Google Close To Launching Cloud Storage 'Google Drive' 205
Posted
by
timothy
from the when-gdrive-isn't-good-enough-for-you dept.
from the when-gdrive-isn't-good-enough-for-you dept.
MrSeb writes with this selection from ExtremeTech: "Why doesn't Google offer a cloud storage service to rival Dropbox, Box.net, or Microsoft's SkyDrive? Google has the most internet-connected servers in the world, the largest combined storage of any web company, and already offers photo storage (Picasa), document storage (Docs), music storage (Music), but for some reason it has never offered a unified Google Drive. According to people familiar with the matter, however, our wait is almost over: Google's Hard Drive In The Sky is coming soon, possibly 'within weeks.' Feature-wise, it sounds like Google Drive will be comparable to Dropbox, with free basic storage (5GB?) and additional space for a yearly fee."
Is it safe? Is it secret? (Score:2, Informative)
Can I get an account on an alternate TLD with a guaranty that my data won't be on an American server to protect it from American imperialism?
Never mind then.
Re:Yay! (Score:5, Informative)
You could try using client-side encryption, but I have read that Dropbox either prohibit client-side encryption in their terms or drop customers that use it extensively, as it breaks their file de-duplicating model and they therefore have to provide many times more disk space and bandwidth for these customers.
Nope, nothing in Dropboxes T&C's to limit you from using client-side encryption, and no instances reported of users being dropped from the service for anything other than blatant copyright infringement or illegal activities (virus or spam dissemination from the public folder for example).
I use TrueCrypt extensively with my Dropbox, have done for several years now - its a 40GB container which gets regularly altered as I do a lot of stuff inside of it. It has never earned me any contact from the Dropbox team, and indeed the team do recommend using such tools on the forums from time to time.
Your concerns with Dropbox are very wide of the mark, currently.
Re:Yay! (Score:4, Informative)
I'd like a way to use these "cloud" storage services to make a really safe encrypted filesystem. Imagine that 95% of my data was on my own fileserver, but a critical 5% of the data was only stored on a "cloud" server (mirrored across several, for safety and performance). The FBI confiscates my server and a judge orders me to give them the passwords. "Fine," I say, "the password is 'pass1234,' good luck!"
You could probably do something with RAID-5 over loop-mounted files to simulate this, but I'm not sure that would necessarily ensure that no files were recoverable without access the off-site part.
Re:Wow,...? (Score:5, Informative)
And has a 50MB limit for filesizes and requires third party services to do so.
How isn't this Google Docs? (Score:4, Informative)
I'm confused ... isn't Google Docs already this?
I'm already using it this way, using it as an arbitrary file store, from my desktop via the browser and on my iOS devices via multiple applications like "GoodReader".
The article didn't give me an idea of what they're adding. Transparent background sync with local filesystem? Standards-compliant WebDAV access?