| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Cloud storage for translation databases Thread poster: Kathleen Misson
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Hello,
I am considering options for purchasing sufficient cloud storage for all my work and personal files. There are many options and there are some good overall reviews of them on Google search but I am looking for specifically translators' experiences. I have been working with Dropbox and I have been very happy with it but the 2Gb is not enough to hold a big database, so it is time to upgrade. I have tried iDisc and a couple of others and it seems that 'open' databases are not ba... See more Hello,
I am considering options for purchasing sufficient cloud storage for all my work and personal files. There are many options and there are some good overall reviews of them on Google search but I am looking for specifically translators' experiences. I have been working with Dropbox and I have been very happy with it but the 2Gb is not enough to hold a big database, so it is time to upgrade. I have tried iDisc and a couple of others and it seems that 'open' databases are not backed up. Does anyone work with a cloud storage product that syncs open databases in real-time? Thank you. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jean Lachaud 
United States
Local time: 07:05
English to French
+ ...
One should not use cloud as "regular" storage, but only for backup.
2 years ago, there was a major Google outage. I was at the time using Google Calendar extensively. My calendar was wiped out.
Also, I've found that real-time backup of databases (such as glossaries and TMs) does not work well.
Buy yourself a backup external drive, preferably with RAID. They cost about $2-300 for a terabyte, last time I looked at the local Staples. That is more than enough f... See more One should not use cloud as "regular" storage, but only for backup.
2 years ago, there was a major Google outage. I was at the time using Google Calendar extensively. My calendar was wiped out.
Also, I've found that real-time backup of databases (such as glossaries and TMs) does not work well.
Buy yourself a backup external drive, preferably with RAID. They cost about $2-300 for a terabyte, last time I looked at the local Staples. That is more than enough for many years of text files. Some of these drives are cloud-enabled, meaning you can access the content from wherever. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Why? What for? | Jan 15, 2013 |
The usefulness of cloud storage as a backup solution for private users has been grossly overrated. Compared to a flash drive, cloud space has more shortcomings than advantages:
+ you can's lose or misplace it
+ allegedly better protection against physical data corruption
– if your internet access goes down, you are simply out or luck
– generally slower, unless you are on a really good broadband channel all the time
– a lot more expensive in the long run... See more The usefulness of cloud storage as a backup solution for private users has been grossly overrated. Compared to a flash drive, cloud space has more shortcomings than advantages:
+ you can's lose or misplace it
+ allegedly better protection against physical data corruption
– if your internet access goes down, you are simply out or luck
– generally slower, unless you are on a really good broadband channel all the time
– a lot more expensive in the long run: you own a flash drive but have to rent cloud space
In fact, the two advantages of cloud storage are also dubious. A tiny, fingernail-sized 32 GB flash drive can be bought for some 20 euros. You plug it into your USB port, set up your favourite backup software, and never take it out unless you need to, so you really have to try hard to lose it. If you are paranoid about data corruption, buy *two* drives and copy one to the other every several days (which can also be automated).
Speaking of open file backup, it's another can of worms. There are backup solutions that handle open files (both for the cloud and for the physical media), but a true real-time backup solution will slow down your work considerably, and any input-output errors (whether on the network or on physical media) may wreak total havoc on your system. Having intentionally created this situation with a few carefully selected real-time backup solutions, I ultimately rejected all of them and settled for a daily backup on a permanently plugged flash drive (actually, a SDHC card in my case). ▲ Collapse
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Kathleen Misson wrote:
Hello,
I am considering options for purchasing sufficient cloud storage for all my work and personal files. There are many options and there are some good overall reviews of them on Google search but I am looking for specifically translators' experiences. I have been working with Dropbox and I have been very happy with it but the 2Gb is not enough to hold a big database, so it is time to upgrade. I have tried iDisc and a couple of others and it seems that 'open' databases are not backed up. Does anyone work with a cloud storage product that syncs open databases in real-time? Thank you.
You could just buy more space in Dropbox. If you like the service and it does what you need, it's the simplest option. Or you could try Google Drive. You get 5GB for free, which is not too shabby at all.
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| Cloud storage pricing | Jan 15, 2013 |
Dropbox is good but it is one of the more expensive. I was just curious to see if others have any experiences or thoughts.
Dropbox $99/yr 100GB
SkyDrive €37/yr ($50) 100GB
Google drive $59.88/yr 100GB + 7GB extra GMAIL space
It seems that the price and features of cloud services are improving and I can think of a multitude of benefits of cloud storage over external hard disk storage. That's if you have a good internet connection, which fortunately I do. ... See more Dropbox is good but it is one of the more expensive. I was just curious to see if others have any experiences or thoughts.
Dropbox $99/yr 100GB
SkyDrive €37/yr ($50) 100GB
Google drive $59.88/yr 100GB + 7GB extra GMAIL space
It seems that the price and features of cloud services are improving and I can think of a multitude of benefits of cloud storage over external hard disk storage. That's if you have a good internet connection, which fortunately I do. It's simpler, synchs across devices, removes the problem of data saved from one computer onto an external drive not able to restore to a different computer for windows security issues, never lose the data in case of fire or disaster, closer to real-time backup (I lost eight hours' work the other day, hence my interest in looking at alternative solutions, especially open file backup for translation memories), access a file from anywhere, easily share large files. I will also be looking at cloud based contact agendas and diaries, it just makes sense to have them in the cloud and accessible across devices. I have tried synching outlook with android and find various difficulties, most recently four copies of every contact copied over to android device! There must be an easier way. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jaroslaw Michalak
Poland
Local time: 13:05
Member (2004)
English to Polish
SITE LOCALIZER | One should use both | Jan 15, 2013 |
Anton Konashenok wrote:
The usefulness of cloud storage as a backup solution for private users has been grossly overrated. Compared to a flash drive, cloud space has more shortcomings than advantages:
As you mentioned, both solutions have their advantages and disadvantages, so they should supplement each other. Flash (or any other external drive) is convenient, but if it is permanently attached to your computer, it goes with it - with thieves or up in flames. The latter would be particularly painful, if one loses in a fire not only his house, but his entire business.
That is why you need to have both an "onsite" backup solution - it's fast, reliable, does not need a permanent connection and "an offsite" solution - for all those cases when the backup faces the same risks as your main machine as well as for occasional retrieval during travels. The offsite solution does not have to be in the cloud (although it is most convenient) - you might as well use those two flash drives and exchange them, leaving one of them at your parents/relatives/friends when you visit them each week.
If the data are out of sync (one is backed up daily, another weekly) it might in fact help as well, for example if the data are corrupted by a virus etc. you might recover them more easily. Naturally, iteration is possible (and recommended) for onsite backup as well, for cloud solutions it might become too expensive.
| | | | | A few extra notes | Jan 15, 2013 |
if you have a good internet connection, which fortunately I do
Are you sure you have a low-latency 50-100 Mbps channel throughout the route between your computer and the cloud server? Even 10 Mbps already imposes a perceptible performance penalty.
synchs across devices
Not a problem with local media, either. By the way, do you really have a lot of different devices to synchronise? OK, there are contacts, tasks and appointments in your mobile phone, what else? In fact, you can put a big data card into your phone, and it will double as your backup flash drive.
removes the problem of data saved from one computer onto an external drive not able to restore to a different computer for windows security issues
If you have such a problem, it has to do with improper settings in your system.
never lose the data in case of fire or disaster
This one is true.
closer to real-time backup (I lost eight hours' work the other day, hence my interest in looking at alternative solutions, especially open file backup for translation memories)
Local media can do exactly the same.
access a file from anywhere
Mostly true, but how often do you need to access your data when you don't have your computer with you?
easily share large files
Not a problem with local media, either, especially if you have a public IP address. Even if you don't, you can use ubuquitous tools like Skype for this purpose.
| | | | | Wrong thinking? | Jan 16, 2013 |
I decided against large databases in DropBox because I think virtually no connection is fast enough to update them. I can be very wrong, but I set my CAT tool to save after 5 segments, and I think DropBox will start uploading the whole databases, not an incremental upgrade. So I only keep my "Project TM" in DropBox. The large database are updated hourly to an external HDD, and zipped weekly to SkyDrive.
Wrong approach?
Cheers,
Hans
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| How big can they get? | Jan 16, 2013 |
I just checked, and all my ENG>DUT databases combined are "only" slightly more than 1 GB. The two largest TMs are the DGT (that I don't update with my translations, so it's Read Only), and my "Big Mama" TM, that contains all segments of my translations in that language pair of the last 10+ years. I wonder how you can arrive at substantially larger databases, especially ones that need updating?
Cheers,
Hans
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Thank you all so much for your help. There are some fantastic suggestions here. Cheers.
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Kathleen Misson wrote:
There must be an easier way.
OS X - iOS, iCloud. Perfect.
Cheers,
Hans
| | | | Rolf Keller
Germany
Local time: 13:05
English to German
| Backup on flash drive? Yes, but | Jan 16, 2013 |
Anton Konashenok wrote:
Compared to a flash drive, cloud space has more shortcomings than advantages:
+ allegedly better protection against physical data corruption
Burglary, burst pipe, fire, lightning, excess voltage (from a defective power unit in your PC or from outside of your house), ...
You plug it into your USB port, set up your favourite backup software, and never take it out unless you need to
Until your PC shredders the drive and/or the data.
--> Backups have to be stored at a different place without direct accessibility from the PC.
If you are paranoid about data corruption, buy *two* drives and copy one to the other every several days (which can also be automated).
If some data are corrupted you'll end up with two copies of identically corrupted data.
And what happens if the source drive is not readable in the middle of such a copy operation? Source defective, destination defective.
--> You need to backup version-oriented on different media.
Speaking of open file backup, it's another can of worms.
You are right. This works only if there is never any fault of any kind.
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Rolf, I'll agree with your arguments in principle, but for a private user, an off-site backup would mostly address the unlikely causes of data loss. In particular, you are many times more likely to lose your data through a failure of an inexpensive consumer-grade computer (especially a no-name desktop) than through burglary, fire or burst pipe. If you get a professional-grade notebook instead, it will improve your data security and accessibility much better than any cloud backup.
If some data are corrupted you'll end up with two copies of identically corrupted data.
And what happens if the source drive is not readable in the middle of such a copy operation? Source defective, destination defective.
--> You need to backup version-oriented on different media.
This can happen with a cloud backup as well. In fact, if you don't have an enterprise-grade connectivity, I/O errors on the network are more likely than on local media. One should also use their brain and think before doing things - silent data corruption ("bit rot") is hard to overcome by backups anyway, but it is relatively rare. Most cases of data corruption are accompanied by error reports.
| | | | John Fossey
Canada
Local time: 07:05
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
| What I do is... | Jan 17, 2013 |
Don't know if this helps, but I only use cloud (Dropbox) for my current projects. For this it works great - I can point Studio to the files it's using on the cloud, which appears to it as a local file, and whether I'm working at the office, at home or remotely, the files appear as a local file with very fast access. Once a project is complete I move its files out of the cloud to storage.
But for storage, I just have two 2TB external hard drives, accessible over the VPN network, to ... See more Don't know if this helps, but I only use cloud (Dropbox) for my current projects. For this it works great - I can point Studio to the files it's using on the cloud, which appears to it as a local file, and whether I'm working at the office, at home or remotely, the files appear as a local file with very fast access. Once a project is complete I move its files out of the cloud to storage.
But for storage, I just have two 2TB external hard drives, accessible over the VPN network, to which I back up everything automatically to both, once a day, one at work and one at home. Although the VPN network is slower, it's perfect for backup purposes.
[Edited at 2013-01-17 16:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | I'm using Dropbox... | Jan 18, 2013 |
I have 11 GB now (and keep growing). Only 9% is used.
FarkasAndras wrote:
You could just buy more space in Dropbox. If you like the service and it does what you need, it's the simplest option. Or you could try Google Drive. You get 5GB for free, which is not too shabby at all.
I use it as a file storage to receive and send big files when interacting with clients.
I prefer portable HDD for backup.
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