Aside from the über cool who have the luxury of shunning technology and those who do not have a desk job, the rest of us people spend the majority of our waking hours on or near a computer. We work, study, research, play and even “socialize” on the computer. Our technology has become our lives — and that fact will likely be received by subconscious nods rather than shock for most readers as the statement reads almost as common sense. It was this fact, combined with the fact that I’ve had 2 laptops die on me in the last 5 years, that led me on a quest to find a suitable solution for protecting my life.
The big buzz in technology right now is “cloud computing” which is basically storing files and running programs over the internet. That is to say that these things still exist SOMEWHERE but are in a much more stable state and backed up a number of times. By becoming decentralized, anything stored or run on the cloud is nearly impervious to loss be it by virus, corruption, or other malady.
As you might guess, there are literally dozens of options for providers of cloud back-up solutions. The prices range from free to hundreds of dollars per month. Some come with clients (or programs) that will automatically back up and then sync the desired files/folders on your computer, while others mandate that you select these items manually and remind yourself to perform your own back-ups periodically. So on my search my criteria (in order) were FREE, automatic sync, good reputation/stability/security, and as much storage as I could get.
After enough web crawling, message board surfing, and FAQ browsing, I finally came across the winner. A company called CX was offering 10 GB of free storage, a sync client, mobile file access, and a good reputation. I was ready to move my life to the cloud.
I’m a few hours into my initial backup now and only a few GB have been uploaded, but with each file I’m slipping more and more into a zen-like state. When you’re backing up mostly pictures and documents, 10 GB is a lot of space and knowing that your hard work and memories are safely out of your own clumsy control is a great feeling.
With a multitude of companies like CX offering this for free and such an easy process involved, it’s almost a no-brainer that everyone should back up their lives.
See you in the clouds,
Steve
P.S. If you choose to use either of the links in the post, we both get an extra 300 MB of storage on top of the 10 GB.
get a macbook!!!
this CX site sounds dope though … I’m gonna start using this to back up my shit, thanks for the tip … i just lost a bunch of shit i was backing up on a 6 month old seagate external hd … it fell all of 2 feet onto the carpet (not concrete or even hardwood floor) and broke … fuck seagate they can lick maa ballz!!!!!
Now if only Apple can start making external HD’s my life would be complete … lol