Web-based storage
The idea of Web-based storage is simple: Instead of going into trouble of buying, connecting, and supporting (and sometimes, repairing) your personal backup system (Zip, Jaz, CD-RW, Tape drive, DVD-RAM, etc.), just download some simple software from the Web, subscribe to a service, and upload those critical data you wish to keep in a safe place. A specially trained team, with the best possible backup equipment, will guarantee data integrity and safety, and you will have easy access to this data from virtually anywhere in the Internet-capable world.
Another derivative of this idea is an internet shared office: a rented space elsewhere which is password-protected, shared by a select group of people, which allows the group to store documents, track projects, and create discussion groups and exchange emails. It also supports calendaring, to-do lists, conferencing, business information resources, etc. Isn't it attractive?
It surely is, but... There's a catch.
First, with the present variety, low cost, high reliability, and high level of standardization of removable storage products (both magnetic and optical), it is not a problem to keep several hundred megabytes of your most critical data on a few Zip disks or one CD-R or CD-RW. It is not expensive or difficult anymore (parallel port versions of these products are available and easy to install). You can be almost sure that wherever you go, there will be a 100 MB Zip drive to read your data. And there is about 100% probability that one will find a CD-ROM drive anywhere, capable of reading your pre-recorded data on a CD-R or CD-RW.
But this is not the main argument against web storage... Actually, many people still may prefer to backup their data on a remote server via the Internet. Unfortunately, to transfer, say, 10 MB of data over a 28.8 Kbps line would take (at maximum data transfer rate which is rarely the reality) about 45 minutes. And what is 10 MB of data by today's standards? Almost nothing... The next table summarizes our rough estimates of the transfer times for 10 MB and 100 MB of data... Anything below 30 minutes is considered to be acceptable.
28.8
56
128
144
1500
8000
46
23
11.5
9
~ 1
0.16
460
230
115
90
~ 10
1.6
Of course, there are some ways around the transfer time issue:
- Automatic data compression is one of them. But, even assuming that one uses an extremely effective 5:1 compression (possible only for a few file formats), transmitting 100 MB of compressed data (now equal to "only" 20 MB) via the 56 Kbps line will still take more then 45 minutes.
- Automatic backup during the night is another option. This requires an on-line connection through the night...
- An intelligent backup software will back-up only changes in your files, thus reducing the amount of data to be transferred. Still, the very first backup may take hours of your online time.
What we would like to say here is: if you can not afford to have a fast Internet connection or if you have lots of data to backup, then on-line storage is not for you. if you have a fast Internet connection or have a small amount of data to backup, then the on-line storage may be just what you need!
Check below to find out what we mean by a fast Internet connection ...
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