Top 10 Managed Cloud Storage Providers / Solutions
Cloud storage is a secured virtual storage space where you store your resource for sharing, versioning and backing up. Cloud makes sharing and collaboration a piece of cake. Most businesses are moving into Cloud based storage as it is very convenient in managing resources. Hence there are many Cloud storage providers on multiple scales and with many features. Let’s look into the top 10 managed cloud storage providers and their solutions in the article.
1. Amazon Cloud Drive
Amazon Cloud Drive is an Amazon product that is a convenient storage option for documents and media files, especially photos. ACD is an online storage platform that provides you with added security on the resources you have stored.
ACD gives the following features,
- Enabled previewing the documents, photos and presentation
- Ability to edit
- Allow you to play the media while on the cloud
- Accessibility over mobile devices
- Share the resource among people via links through social media, text or emails
- Not constrained over the operating system
One drawback is that this product is not a free solution. It has many storage plans and also they provide a trial version for a limited time duration
2. pCloud
pCloud is a bit of an expensive Swiss-based product. This product can be used for a large duration like 10 years for a price of around 350$. pCloud is allowed to share and access files through any device ensuring the security of the resources, as they are being encrypted and treated as confidential.
pCloud features,
- Can be accessed with any smart device including mobile, desktop and web
- Provides multiple sharing options
- Supports version controlling for a limited time
- Ensure security with TLS/SSL encryption
- Backing up availability from Social media apps and Picasa
- Supports multiple operating systems; windows, android, iOS, Mac, Linux
pCloud is free up to 10 GB of storage. This further provides pricing plans with added storage capacities.
3. Google Drive
Google Drive is a popular solution that is already integrated into Android devices via other apps of the Google family such as Google photos and G workspace(G Suite).
Some of the features,
- Allow storing multiple resource materials – documents, photos, media etc.
- Can use with any device as it supports mobile app and web
- Supports any operating system; Android, Windows, iOS, Mac
- Able to share via social media, emails etc.
- Add people into the particular folder/ files to make them more securely shared.
For the first 15 GB, you can enjoy Google Drive free, but there are other paid plans to cater to any business requirement.
4. Sync.com
Sync is another ideal product if you need to ensure the security of the files that you share. Sync allows syncing all the files across all your devices as its name means. This is a better solution with interesting features for collaboration.
Few more features:
- Provides better control over your resources with features such as restricted download option, password protected sharing, advanced share control etc.
- Document preview option,
- Auto upload media and real-time backup and syncing
- Offline access Enables file request workflow.
- End to end encryption, disabled third party tracking, PIPEDA, HIPAA, GDPR security compliances
- Supports multiple operating systems
There are 3 pricing plans for teams and there is an individual plan and a free tier with basic features.
5. iCloud
iCloud is the integrated cloud storage service for Apple products. iCloud allows you to store document and multimedia files via all the Apple devices such as iOS, Mac OS, and Windows devices also
iCloud Features,
- Integration with many other Apple services such as Mail, Contacts, Safari, Reminders
- Accurately synced to capture all the changes
- Support collaboration over Pages, Keynote, Notes and Numbers.
- Retain all your shared details even if you change your device – works as a backup
- It will let you pick up every conversation from where it is left. This feature will work even if you change your phone.
The main disadvantage of iCloud is that it cannot be used by non-Apple users. Since an Apple product, the pricing is also a bit high, but you can assure quality and security at its best.
6. Icedrive
Icedrive is well known for providing security for shared files. It has a desktop app to ease the management of cloud storage.
Icedrive Features:
- Attractive and functional user interface.
- Shared resources are encrypted from the client-side with Twofish encryption.
- Provides a mobile application, opening up the tool even for other operating system users.
- Support shared file versioning.
- Multiple sharing options
It has a free plan with 10GB of space. Apart from that, Icedrive comes with several paid plans called monthly, annual and pro+.
7. Polarbackup
Polarbackup can be used to back up all your local or external, and even the network shared drives. You can store files forever and supports file versioning. This tool can take automatic backups.
Few features of Polarbackup,
- Automatic backup option
- Support resource versioning
- Improved productivity as they have limited yet critical features only
- Based on AWS technology
- Enhances privacy and compliance with GDPR security data security regulations (military-grade encryption)
- One-click restore option
The major cons are that this product does not provide a free trial and doesn’t support the Linux platform. There are three main plans provided to choose from, in the range of 39.99$ – 99.99$.
8. IBackup
IBackup is known as an enterprise-grade cloud storage solution. It provides backup support with many options such as system state backup, open file backup, server and database backups.
IBackup Features:
- Backups can be automatically scheduled.
- Hyper-V, MsSQL, MS Exchange Server, Oracle, MS SharePoint server support is enabled
- Can monitor multiple accounts via the centralized console
- Supports incremental backup.
- Ability to backup unlimited devices with only one account.
- Support multiple operating systems such as Windows, Linux, iOS, Mac and Android
IBackup plans deviate from 10GB to 200+GB in the range of 10-200$ which are for either 1 or 2-year duration.
9. OneDrive
Just like Apple users are attached to iCloud, Almost all Microsoft users use OneDrive because it is integrated with other Microsoft services such as Outlook, Teams and so on.
Few Features of OneDrive,
- Flexibility to share the resources with non OneDrive users with all the customizable permissions attached.
- Functions as an organisational platform for resource sharing
- Supports multimedia resources
- Tightly integrate with otherHighly compatible and integrated with other Microsoft products.
The major drawback of OneDrive is that it has only 5 GB of free space. Higher storage options will be pricey. If you own an institutional account, you are eligible for a larger capacity. Another reason to cope with OneDrive is the security of the shared files and the popularity it has in the industry.
10. Dropbox
Dropbox is a centralised workspace that can be accessed anytime and anywhere through any device with any operating system.
Other features of Dropbox:
- Share any file – including design files
- Ideal for solo workers and businesses of any size
- Can share anything despite the size
- Can manage team tasks with Admin controls
- Security on the shared resources
Free tiers support only up to 2 GB. There are multiple plans with various storage capacities such as Professional, Standard, Plus and advanced etc.
Conclusion
Among the cloud storage solutions we discussed, many of the products including Google Drive, Dropbox, One Drive and pCloud provide considerable free storage. . iCloud also provide free storage supports but it is limited only for the Apple devices. For businesses where the security of the stored data is vital, IBackup is an ideal solution.
Most of the products mentioned here have more unique and common features and pricing plans. therefore you can pick up the best fitting solution evaluating them on factors like the number of users, what you are going to store, the importance of confidentiality and other domain-specific requirements.
