DragonsLady Loc: Los Alamos, NM

Yes, I do realize that. It's stored on a computer network somewhere which still makes it vulnerable to EMP activity, i.e. sunspot triggered solar events.

DragonsLady Loc: Los Alamos, NM

BTW - I did sign up for the Adobe Cloud - but only because I've now got four Adobe programs and the continual updates for the cost of only one each year is worth it. I'm just not putting my photos or creative projects in the cloud.

strikerazde Loc: Phoenix, AZ

Actually its NOT stored on a computer network. It's stored on a storage network - a very different animal.

DragonsLady Loc: Los Alamos, NM

How is that different? It's still an electronic/electrical storage arrangement, isn't it? Would it be vulnerable to an EMP? If not, why not? I'd truly like to understand. (I've lived/worked around physicists, chemists, and engineers for a good part of my life so I should be able to understand your explanation.) I think of an EMP somewhat like a sudden air pressurization/depressurization but in the electrical/electronic realms. How far off am I?

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

Cheineck, you have mirrored my very argument. I'm involved with a local computer club and this topic comes up often. I feel very much the same as you have described, and I personally will not use any more of the 'cloud' than I am forced to. I prefer having MY copy of whatever on a hard drive, DVD, flash drive... or whatever... as long as they are in my possession, where I can 'touch and feel' them. Just one person's opinion.

Picdude Loc: Ohio

My nephew and his wife have a fairly successful graphic arts company specializing in web design. She does more of the Sales/PR/Travel aspect, he is more the nuts-and-bolts designer. During the family get-together for Thanksgiving last year the off-site storage topic came up and both of them had differing but interesting answers to the question.

She is a very hard-core user of Dropbox as it allows her to access and upload files anywhere she finds herself, even via smart phone if/when necessary. He uses Dropbox to a certain extent but works with all current project files backed up on external harddrives so he never has to worry about being in a time situation and suddenly finding that the off-site server is down/slow, internet connection is down/slow, etc.

Apparently both options have their place.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

It quacks like a duck... it is the same animal.

strikerazde Loc: Phoenix, AZ

Its a very complicated subject, but a computer network refers to computers attached via a cable of some kind, physical location aside.

A storage Area network is totally different and does not even have to be visible to any computer. It can be many things from a disk arrays, to fiber over Ethernet. It can even be virtualized. It can be RAID's or MAID's. Data can be stored magnetically, optically or in different ways. Most are replicate somewhere. So if done correctly, no they are not as vulnerable as you think.

The key to safely storing your data is to use a reputable company. One that either replicates or stripes data across many locations. But you have to ask them how data is kept safe.

Is there a perfect solution? No - if a panacea is what you are looking for.. I can only repeat Plato who said "Only the dead have seen the end of war" or in our case Only the dead will find a perfect world!

It's a matter of how much risk you are willing to take. Off site is a wise idea, just ask many residents of Oklahoma, or Florida after a hurricane hits. Or ask anyone who lost everything when their house burned down. Also keep in mind that off-site is only one of your backups, it should not be the only one, never put all your eggs in one basket.

Oh yea and moving your projects to the cloud, is not necessary to work on them or edit an image. Even with the Adobe cloud subscription Adobe still installs PS or other products on your computer so you can work your projects right on your very own computer and never move them anywhere you don't want to. It's not necessary to have an internet connection to work on anything.

karenod

I use Amazon Cloud Drive....the price is pretty reasonable, and since it's Amazon I believe in the quality and longevity of the company. I also upload my photos to Zenfolio and in the case of personal photos to Flickr.....and when my hard drive crashed and burned was very glad that I had done that since I could then go to Zenfolio and download all my original size files. That crash and burn is also the reason I decided to use the cloud as well. I also keep a 2TB hard drive connected at all times and running on time machine, plus I backup all photos to portable external hard drives that do not remain plugged in. Maybe I'm backing up to too many places but I never again want to feel the panic I felt when my hard drive fried! I think the cloud is a great idea and that it won't go away....it will only get better!

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Your wireless LAN (Local Area Network) is also a network.

Wired networks can be faster than wireless but there is no way for you to know whether any of your internet connections is being completed via a satelite or microwave link at some point.

And yes, a dedicated storage network is a much more sophisticated and expensive arrangement than your local in-home setup. If you use it you will eventually have to pay someone.

Gramps Loc: Republic of Tejas--Tomball, TX

Many thanks. I knew I didn't wan't to mess with it---just didn't know why. My guru, recently told me, not to consider Windows 8 for year as well!......C

Gramps Loc: Republic of Tejas--Tomball, TX

I agree. I use dedicated thumb drives and have no problems retrieving something if needed.

GaryS1964 Loc: Northern California

I use the cloud to share photos. I happen to use Picasa Web Albums. The biggest drawback to the cloud IMHO is upload speeds. It can take several hours for me to upload 200 pics to share.

Until ISPs allow upload speeds equal to download speeds the cloud will never be widely used for storage. I read where one guy said it took him six months to upload all his stuff to a cloud storage site. He wasn't uploading 24/7 but only at night when he wasn't using his computer for other things.

cecilia delacroix Loc: near Seattle

Excellent point! :thumbup:

(BTW, your avatar image is splendid!)

strikerazde Loc: Phoenix, AZ

To whit I say, how would you like to wake up in Moore, OK and find your computer and house leveled. The safe you stored your backup drives in smashed to pieces because some tornado picked it up and whirled it like a ragdoll into another zip code. Or even worse dropped it into the bottom of a lake, never to be seen again. Once again there is no panacea here. We must all weigh the risks and balance those against the rewards.