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I know this isn't a tech website but, then, I"m not a techie. I need an affordable, easy-to-use storage site for non-technical people, something that will accommodate my documents and, more importantly, a lifetime of photographs (best guess a few thousand). I want a secure, permanent site (did I mention reasonably priced?), `cause I don't want to have to move everything ever again, once I chose a home for all of it. I don't know where to start and wanted to know  what other people were using, and why. I'd appreciate any info you could pass on!

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4 hours ago, Karina G said:

I know this isn't a tech website but, then, I"m not a techie. I need an affordable, easy-to-use storage site for non-technical people, something that will accommodate my documents and, more importantly, a lifetime of photographs (best guess a few thousand). I want a secure, permanent site (did I mention reasonably priced?), `cause I don't want to have to move everything ever again, once I chose a home for all of it. I don't know where to start and wanted to know  what other people were using, and why. I'd appreciate any info you could pass on!

How much storage do you need?

 

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Another option to consider:

Get a small portable hard drive.   Western Digital, Seagate, etc make 1 and 2 (and more) TB  (yes, Terabytes) for under $100 US.    Plug and Play USB connection to your PC.

Much faster and easier transfer than uploading to (or downloading from) the cloud, about the size of a pack of cigarettes, so advantages are:   small, fast, easy, cheap, huge capacity, secure, durable.....check it out.

Plus you can connect them directly to your TV to play photos, music, videos / movies, whatever you have stored on it.

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Had no idea there were even 1 TB thumb drives out yet....so checked....

Found this link on Amazon, most reviews show an issue with that size at that price, and it is USB 2.0, not USB 3.0 either.....so as it fills up, could be very slow....

U get what U pay for....for photos you want to keep, spend more $$ and get a good quality lasting solution you'll be happy with.

https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Memory-Rotatable-Laptop-Computer/dp/B07NY9WR28/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=1tb+flash+drive&qid=1587922763&s=electronics&sr=1-3

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8 minutes ago, virgo lady said:

Had no idea there were even 1 TB thumb drives out yet....so checked....

Found this link on Amazon, most reviews show an issue with that size at that price, and it is USB 2.0, not USB 3.0 either.....so as it fills up, could be very slow....

U get what U pay for....for photos you want to keep, spend more $$ and get a good quality lasting solution you'll be happy with.

https://www.amazon.com/Flash-Memory-Rotatable-Laptop-Computer/dp/B07NY9WR28/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=1tb+flash+drive&qid=1587922763&s=electronics&sr=1-3

Never assume. Mine is 3.0. Even cheaper now than when I bought last year. I could get a 2tb for what I paid. Believe it or not Amazon is not always the lowest price for many things it's just easier for some folks.

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If you need the latest Microsoft Office programs then with Office 365 (I think they just renamed it Microsoft 365) you get 1 terabyte of true cloud storage with OneDrive. You can access it from multiple devices (laptop, desktop, iPhone, etc.) It costs $100 a year or $10 a month, but you pay almost that much just for that much cloud storage with Dropbox or Google drive. So if you need the Office 365 programs anyway it is a good deal.

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6 hours ago, virgo lady said:

Great to hear it - can you post the link?    Sounds much better than the one I found.....

Here is 2TB USB 3.0 waterproof for $14.99US

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2TB-USB-3-0-Flash-Drives-Memory-Metal-Flash-Drives-Pen-Drive-U-Disk-PC-Laptop/352721651381?hash=item521fd946b5:m:mjeSuFt-o23kn9-CkHNqHxQ

 

 

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2 hours ago, Mostlylost said:

$14.99 sounds too good to be true and it very likely is too good to be true. There is a well known scam where 32GB (or less) units are labeled 2TB and even show that when tested however in real use they come up far short. Some Ebay sellers even admit this in their product descriptions.

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11 hours ago, mattoleriver said:

$14.99 sounds too good to be true and it very likely is too good to be true. There is a well known scam where 32GB (or less) units are labeled 2TB and even show that when tested however in real use they come up far short. Some Ebay sellers even admit this in their product descriptions.

I know nothing about such scams.

I bought last year  a 1TB of this model from a USA seller.    It showed slightly less than 1TB available. At this point I have used 145GB and still have plenty of space.

All products come with guarantee from Ebay 

I am not endorsing any seller or any website. I am just answering a request from someone. 

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DO NOT buy the drives that are being recommended here for 15 bucks.  Not unless you're willing to lose your backups.  Think about it rationally - when all of the major known manufacturers are charging $75 to a $100 US for a 512 GB USB 3.0 flash drive, why would one think you can get 2 TB for 15 bucks.   Just Google USB flash drive scams and you'll see what I mean.

Flash Drive Scams

Look at something like this instead:

Western Digital 2TB

 

 

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21 hours ago, virgo lady said:

Great to hear it - can you post the link?    Sounds much better than the one I found.....

Please don't buy one of these drives that are being recommended for $15.  If your data is important to you, spend the extra and buy from a reputable manufacturer, like Patriot, PNY, Kingston etc.....  

I've known people who have bought these cheap flash drives, and either they don't work out of the box or they fail shortly after purchase, or even worse, they are infected with malware.  

Please see my post above and click on the "Scams" link.

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Thanks for the suggestions everyone. However, my question was about cloud storage; I'm aware of the alternatives but my objective was to have a secure cache in a different location from my own equipment, as insurance against fire, flood, theft, etc. I don't really know how much storage I'd ultimately require, but (this is scary) I'm guessing I might have as many as 10,000 images to back-up, though I will try to weed as I go. I'll follow up on Google Drive (the only answer addressing my original query) but was hoping for several options.  

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9 hours ago, Karina G said:

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. However, my question was about cloud storage; I'm aware of the alternatives but my objective was to have a secure cache in a different location from my own equipment, as insurance against fire, flood, theft, etc. I don't really know how much storage I'd ultimately require, but (this is scary) I'm guessing I might have as many as 10,000 images to back-up, though I will try to weed as I go. I'll follow up on Google Drive (the only answer addressing my original query) but was hoping for several options.  

To find out your storage requirements, right-click on the folders you want to backup and go to "Properties".  It will show the size of the folder.  This applies to Windows computers.

Here's some information for you.  It appears that IDrive is the consensus best pick, and, they're offering a really fantastic discount for the first year of service.

https://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-cloud-storage

https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-cloud-storage-and-file-sharing-services

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36 minutes ago, Alpha1 said:

The MAJOR benefit of cloud storage from a reputable company is that your data is offsite i.e. can't be stolen, backed up by the company, available everywhere you are independent on your machine. Seems like inexpensive insurance for irreplaceable data.

Exactly. In our house we have six different devices, including iOS, Android, ChromeOS and Windows, all of which have access to all of our photos and documents from anywhere, plus I can connect to them from any computer anywhere by logging in to my Google account.

All for free.. 

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