Just a few years ago, consumer back-up services like Carbonite, Mozy and SugarSync seemed poised to dominate the home computing market by offering peace of mind and easy remote access to stored media files for a low, and often flat, monthly price. Now, these companies are retooling their services to reflect a rapidly changing game while agile competitors like Amazon Web services entice users with 5 free gigabytes of online storage, a free cloud computing tier offering set amounts of free bandwidth and processing per month, and totally elastic cloud computing that is charged per usage. Amazon aims to make the barrier to entry virtually non-existent so that users become comfortable with their services and begin to use them more frequently.

In order to stay current, Carbonite has undergone a massive transformation, bringing all their customer support services back to the US from India to increase the quality of their user experience. In addition to expanding their back-up services Home edition to include support for video files and automatic full-system back-ups, Carbonite now offers back-up and restore support for external hard-drives and the ability to initiate system recoveries via e-mail. Known as HomePlus and HomePremier, the two new tiers of service will cost $99 and $149 per year, respectively.

Meanwhile, Apple is vying to enter the consumer cloud market in a big way with iCloud, which features their familiar brand of intuitive and streamlined software. Meant to simplify media access for users across all of their devices, iCloud is built into applications and the latest Mac operating system to make new data purchases, as well as users’ music, movie and picture collections instantly available on all synced devices.

Users with home desktops, office computers, iPhones and iPads will have access to a personal cloud that serves their data wherever they go. Launching in conjunction with iCloud is iMatch, a new service that allows you to supplement your personal music cloud with songs and albums you haven’t purchased from iTunes. For $24.99 per year, users will be able to make their entire music collection available across all their devices regardless of where it originally came from. In making all purchases available everywhere and easy to access, Apple hopes to increase media sales through iTunes and compel users to upgrade their online storage, which starts at 10GB for $20 per year and climbs to $100 per year for 50GB.

Microsoft is taking a different approach to monetizing cloud storage with SkyDrive, a quieter entry that appeared in 2007. SkyDrive gives users 25GB of storage space for free, and makes its money entirely off of on-site advertising. Although many cloud based back-up services offer a nominal amount of storage for free, SkyDrive’s free offering is considerable and might do the trick for users looking to store documents. Movie buffs look elsewhere. The catch is that no file can be larger than 50MB.

Box.net is a cloud based back-up service that particularly aims to court professionals who collaborate online. In addition to standard storage and recovery features, Box.net users have access to content collaboration features that make sharing even large files snappy and simple. Instead of attempting to attach files via e-mail, that may or may not survive their recipient’s company firewall, Box.net users can push their large files online and simply e-mail a private link to collaborators. This makes videos and presentations instantly available to multiple users.

Box.net service comes with mobile support for today’s popular smart phones and it integrates with popular business suites like Google Apps. Box.net’s personal service is free, and grants anyone up to 50GB of space for files as large as 1GB each. The next tier allows 3-500 users access to up to 1000GB of content and raises the individual file size limit to 2GB each for only $15 per user per month. Box.net’s personal service could be seen as a promotional tool to increase awareness of its solid and reasonably priced business tiers.

The number of cloud based backup options are growing and each entrant seems more feature-rich than the last. While it seems certain that cloud back-ups are here to stay, individual companies that don’t keep pace with the rapidly changing industry might not be.

This is a guest post by Mike Jackness from OnlineStorage.com, a website dedicated to ensuring that you are an informed consumer of online backup and online storage services

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A large part of the problem in accurately describing cloud computing is that there are many different definitions that are all technically correct. It is application deployment, decentralized office applications, customer service management solutions, storage and much more. Today, I want to focus on the three most popular uses of cloud computing: Cloud Storage, Cloud Hosting, and Software as a Service.

Cloud Storage

This is really a simple idea that can be made complex when you put too much thought into it. At the end of the day, cloud storage is off site backups and storage that can be accessed from any computer or cellular with an Internet connection. It lets the user share large multimedia files across several locations with several people at the same time, all without needing a laptop or a flash drive. Most cloud storage services also allow for multiple users to access the account, such as in cloud services like AVG’s LiveKive which assigns a separate file sharing link to whomever you wish to share with.  The link accesses only the files that the administrator designates. Some of the most popular cloud storage services are:

Amazon Cloud | http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/

This Amazon product allows you to store your documents and applications as well as e-books bought in Kindle format.  It also allows you to upload your music to their service and no matter how much music there is, you have unlimited space that does not go against your quota for photos, movies, documents and other file types.

DropBox | http://www.dropbox.com/

DropBox allows you to upload your files to their service through a downloaded client that will allow you to simply drop files into a folder that it then synchronizes with your files online.  It also allows for sharing by creating folders that get shared with specified users through their email.

AVG LiveKive | http://www.avg.com/us-en/avg-livekive

AVG is well known for their virus and firewall software, and now they’ve entered the cloud storage game by offering their service as a backup solution.  LiveKive also allows you to have your backed-up data shared between authorized users and devices.

Having an off-site non-physical backup location is an attractive option for those who worry about their external drives falling to their death when a cat runs across their desk. In order to make the most use of cloud storage and be certain of your backup integrity, a recommendation of on and off site storage and redundancy is recommenced by experts.

Cloud Hosting

Cloud hosting is fast becoming the web hosting solution of choice, especially with e-commerce merchants. Instead of being limited by the space and utilities of a physical web server, those who use the cloud to host their shops and take payments and orders through it find that they can scale their server space to meet their needs without paying for unnecessary utilities or running out of space and having to make the hard decision of which items and services need to be cut from their enterprise.

Cloud hosting can save businesses the expense of not having to negotiate higher bandwidth caps or purchasing new software and hardware in order to keep up with the flow of traffic that their site produces, since most pricing schemes are per-use. More and more hosting companies are moving towards this form of hosting in order to expand upon their current infrastructures and to offer their clients more competitive pricing.

Software as a Service

Here we come to one of the newest but most well known implementations of cloud computing. Software as a Service (SaaS) is an invaluable service for companies who have employees who need their information at a moment’s notice and on the go. SaaS involves the access of applications by users at any time from any location.

One excellent example of SaaS is Salesforce, the ever popular customer management program. It keeps track of all contacts and sales pipelines as well as customer service inquiries so that, no matter where you are, you can reach the information at your fingertips through laptop, desktop, tablet or cell phone. The information is kept in an organized fashion and each installation of Salesforce is customized to the client’s needs so there is very little bloating that makes similar traditional programs so annoying to use and complex to understand. It also allows for far better oversight for employees who spend a lot of time away from the office.

Other similar software would include the Google Docs suit and Microsoft Office 365 where individuals can create accounts and store their documents, spreadsheets, .pdf files and more on the cloud and edit them whenever they desire, from any location. Also, these services offer options for collaboration and sharing at different levels of security. A document can either be only visible to others or they can have read/write access. At the top of the access list, the user can read and write as well as delete and invite others to share and assign privileges. These types of software are becoming more popular as more companies and other organizations take their enterprises to the cloud, working with a population that is spread out all over the city, if not the world.

The Future of Cloud Computing

These are only some of the uses that cloud technology currently supports. When it comes to the future, it is obvious that this will become the way of life for those who rely on vast amounts of data and require portability across systems and devices. Cloud services offer a less expensive and far more versatile experience for users to work with their information and to provide services for others on short notice. Also, it decentralizes data storage which will assist the users in feeling far more secure about their data and give one more tool against corrupted hard drives and other accidents of nature. As time goes on, it is certain that the cloud will become integrated with just about every type of activity that takes place on the Internet.

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Amazon Web Services

Despite Amazon’s recent outage, the company continues to offer attractive cloud storage features tailored for small businesses. Amazon is a top choice for small business ventures because customers are not required to purchase hardware. Instead, users pay a small fee each month to access Amazon’s infrastructure in a cloud computing environment.  Customers have the ability to order computing services and storage on an as-needed basis to meet individual hosting needs. Amazon places computing power in the control of the customers as they can add or remove processing power and storage space in real time as well as delivering several layers of security to protect valuable data. Amazon is a great pay-as-you-grow cloud hosting option.

Office 365

Microsoft just recently threw its proverbial hat into the cloud ring introducing Office 365. Small business owners opting for Office 365 have access to all of MS Office’s applications without the need to install the actual software on computers or servers.  Users are granted access to documents, contacts, e-mail, and calendars to devices connected to the Internet. Office 365 is available for a very affordable $6 per month.  It’s best suited for small businesses employing less than 25 employees and don’t have an IT employee on staff.  In addition to the 25 GB mailbox, users benefit from the ability to edit documents and spreadsheets simultaneously.  Additionally, users have access to PC-to-PC audio, instant messaging, and video calls.

Google Apps

Google also offers cloud storage services designed for small business owners. Google is a bit more established than Microsoft, offering cloud apps now for over a year. Google’s cloud services are very similar to Microsoft’s cloud plan.  Users  are granted customized e-mail addresses, calendar, mobile e-mail, IM access, Google Sites, Google Docs, spam filtering, 24/7 customer support and 99.9% guaranteed uptime.  Google’s cloud services are available for an affordable $5 per month.

Apple’s iCloud

Although not currently available as Apple is scheduled to unveil iCloud in Fall 2011.  Apple’s iCloud is best described as “an online hard drive on steroids”.   iCloud will offer users a vast array of features such as storing music, photos, apps, documents and other data online.  Additionally, it will deliver services wireless to laptops, iPad, or smartphones.  Similar to Microsoft and Google, iCloud will grant access to e-mails, calendars, and contacts as well as allowing multiple users to edit documents simultaneously.

Dropbox.com

Finally, a newcomer to the cloud industry, Dropbox is a cloud storage service provider to watch. Dropbox allows users to store important files on the provider’s secure website, easily accessible via Windows, Linux, Mac, iPad, Android/BlackBerry phones, and iPhone. Other attractive features include the fact the service is free for 2 GB of storage space, $9.99/month for 50 GB of storage, and $19.99/month for 100 GB of storage.  Dropbox also works without the need to be connected to the Internet.  Furthermore, users can opt to transfer part of a huge file or manually set bandwidth limits to prevent crashing servers. Like the previous providers, users can also work simultaneously on documents.

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Bill Pitts, senior Vice President of global sales at Mezeo Software Corp., participated in the panel called “Storage Opportunities: Cloud vs. Conventional.”  Pitts touched on the issue of while traditional NAS and SAN-based storage capacities have continuously expanded, users are increasingly demanding capabilities these solutions simply can’t provide.  Shedding light on how cloud storage has rapidly become a mainstream solution, Pitts says that the cloud is being widely accepted and adopted by end-users and service providers alike.  Aside from helping providers stay relevant in their respective industries, cloud storage also allows these companies to offer new capabilities to their existing clients and essentially expand their market reach utilizing the same solutions.  Pitts highly recommends that service providers and those who are still unsure of the benefits tap into the cloud storage market, and tap into it fast.

Coupled with web services APIs, the Mezeo cloud storage platform enables IT service providers to instantly enter the highly competitive cloud storage sector with their own fully-branded cloud storage solution.  The platform it currently offers is built on four different solutions: Cloud Storage with Web Services APIs, SaaS Cloud, Access Cloud and Personal Cloud Storage.  This suite of services allows customers to completely leverage the type of cloud solution that meets their storage needs best.

The Storage Opportunities panel was held on June 2, 2009, kicking off at 11:40 a.m. at the Hilton Tower Bridge in London, England.  The event was moderated by Simon Robinson, research director of storage at 451 Group.  Joining Pitts in the discussion was Sajai Krishnan of cloud storage startup ParaScale and a co-founder from Nirvanix. 

About the Hosting Transformation Summit Europe

Headed by Tier 1 Research, the Hosting Transformation Summit Europe is a major international  forum made for executives in the data center, web hosting and internet infrastructure markets.  Its overall focus is to deal with the economies of these specific markets and how each can position themselves to succeed.

About Mezeo Corp.

With its headquarters based in Houston, Texas, Mezeo Corp. is an industry leading provider of easily deployable cloud storage platforms.  Its solutions enable managed dedicated server providers, IT hosting providers, SaaS providers and converged telecommunications providers to instantly incorporate a profitable cloud storage service into their existing portfolio.  Mezeo’s cloud solutions include secure file storage, file sharing and collaboration, content tagging and genuine anytime, anywhere access for any Microsoft Windows desktop via Web 2.0 browsers and devices such as the iPhone, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile native client.   The company focuses on delivering solutions that are easy to deploy and maintain, highly scalable and secure.  Thanks to the immaculate design of its APIs, Mezeo’s cloud storage solutions are also highly extendible.

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Last week, The Planet announced that the new cloud storage service will be limited in availability to its existing hosting clients.  Rob Walters, General Manager of The Planet’s storage and data protection division, says the service offers a world of new opportunities as customers can extend their hosted environments right into the cloud storage facility.  The cloud storage platform is geographically distributed, providing customers with the ability to upload to the local network node along with a single policy enforced account to administer all of their file-based storage requirements.  The Planet’s cloud storage solution is based on a 40 cents per GB pricing scale and doesn’t come with any hidden fees or performance issues.  Most cloud storage providers charge fees for sundry access services.  Amazon Web Service’s Simple Storage Solution is one example that charges around 1 cent per 1,000 put, post, copy or list requests.   According to Walters, the new cloud storage service is a first in the hosting industry.

The Planet’s announcement of its high performance solution is great news for customers as past services haven’t been cheap to utilize.  On the surface, cloud storage generally seems to be a more affordable approach for addressing the storage issues faced by so many companies today.  However, unexpected fees usually rear their ugly heads, hidden charges associated with bandwidth and additional costs for accessing data.   These fees typically result in costumers paying far more than initially anticipated.  With the cloud storage solution offered by The Planet, customers are charged a fixed rate and know exactly what they are paying for.

Another advantage of The Planet’s cloud storage service is that it makes up the only geographically distributed storage solution of its kind.  Leveraging its state of the art Dallas-based  data facility and solid partnership with Nirvanix, The Planet is able to take advantage of the Storage Delivery Network and allow customers to choose exactly where they want to store data on the cloud.  There are no limitations as data can be placed on any node in both networks.

In a recent statement, Patrick Harr, Nirvanix Chief Executive Officer, commends The Planet on its extension of the Storage Delivery Network.  By providing more flexibility, The Planet is essentially giving its customers the best of both worlds, resulting in a win-win situation for all parties.  By utilizing Nirvanix’s global cluster, customers have the freedom to access the local Dallas node or optimize storage from virtually anywhere in the world.  Coupling an attractive price with respectable service level agreements, the new cloud storage service provides clients with more options for creating and scaling next-generation web applications.

Although The Planet stands firm in its claim as the first to offer such a cost effective solution, the new service actually follows a cloud storage system launch initiated by Webair last month.  eLina, Tilana and Nirvanix also introduced similar services prior to The Planet’s recent launch.

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