything was lost, I had stored some items on the cloud and it was fine as it was a loose cable to the hard drive thankfully, but even if I had backed up, it could have been lost, so an external hard drive is a good idea or I tend to email things to myself so there are copies somewhere accessible.
I have a couple of drives that I back everything up to. I bought them years ago and they are still working fine. I only use cloud storage when working with others. It is a useful tool but I back up too much to wait for it to be stored online.
I don't feel that cloud storage is really reliable. It just sounds so, not real, if you know what I mean. Anything important I back up on a zip drive and email to myself. I don't think I would want anything sensitive stored in the clouds because the risk of hacking is very real. It has already happened to a number of people and I don't want to end up with my identity stolen from some cloud database.
I find cloud storage to be very useful. I've had many occasions of getting my hard drives or computers wiped with the slightest errors and I'm pretty much out of options when it happens, but with a cloud drive I don't have to worry as much. The only problem is that the more sensitive files are best left offline I think and having to segregate everything can be a little tedious.
Since I pretty much refuse to back up my computer manually, I have to have cloud storage and have had it for years. I never understood the point of backing up your computer in case of a virus as I would think you'd back up the virus also! But, my cloud storage has been great for me as I've had a computer or two just die without rhyme or reason, but I was able to just download everything back onto my new computer without issue.
I think for media files they are perfect to use since it's not really sensitive data, but for more personal and private files like documents and pics, it would be ideal to just use a flash drive instead. I actually intend to use an online storage device to back up all my data.
I usually keep a copy of file in my pen drive or machine besides the cloud storage. The main reason is that I am not accessible to internet service at all times. I keep a copy offline so that I can access it without worrying about the internet service. I believe cloud storage should like Google drive or Skydrive is reliable. If data are important, I will use them as my backup drive.
I do use a cloud storage but i only put those files that are not so important but are useful in the future and they are literally small sized files. I saved my important stuff on my external drive. For some reason, i don't trust cloud storage completely because i feel like they'll just disappear one day and take our files with them.
I use cloud storage, but I keep a backup on flash drives. A few years ago, I lost a lot of files on a cloud service because there wasn't enough funds in my PayPal account to cover the quarterly fee. I just completely forgot about it. There was no warning or anything. I just got a notice stating that all my files had been deleted from their services. After that...I was a bit skittish about using any type of cloud service. I eventually started using cloud services again, but I keep a backup.
Google Drive is very useful when it comes to saving large files. It's not an everyday habit but when I do have really important files that take up too much space, I make it a point to save them at my flash drive with back up at Google Drive (I sometimes use Dropbox, 4shared or Jumpshare). I save all personal files on my laptop's hard drive, though.