Cloud storage - Ditching the server

Cloud storage - Ditching the server

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I'm looking to ditch the server in the office in favour of a cloud storage provider.  Looked at both Google Drive and Dropbox for buisness.

Has anyone else gone down this route?  Any preferences for one over the other or a differant method?

Replies (21)

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By Howard Marks
18th Jun 2015 12:38

File types

What do you need the storage provider to hold?

 

For example, a database such as BTC doesn't work well in any of these scenarios.

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Stewie
By Stewie Griffin
18th Jun 2015 12:44

Office + PDF

Thanks for the reply Howard - It'll be Excel, Word & PDF docs in the main.

 

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By Howard Marks
18th Jun 2015 13:04

My experience

Is of OneDrive and Dropbox, I prefer the latter as I share various bits with clients and it seems more widely used.  I also prefer the desktop sync, OneDrive didn't always work so well.

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By mabzden
18th Jun 2015 13:14

Pricing

Hi Howard, do you use the DropBox for business service? I've looked at the pricing on the website and it looks as if you need to subscribe for a minimum of five users at £55 per month. That's a bit pricey for me as I only need two users.

And can you set these services up as virtual drives on your PC? I assume you can.

 

 

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By mrshamilton
18th Jun 2015 14:02

My husband's company has blocked dropbox as it says it's insecure and they have to now use onedrive instead.

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By Howard Marks
18th Jun 2015 14:09

DropBox

@mabzden - we've got the Pro subscription, three of us share the same login - works perfectly.

 

@mrshamilton - if somebody wants to hack you they will, Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud (woohoo, who's naked this week) - the right hacker will get in there eventually if they can be bothered.  I take security very seriously but in all honesty, if Anonymous or Kim Jong-un want to nick a few UTR's or low and behold a set of company accounts then let them do their worst.

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none
By Tailored_Accountancy
18th Jun 2015 20:25

Googledrive
We use Googledrive for a team of 6 and it works well. It does have the odd occasion of not syncing and you have to keep an eye on it, but it has worked for us. As Howard Marks says though, it doesn't work well with BTC or similar.

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By SE_Confused
18th Jun 2015 21:11

i have tried google drive but it slows down my laptop each time it syncs when i start it up

have you looked at NAS storage, basically your own cloud storage? no monthly fees

or you can stick a portable drive at the back of your wireless modem (must have an USB port) and it acts as a network drive. most wireless routers would do this and if no, get one that does.

some even allow you a remote connection to that drive

have a look here - http://www.ebuyer.com/668559-qnap-ts-231-2-bay-desktop-nas-enclosure-ts-231

did not try it but looking into it too

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Tamsin Mustafa
By Tasnim Mustafa
18th Jun 2015 21:13

Try Box

Box is excellent. It has two step authentication and desktop sync works great. All previous versions of documents are saved and easy to access. Good for collaborative work too.

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By John Webb
18th Jun 2015 21:13

I have many clients
Who use dropbox for business works well, great for sharing and far easier to sync than other systems

Yes, it doesn't comply with certain data laws as the content can be read by dropbox employees in the US in an unencrypted format, but if they want to see the pdf of an FBI filing receipt for one of my clients monthly FPS returns, then, they should get a life!

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By SE_Confused
18th Jun 2015 21:54

the ''if they want to hack you, they will'' adagio must be taken seriously, not that they will do anything with your accounts but fraudsters are very meticulous in stealing identities and piecing together info from social media plus what they have stolen to then get cash or hold you to ransom.

don't forget that all these cloud companies have outsourced parts of their maintenance or development to 3rd world countries where periodically info is sold.

a valid NI number is a valuable piece of info for someone.

the easiest way in which they can get into your dropbox is when one of your clients clicks a dodgy link and presto, they are in...

we all use cloud stuff but as I have worked in an IT company i know how careless they are with this as it does not bring in money and the risk can be ''mitigated''

 

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Man of Kent
By Kent accountant
18th Jun 2015 22:26

Alternative

Why not consider a hosted solution - Hosted Desktop or Hosted Accountants are the two I looked at.

Went with Hosted Desktop and very happy with the decision.

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By Smartie99
18th Jun 2015 23:26

sugarsync is worth a look......

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By User deleted
19th Jun 2015 09:52

Dropbox security - specific issue ...

Security on dropbox seems a never ending saga - and yet people continue to use it for client data

http://www.esecurityplanet.com/mobile-security/ibm-exposes-critical-drop...

http://securityintelligence.com/droppedin-remotely-exploitable-vulnerabi...

The above are specific scenarios, but can you guarantee that they will not affect your/clients use of the product?

Believe there are also issues with Box
 

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By Captainblack
19th Jun 2015 12:14

Sugarsync

Another vote for Sugarsync. The big difference (vs Dropbox) is that there are no dedicated folders you have to use. You just nominate existing folders (such as \documents\client) which is very flexible.

Captain

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By mabzden
19th Jun 2015 13:31

Dropbox + Boxcryptor

I'm currently trying out Dropbox plus an encryption program called Boxcryptor. Once set up you have access to a drive on your PC that syncs with your Dropbox account, but Boxcryptor encrypts all the files (in the background) before uploading to Dropbox and decrypts them when you want access. So I'm not concerned with any question marks concerning Dropbox's security as all files are stored on their servers in an encrypted format.

It's reasonably priced - the Dropbox account is £79 for a year, and Boxcryptor is free initially or around £50 pa (ex VAT) if you want to upgrade to the full version. It's a bit fiddly to set up so you may need a tech-minded friend to help you.

I've only just started using it but so far so good.

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By jndavs
19th Jun 2015 13:45

or you can keep control
Your own cloud:
https://owncloud.org/

Encrypt files:
https://veracrypt.codeplex.com/

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By mabzden
19th Jun 2015 15:43

Pricing of Sugarsync

I've had a look on the Sugarsync website and it looks as if the stored files are encrypted. But it also looks expensive if you 'fess up to being a business?

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By Captainblack
19th Jun 2015 16:13

Expensive?

I guess perceptions will differ about the cost but in terms of what it does, we consider it a bargain in terms of time saved.

Captain

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Replying to Tax Dragon:
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By mabzden
19th Jun 2015 16:28

Q on pricing

Captainblack wrote:

I guess perceptions will differ about the cost but in terms of what it does, we consider it a bargain in terms of time saved.

Captain

What is the pricing structure for small business? From the website it looks as if it starts from $55 per month for business users?

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By jndavs
19th Jun 2015 18:33

I think owncloud wins on cost -
It is free!

Oh, and if you use something like Vmware, there is a prebuilt VM at
https://bitnami.com/stack/owncloud/virtual-machine
https://bitnami.com/stack/owncloud

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