Commercial cloud storage, where?
 

I know of quite a few cloud services out there, but can't really find the exact information I'm looking for. Are there any that provide cheap storage on one account with the ability to partition space and provide separate user names and passwords for each partition? As part of my new business, it would be a nice addition to add this feature to my standard offering. I'd like to be able to allow clients easy access to their data via cloud drive, without having to set up a new account for each person and pay for it separately. Each account would only require 2GB-6GB. Answers, go! Please.

:dealwithit:

Or would a better option be my own cheap cloud server, and have full control over their accessible data.

I think that Dropbox might be what you're looking for. It mounts on your PC like a native part of the filesystem, and individual subdirectories (folders) can be shared with different users at selectable permission levels.

I don't think dropbox is quite what I'm looking for. I want a service where I can simply upload the files to a folder in a cloud, or a partition of a cloud, apply a user name and password to that, give them the link and simply give a client their user name and password. Dropbox doesn't seem to give that sort of simplicity, and seems more like a service to share files with colleagues on a project or something.

To be more clear, I would prefer the client not be required to install anything, or sign up for anything. Simply go to a link, and be prompted for a user name and password, ideally. Might not be anything like that available. If all goes well, I will be dealing with hundreds, maybe thousands of clients if it goes really well, so I need something streamlined as possible. I don't want to make everyone have to download or sign up for anything if at all possible.

Dropbox does support web-based sharing, though it sounds like perhaps Mediafire.com is more what you want?

Mediafire is close, but I've read almost nothing but horror stories to do with their security. People upload stuff, and log in the next day and find shit tampered with, deleted. The files I will be uploading will be peoples personal information, photographs of their homes and belongings, so I can't take a risk of that information being easy to steal. I do like the mediafire setup though.

But does dropbox allow for secure web based sharing, or just a share link that anyone can access? I guess I can always just email or call them and ask directly.

If your going to be charging a fee for the service, and it absolutely must be available 99.99%, and your business reputation will hinge on it;

Amazon Web Services: Amazon Web Services, Cloud Computing: Compute, Storage, Database

Or something like it.

Can you not just roll with an SFTP server with some sort of web-gui frontend. CrushFTP might be exactly what you want.

SFTP would certainly be an option. Maybe a little more than I wanted to get involved with, but in the long run it probably would be a better and cheaper option. I do have another machine that would work well as a server. I might start looking into setting that up.

I think CrushFTP is the thing for me, after reading some great reviews. Thanks for the help everyone.

I am not sure if I would want to recommend running the server off a home internet line. I believe that you could rent server space off the Amazon cloud rather cheaply to have good reliability and speeds.

Possibly. The usage of the server would be pretty low I expect. It would be a one time visit by most clients, and I doubt I would ever have more than one on at any time. It's just a little extra service I would like to offer, though not at all crucial to my overall business. But yeah, I guess as cheap as Amazon is, it might be better just to do that and not even fuck with maintaining a home server.

I've got a netgear readyNAS home file server. It would work for your needs as I can create a user and allow that user to access from anywhere on the web, or access any of my files anywhere I have a network connection, but it's not particularly cheap. I use it to store a lot of documents/pictures on, but its primary use is to burn my blu-ray collection or any redbox blu-ray I ever rent, store that movie, and be able to watch that movie seamlessly using PLEX on my TV.

I'd hard to recommend something without really knowing what the business model is. But if you're looking at a "one and done" case where a client goes to download one file then using Dropbox to drop the file in a public folder and sending the public link in an email is simple and cheap.

But, Dropbox and a business can get into a conflict where rights and ownership is concerned. If the owner of the material is a client of the business it's even cloudier.

Also, as an aside, a way to know if the owner is serious about the business is to look at the infrastructure behind it.

I'll look into it. Thanks.

And wouldn't people have to install the netgear readycloud client to retrieve files from my drive?

we use Rackspace at work and I've used them at my previous job
sometimes they are a bit of a pain in the ass to work with, but not enough to stop using them

wouldn't call them the best, but usually they end up being the cheapest

Cloud Files Pricing - Online Storage & CDN Media Delivery

Accessible through web interface.

readycloud.netgear.com

i get on it from time to time with a gov't computer when I need to retrieve old paperwork or something

Interesting. I was looking at the Synology DS412+ NAS and it seems one would only be able to access files through their file station software.

So for the ReadyNAS, can you make a direct link for a folder/file? How exactly does the web interface work? Thanks

Seems like on the Readycloud site, you log in with username and password. Would you be able to limit each user to particular files?

I know someone who works for Citrix and she was telling me about their software ShareFile. Might be worth looking into. I have no idea on cost but she mentioned it is secure and super easy. and this was a friend, so she wasn't trying to give me a sales pitch, she was really that impressed with how easy it is to use.

That's all ill say about it, i dont want to sound like I am trying to give a sales pitch either ha. But if you are interested, shoot me a PM and I can get you in touch with her to give you a demo (I think they just share their screen with you and show you how it works?)