cloud (network) storage

[Noway2]

I have noticed that there are a number of file hosting services available for network storage, many of which offer 2-5Gb of space for free. The idea is appealing to me as a means of providing a secure means of storage for some critical files, such as the ones used to configure my server's operation. In this context, I mean secure in that they are stored in different physical location and on a medium that is protected against physical degradation (such as CD/DVD Roms exhibit). Much of what I would like to store is data that changes infrequently. I am semi concerned about the integrity and privacy components of the security as these files can contain passwords and account names, etc for some processes.

Most of the sites that I have seen such as Ubuntu One, Dropbox, and Wuala seem to be geared towards the idea of synchronization of music and picture folders amongst several users rather than online archive for backup purposes. Consequently, they are predominantly built around having a GUI that uses a drag-drop process for your files. While these services could meet my needs, they aren't really convenient for use with a headless server due to the GUI requirement.

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with, knowledge of, or opinions on what would be a good means for a safe, secure storage, including on-line options that works well for a server environment.

 

[vodkadrinker]

As soon as you go out of your own domain you are relying on a third party for security and data loss. I would way up you risks and probably look at a better solution for commercial use where you are guaranteed security and backup services. It my cost you more but could save you a fortune in the long run.

 

[fugtruck]

I agree with vodkadrinker. You get what you pay for. For a service that costs nothing, I would expect no reliability, no privacy, and no security. Now, you may actually get all of those, but since you're not paying for the service, I cannot imagine that the provider is obligated to ensure any of them.

 

[BigTN]

I agree with previous answers; wouldn't store sensitive configuration and information on a free online service.

Check out FreeNAS. It's a mature OS product that allows you to create an in-house NAS on just about any hardware you have around. You can set up LDAP (to your AD or other source) authentication for RBAC control. Just tar and backup your files to the NAS. This gives you full [security] control over your backups and you have them in-house.

If you also want offsite storage of these files for continuity you can copy the backup files to your workstation from your NAS, encrypt them (TrueCrypt is a good tool), and then use a Dropbox, iDrive, or any other free online account to backup the encrypted files.

 

[Noway2]

Thank you everyone for the replies. I kind of let this one sit back burner for a while. Recently the issue came up in a LUG mailing list to which I subscribe. A lot of those guys recommended Jungle Disk, which uses Amazon's storage. I decided to give that a try.

I have a production server that I have grown dependent on and it now hosts my wife's e-business page and email, etc. I have been wanting to do backups to ensure that I can recover the server. I decided to give the Jungle Disk a try because it works with Linux Servers without requiring a GUI. It will do an initial backup of the whole thing and then daily incremental ones. The cost should be about $6 month, which is worth the piece of mind.

I have also been using Ubuntu One for storage of a few odds and ends. Anything that I want to be sure is private, I keep encrypted with a PGP key. I heard that Microsoft offers up to 25 Gb free storage, but haven't checked into that.

 

[kjv1611]

Microsoft's Sky Drive is indeed at 25GB of storage, but the key limiting factor (if it applies to you) is that the files have to be 50MB or smaller. So, if you encrypt the files ahead of time, it'd have to be on a file by file basis. So, for instance, if you wanted to create a backup of a folder of files, zipped and encrypted, well, better make sure it's under 50MB.

It's super easy to try. Just use your Windows Live account if you have one, or create one, and then login to your live account... enable sky drive, and it's there. I tried it just the other day, myself. I didn't try storing anything yet, though. I know at least one person, personally, who uses it, and has had no issues, but I don't think he's put anything on there that would require much concern with privacy.

 

[3t0n1c]

Use a thumb drive, keep it in your pocket at all times. Get a spare one, mirror the two as often as possible.

For $10 you get a 4-8Gb thumb drive that would very much last a lifetime, no privacy issues, encrypt it... make backups, etc... You'd be in much better shape.

If you do need online storage that is secure, I would much rather pay for a dedicated box or at least a VPS and harden it yourself. Always use strong encryption when transferring data, etc...

Good luck!

 

[Noway2]

For the server that I was looking to back up, I ultimately decided to go with Jungledisk Server edition. For $5 a month I get up to 10GB of storage and it runs in the background with a web based interface for configuration.

For other things I do keep my data on a thumb drive. In fact, for use on the machines at work, it is on the thumb drive that I keep things like my GPG keys. The keys are stored in an encrypted volume that must be decoded and mounted to access. For (the) windows system(s), I use Truecrypt, which works really well.

In case anyone is wondering, having GPG/PGP keys is a convenient means to safely encode and store work related documents, such as reviews, pay stubs, relocation paperwork, etc that is work related but you don't want getting out in the wild.