There ’s no shortage of choices for cloud storage , but that leads to another problem : how do you decide which serve you truly need , and which files to put where ? If you ’ve signed up for as many cloud providers as you have file , it ’s time for an treatment ( or at least a moment of clear - maneuver contemplation ) .

I ’ll accommodate it : I ’m an online store junkie . At one time or another I ’ve synced file cabinet to the cloud usingAmazon Cloud Drive , Amazon S3,Bitcasa , Box , DollyDrive , Dropbox , Google Drive , iCloud Drive , Microsoft OneDrive , SpiderOak , SugarSync , Wuala , and probably a few others I ’m forgetting — not to mention using online backups fromBackblaze , CrashPlan , andMozy , and storing photos with services such asFlickrandSmugMug . Some of these services are free ( at least for a limited amount of information ) while others are cheap , but inexpensive time a dozen or more starts to hurt . Meanwhile , I had the same folders syncing to three or four Service simultaneously , which slowed down my Mac , wasted bandwidth , and tested the limits of my ISP’smonthly data transportation leeway .

The challenge was what to do about it . “ Just piece one ! ” you may say . Fine , but if I pick Dropbox , then Google Docs ca n’t see my online files . If I peck Google Drive instead , then my iOS apps that support only iCloud wo n’t have access . And so on . Companies like Apple , Google , and Microsoft welfare when you stay within their respective ecosystem , so they tend to make it easier to apply their own cloud reposition serving than those of their competitors . ( Microsoft’srecent decisionto integrate Dropbox support in its Office apps for iOS — supplement OneDrive — is a welcome elision . )

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What is this madness ? Microsoft allow me get at Dropbox in Word for iOS ? Wow . Now if only Google Docs would give me access to iCloud Drive .

Even if interoperability were n’t a problem , it ’s not as though these various swarm storage services are otherwise interchangeable . Each one is unlike when it comes to matters such as concealment and security , saving older versions of data file you ’ve since modify or delete , APIs for consolidation with third - company product , storage limits , and pricing .

Each person ’s needs and preferences will vary , but I ’d wish to declare oneself some tips base on my own experiences in simplifying cloud storage .

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Look for broad compatibility

Whatever else you might say about Dropbox , far more apps digest it than any other swarm religious service , in particular on iOS . ( It ’s also quite inexpensive , which does n’t anguish . ) Perhaps the scale will tip toward iCloud Drive at some point , but even if that bump for iOS , Dropbox works on more platform , include Android and Linux .

Dropbox , Google Drive , and Box are widely abide among iOS apps . This is a screenshot from Readdle ’s Documents .

So I utilise Dropbox as my all - purpose cloud storehouse supplier , and probably will for the foreseeable future tense . If you prefer to use , say , SugarSync for oecumenical - determination cloud storage and all the apps you manage about happen to support SugarSync natively , that ’s marvellous — but the odds are against it .

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Eliminate redundancy

offer of free ( or cheap ) entrepot are beguiling , but do n’t summate an account just because you could . Each cloud storage report you use should serve a singular and utilitarian purpose . I cancelled my accounts with several providers because they all duplicated capacity I already got elsewhere . On the other handwriting , I keep Google Drive and iCloud Drive , despite their similarities , because each one offer have the other does n’t : namely , consolidation with the supplier ’s proprietary software .

Don’t confuse cloud storage and cloud backups

Cloud backup services such as CrashPlan copy file to remote servers , and get you retrieve those file from another computer or an iOS app . That sounds a lot like cloud storage . On the other handwriting , Dropbox stores deleted files and honest-to-god versions for 30 days , or up to a yr if you pay extra forExtended Version chronicle . That sounds a lot like cloud backup .

Dropbox keeps deleted files for 30 days , but do n’t obnubilate it with a backup Robert William Service .

But services that specialize in memory board are generally well at keeping your file cabinet in sync across devices , while services that particularise in accompaniment are broadly beneficial at farsighted - term retention and data regaining ( and often have superscript encryption , too ) . Each service meets a unlike need , so I do n’t consider cloud storehouse and cloud backup of a given folder to be redundant . I apply both .

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Let each service stand alone

Suppose you use iCloud Drive because that ’s what Keynote knead best with , and Google Drive because that ’s what Google Docs work easily with . clean enough — let each overhaul hold its own documents . If the two sets of files sync independently with your Mac ( and in most cases they will ) , that ’s even better . But trying to synchronize all your documentsbetweencloud service is usually a waste of attempt ( and perhaps , depending on how you do it , a waste of money ) . That brings me to the next point .

Use aggregators only as needed

Providers such ascloudHQ , Otixo , andZeroPClet you combine cloud storage services — that is , after you connect all your accounts , you’re able to see your documents from every supplier in a single view in the Web or an iOS app , puff files from one service to another to copy or move them , and in some cases even synchronize file cabinet between cloud services .

Otixo is an aggregator that let you see and search the files stored in many cloud services in one place , and move file between providers easy .

It ’s a neat fast one , and can be a adult helper if you have files scattered across many services . But although basic plan are gratis , you may have to ante up as much as your swarm depot itself costs for full - featured aggregation . Besides , if you ’re following the previous tip , you should seldom need to move file cabinet from one service to another — and even when you do , you could use your Mac as a conduit and avoid paying for a swarm - to - swarm transfer service .

Go off-cloud for privacy

A handful of cloud storage providers , include SpiderOak and Wuala , volunteer “ zero - knowledge ” encryption , which mean your data is code in such a way that the provider ca n’t decode it without your personal headstone , even if the government activity were to demand it . That ’s enceinte — I’m a huge fan of encoding — but because my favorite iOS apps do n’t stick out these services , that severely limits their utility for me .

So , when privacy is important , I either cipher a file myself before upload it to Dropbox , or expend a “ personal swarm ” product such asBitTorrent Sync , ownCloud , orTransporter , each of which has unique virtue .

As long as my pet apps assert on keep me put away into specific swarm store services , I wo n’t be capable to pick a exclusive provider and stick with it . But I ’ve already come down my count significantly , and if more developer make customer - friendly move like the Microsoft - Dropbox partnership , choosing swarm storage military service may be less of a scuffle in the future .