Rackspace Ransomware Attack Caused Email Outages; Thousands of Customers Migrated to Cloud Services  CPO Magazine

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The Connected Mining Market Forecast Predicts The Rising Demand For Digitalization To Drive The Market Growth As Per The Business Research Company's Connected Mining Global Market Report 2022  GlobeNewswire

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Cast your mind back to the office of 2019 its almost completely unrecognisable compared to todays working environment.

The last three years have seen the rise of remote working, as well as the emergence of big data technologies and SaaS solutions.

As a result, most businesses have now migrated at least some of their workloads and applications to the cloud. In particular, were seeing a growing appetite for managed cloud hosting a market which is predicted to grow from $86.1 Bn in 2021 to $237 Bn in 2032.

Not all clouds are created equal

Public cloud resources are delivered over the internet, owned, and operated by third-party service providers like AWS or Azure. Businesses often procure public cloud services on a pay as you go basis, paying only for the CPU cycles, bandwidth, and storage they consume. Public cloud is often seen as the most accessible solution for businesses thanks to this unlimited scalability and the minimal maintenance needed.

By contrast, private cloud refers to cloud services and infrastructure that are maintained on a private network, using dedicated hardware and software. Though it requires significantly more maintenance and monitoring, private cloud offers businesses superior control over their IT infrastructure particularly when it comes to security, costs etc.

As the name suggests, hybrid cloud infrastructure takes elements of both public and private cloud. It enables businesses to select storage whether on-premises, from hyperscalers or local cloud providers to match the performance needs of specific workloads. For example, many businesses use public cloud for day-to-day workloads and private cloud to house sensitive data.

Why are businesses turning away from public cloud?

After an initial rush to migrate workloads and resources to the public cloud, many businesses are (at least in part) reversing this decision. A 2021 IDC study found that 80% of respondents had recently repatriated workloads from public cloud environments.

Why? First and foremost, many businesses found that public cloud didnt deliver promised cost savings. Though public cloud can be more cost efficient when catering to occasional demand spikes, it can quickly become expensive when handling huge, year-round workloads particularly when you factor in management fees and non-fixed billing models. Secondly, many businesses are now choosing not to store sensitive data in public cloud environments, since hardware is often shared by multiple companies.

Is owned data centre infrastructure a better option?

Not necessarily. Largescale, global businesses may find it worthwhile to invest in their own data centre infrastructure as theyd benefit from economies of scale and total control over operations. But this is prohibitively costly for most, especially SMEs.

Whats more, figuring out networking, computing and storage needs based on applications and data is time consuming and requires a team of in-house experts. Again, this is unrealistic for most small and medium-sized businesses.

So, whats the alternative?

This is where managed hosting comes in. To create a bespoke cloud solution, managed hosting combines dedicated servers and hardware with management by an external service provider. Managed hosting also includes added value services like backup and disaster recovery, load balancing, security services, physical security for data centres, maintenance, and monitoring.

Managed hosting gives businesses peace of mind that their cloud infrastructure is being managed to the highest standards. Plus, since it doesnt require in-house cloud expertise or intervention, managed hosting gives IT teams freedom to focus on internal projects and processes.

Overall, managed hosting offers businesses the best of both worlds. A low maintenance service that operates on a private or hybrid cloud environment with personalisation, reliability and scalability built in from the start.

About the Author

Jake Madders, Co-founder and Director at Hyve Managed Hosting. Hyve Managed Hosting is a fully-managed, UK-based hosting provider with a genuine passion for technology. Adopting a customer-centric approach, Hyve delivers a range of hosting services, from mission-critical private cloud and managed cloud, to colocation and security services. Hyves engineers become an extension of any business, excelling in tailor-made 24/7/365 support and centralised management.

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Cloud: Why are more businesses turning to managed hosting? - TechNative

Amazon has two cloud storage services: Amazon Drive and Amazon Photos. The latter is an unlimited cloud storage for photos and videos that comes bundled with Prime. Amazon has chosen to drop support for Amazon Drive, the more general storage service, to focus on Amazon Photos. This means users will have to find an Amazon Drive alternative.

Although this announcement was unexpected, Amazon gave users plenty of time to find a good alternative. On Oct. 31, Amazon will remove the mobile apps from all app stores, after Jan. 31, 2023, you wont be able to upload files, and the company will delete all files from the servers Dec. 31, 2023.

However, you shouldnt wait to find somewhere else to store files. Many of the best cloud storage services offer free storage, so you can try them before making the move. Read on, and well go through five services that we think youll like.

Amazon Drive was Amazons alternative to Google Drive. However, it will be deprecated after 2023, and youll only be able to store photos and videos through Amazon Photos.

Yes. On Oct. 31, Amazon will remove the service from the app stores, and beginning Jan. 31, 2023, youll lose the ability to upload files. On Dec. 31, 2023, Amazon will shut the service down for good and delete all files.

Yes. Amazon Cloud Drive is just another name for Amazon Drive.

One of the best aspects of Amazon Drive is how easy it is to use, so services with a user-friendly interface will be a priority here. Well also be looking for secure services that are dedicated to data privacy and offer a good deal, so you arent spending too much on your file storage.

Sync.com and pCloud are two of our favorite cloud storage providers. Theyre easy to use, offer zero-knowledge encryption and are cheaper than Amazon Drive. Icedrive takes a close third as a cheaper alternative thats missing some features the top two services offer.

If privacy isnt a big deal to you, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive are well-known cloud storage services that arent lacking and are remarkably easy to pick up, especially coming from Amazon Drive.

The top of this list is a close fight, but with its great balance of features, usability and price, Sync.com wins. Lets jump right in to see what makes this service our favorite.

Sync.com keeps all your files safe, no questions asked.

More details about Sync.com:

Pros:

Sync.com does everything Amazon Drive does and more. Whether youre a fan of the simplicity of Amazons service, the wide range of supported devices or the seamless file syncing, Sync.com will have you covered.

Its easy to get started with it, whether youre using the web interface, the desktop app or the apps for iOS and Android devices. You can sync files with the dedicated sync folder or share them with a sharing link. The sharing settings are also easy to use, so you can collaborate without leaving important files unprotected.

This seamless ability to share files with anyone is why Sync.com also tops our list for the best cloud storage for sharing. It even gives recipients the option to zip the digital content before downloading it, which speeds up the transfer of large files. Theres no need to use a physical USB drive or separate file hosting service if Sync.com is your main cloud storage.

However, where Sync.com really shines is its security and dedication to privacy. Sync.com comes with a host of amazing security features. On top of the basics we expect, like TLS/SSL encryption and a confidence-inspiring privacy policy, Sync.com offers a local password reset and two-factor authentication through email or an authenticator app on your mobile device.

However, the biggest security benefit is that Sync.com applies zero-knowledge encryption to all your files. You can read more about file encryption in our description of encryption, but to keep it simple, zero-knowledge encryption means that even though your files are in the companys data centers, youre the only one with the key to open them.

Sync.com isnt the only zero-knowledge cloud storage provider. However, since Sync.coms encryption protects all your files with no extra setup, even if you have a free account, theres no doubt that this is one of the most secure providers.

Sync.com is a great value.

One downside to Sync.com is the lack of low-storage plans, although the plans that are available are a great deal. You can start with 5GB of free cloud storage, and the 6TB and 1TB individual plans cost $24 and $6 per month, for the respective annual plans.

Overall, Sync.com is one of the best cloud storage services out there. You can even get unlimited storage for $ per user per year, if you pay for at least two users. Our Sync.com review and the 5GB free version are worth checking out, especially if you dont know where to go when Amazon Drive gets shut down.

Pro Teams Unlimited

If you want more features and tools than Amazon Drive offered, choose pCloud.

More details about pCloud:

Pros:

Cons:

Sync.com may be our favorite cloud storage service, but pCloud is a clear and very close second. As we show in our full Sync.com vs pCloud comparison, this provider is a little more expensive and the zero-knowledge encryption is limited to a specific folder.

However, pClouds inclusion of a cloud backup service with pCloud Backup and the browser extension pCloud Save make it slightly richer in terms of features. pCloud also offers faster speeds thanks to the block-level sync.

Its also friendly to pretty much any device out there. Not only is there a web app and desktop apps for Windows, macOS and Linux, but theres also great apps for Android and iOS. Device compatibility is important if you want to make use of the syncing tools, and pCloud is one of the best for it.

One of pClouds features is a media player. Normally, this wouldnt be too special, as its common for a cloud storage or file hosting service to have something like it. However, this media player puts pCloud on our list of the top cloud storage for music, and thanks to an unofficial add-on, its also one of the best cloud services for Kodi.

Basically, if youre looking for music and video storage with the option to stream from the cloud, and you dont want to fork out for separate services, pCloud is for you.

pClouds lifetime plans are an amazing offer if you need long-term storage.

pClouds annual plans are a tad pricier than Sync.coms, but the lifetime plans can be worth it. At $49.99, $99.99 or $1200 for the 500GB, 2TB and 10TB plans respectively, these deals are a great value if you plan on using pCloud for at least four years.

So if youre looking for long-term storage or want to stream media while its in your cloud storage space, you should read our full pCloud review. Just remember to put sensitive documents in the pCloud Crypto folder to take advantage of the private data encryption.

Business

Business Pro

Icedrive is another zero-knowledge provider that can trade blows with the best.

More details about Icedrive:

Pros:

Cons:

Although pCloud and Sync.com are great options, they lack a good value, low-storage plan. Thats where Icedrive comes in. First, well jump into what it offers, then well talk more about the pricing.

Icedrive is a zero-knowledge provider thats surprisingly well-rounded for a service first released in 2019. It also has a sleek and intuitive user interface, which is a nice change from some older providers (and wins Icedrive a well-earned point in our comparison with Sync.com).

It lacks some features, such as a dedicated sync folder, and the customer service is acceptable but nothing special. However, it has enough tools to work for most users, and extra features can ruin an otherwise easy-to-use platform.

As with other zero-knowledge providers, all the data you store on Icedrives servers is encrypted with a private encryption key. However, rather than using the industry standard protocol AES, Icedrive opts to use Twofish.

Both are considered essentially unbreakable and their differences are well beyond the scope of this article. However, the practical difference is that Twofish isnt as common, so hackers tend to be less familiar with it.

Icedrive is a great value Amazon Drive alternative.

Icedrive is an above-average storage service, and one thing that makes it stand out is the pricing. The starting price is $1.67 per month for 150GB, when paying annually. Then it jumps up to $4.17 and $15 per month for the 1TB and 5TB annual plans.

There are also lifetime plans, which become worth it at around four to five years of use.

If youre looking for small amounts of storage and need a service thats easy to pick up, read our Icedrive review. It offers plenty of value and all the great security of the higher-priced providers. Plus, theres a 10GB free plan to get you started.

Free

Lite

Pro

Pro+

Google Drive will be familiar to Amazon Drive users, and you probably already have an account.

More details about Google Drive:

Pros:

Cons:

Google offers its client-side encryption to enterprise and education users, but if you have one of the personal or business plans, there isnt any way to protect your digital library from a government subpoena or skilled hacker. However, Amazon Drive wasnt a zero-knowledge provider either, and there are benefits to using Google Drive.

Google Drive is so easy to use that you might be using it without even noticing. All you need is a Gmail account to get started, and Android users can back up their devices to a Google Drive account without extra software.

You can also set up an automatic photo backup through Google Photos. This will be familiar to anyone who is used to using both Amazon Drive and Amazon Photos, so if you want to move away from Amazon and continue keeping your pictures separate from your other files, Google Drive is for you.

This focus on usability extends to the integration with Google Docs (and the rest of your Google Workspace). The tools for working on your documents and sharing and collaborating on them with other users are intuitive and powerful.

However, it doesnt end with Docs, Sheets and Slides. If you want to take notes, theres Google Keep. If you need to plan ahead, you can use Google Calendar. Youll also get all your Google Chat and Gmail files saved to your Google Drive to keep them safe and make file sharing easier.

You can also replace Amazon Photos with Google Photos.

Google Drive has a rather generous 15GB free plan. The 100GB, 200GB and 2TB plans cost $1.67, $2.50 and $8.33 per month, respectively, when paying annually. This isnt the best deal, but you can share your space with up to five users and Google offers a great 24/7 support system for paying customers, which can come in handy.

Overall, Google Drive takes a similar approach to Amazon Drive, although at a lower cost per gigabyte across the board. You wont have extra security or privacy, but youll get some great ways to work on your files across multiple devices and collaborate with your friends, family and colleagues. If this appeals to you, read our full Google Drive review to learn more.

OneDrive is perfect for small businesses that need to collaborate.

More details about OneDrive:

Pros:

Cons:

OneDrive is another provider that we regularly recommend, but for its collaboration tools rather than excellent privacy or security. Since OneDrive is a Microsoft offering, it works best with programs like Word, Excel and PowerPoint and is built into Windows File Explorer by default.

You wont struggle to use OneDrive, either. Its desktop app and web app have a level of polish that most cloud storage services struggle to achieve. It even has a solid app for mobile devices, despite Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile being discontinued.

OneDrive is also a reasonably fast service, although not the fastest.

Our Dropbox vs Google Drive vs OneDrive comparison is the best place to see where each of the big three cloud storage providers win, but the simple answer is if youre one of over 50 million Office 365 subscribers, OneDrive is probably for you.

Even if you arent a fan of Microsoft Office, youll still be able to make use of some decent syncing and sharing tools, which make collaboration a breeze.

OneDrive offers great deals if you need a handful of users.

Office 365 has two main paid plans for personal users, each giving 1TB of OneDrive storage per user. The Personal plan costs $5.83 per month and gives you one account, while the Family plan is $8.33 per month for six accounts, when you buy the respective annual plans.

If you can make use of multiple accounts and need Office 365s office software, then OneDrive is a great value. Read our OneDrive review if you want to learn more.

Microsoft 365 Personal

Microsoft 365 Business Basic

Microsoft 365 Family

OneDrive for Business Plan 1

OneDrive for Business Plan 2

Microsoft 365 Business Standard

Amazon Drive never was the best cloud storage service out there. If youre using it, there are other options you can move to now that its shutting down, whether you prioritize usability, speed, security, collaboration or file sharing.

Even if you arent a fan of the providers we looked at here, there are plenty of other cloud storage providers that might suit your needs. For example, if you want some extra backup tools, IDrive (read our IDrive review) is another great Amazon Drive alternative.

Were you using Amazon Drive before the announcement? Have you changed to any of these providers? Did your new cloud storage service meet your expectations? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks for reading.

Let us know if you liked the post. Thats the only way we can improve.

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The Best Amazon Drive Alternative in 2022: Cloud Storage Options - Cloudwards