Anyone who runs a website that utilizes a large volume of media will know the struggle of maintaining and organizing all the images, videos, and other storage-hogging files that are necessary for the day-to-day running of your site. Most hosting services and website builders only offer a certain, usually meager amount of storage, which means your first instinct would be to store media on your computer.
This, of course, is only so viable. You'll eventually run out of storage and have to buy more and with the current price of SSDs, you'd likely end up purchasing a slow hard drive. You also run the risk of your computer being compromised by malware such as cryptolocker viruses and data loss from a failing drive. At the end of the day, you'll end up with less money and more problems.
Luckily, there is a simple solution: Cloud storage services. They're cheap, efficient and can be accessed from virtually any location and device. Here are some of the best.
OpenDrive
With a highly flexible pricing system and great value for money, OpenDrive is the first choice in cloud storage for many customers. Signing up with nothing more than an email and password grants you 5GB of free storage, although there are a few limitations such as individual file upload sizes and bandwidth speed.
Upgrade to the $99 per year plan and you get unlimited storage with no restrictions. Included is a tasks and notes functionality for increased productivity on the go. You can upgrade to a full business package if you're a serious power user, but even the standard package will suffice for most.
Carbonite
With the ease of use and efficiency as its core values, Carbonite provides a great package for both casual users and power users alike. The $59.99 per year plan gets you unlimited backup on desktop devices. Upgrading to the Prime plan gets you the courier recovery service, which allows you to have your drives physically mailed to you by a courier service.
It'll cost you $150, but consider the benefits, as it's a good investment. Carbonite also has a mobile app for cloud storage. Check out the Cloud Storage Buzz article on the Carbonite app for more info.
IDrive
With desktop, mobile and web interfaces, IDrive provides a comprehensive and affordable package for all your cloud storage needs. There are few to no file transfer limits, even with the 5GB free plan. For $60 you can remove all limits completely. IDrive also offers serious security features with encryption and password protection coming standard.
You can share files with others via social media or email. Integration is taken further with Office 365 compatibility, allowing easy transfer of your OneDrive files. IDrive's mobile app is compatible with iOS and Android, giving you flexible file access options on the go.
Conclusion
Each of these cloud storage services provides something a little different that may or may not suit you. Ultimately, they all offer the same thing: Secure, efficient and convenient storage of all your website media.
