Cloud Storage for DP Projects

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MIDI Life Crisis
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Re: Cloud Storage for DP Projects

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

MIDI Life Crisis wrote:Zip the contents then upload. All will be saved correctly.
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bayswater
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Re: Cloud Storage for DP Projects

Post by bayswater »

Zipping may be the best way to cope with this immediate problem, but after all these years, it would be good if we didn't have to zip files just to make a reliable copy somewhere other than the original drive.
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Shooshie
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Re: Cloud Storage for DP Projects

Post by Shooshie »

bayswater wrote:Zipping may be the best way to cope with this immediate problem, but after all these years, it would be good if we didn't have to zip files just to make a reliable copy somewhere other than the original drive.
One hopes that someday they devote the kind of attention to our old desktop and laptop computers as they have to the iPhone and iOS devices. That is, make everything so that it "just works." Of course, it's a huge problem when the installed base has a billion petabytes of data in formats that can't be made to work that way, but surely it's a matter of someone ingenious coming up with the way to make it all convert seamlessly as you use it, without interrupting anything, without losing any data. So far, it just hasn't been a profitable priority. Profit, unfortunately, points the way.

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Dan Worley
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Re: Cloud Storage for DP Projects

Post by Dan Worley »

I use Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Solutions) which is a part of AWS (Amazon Web Services). You pay for the storage you use (which is unlimited) and nothing else. It is extremely low cost... pennies.

Here's a description and video about it.

http://aws.amazon.com/s3/

I used Gobbler for awhile, I still have an account with them. It was cool (a little confusing) and FAST and once the file was backed up and you changed it it would automatically back up the new version, which is really cool. But they were always updating it, and for me, that gets old after awhile. I don't want to be updating an app every time I go to use it. With all those updates, it would get buggy, too. Gobbler 2 is in public beta, but I'm sorry, it's not what I want at all. I don't know what they're thinking at Gobbler now. They lost me. But hey, it may be perfect for someone else.
Last edited by Dan Worley on Sat Nov 22, 2014 12:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
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frankf
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Re: Cloud Storage for DP Projects

Post by frankf »

I should clarify the Dropbox process. If I copy an unzipped project to my local Dropbox folder, I get no error and it uploads fine. If I try the same by dragging and dropping to my online Dropbox account using Safari, I get an DROPBOX error saying I "cannot upload a package file. Try zipping it first". Which I do.
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Dan Worley
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Re: Cloud Storage for DP Projects

Post by Dan Worley »

frankf wrote:I should clarify the Dropbox process. If I copy an unzipped project to my local Dropbox folder, I get no error and it uploads fine.
Sorry, I haven't read the entire thread. Have you tested these files by downloading them from Dropbox (not the local folder) and opening them in DP?
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Shooshie
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Re: Cloud Storage for DP Projects

Post by Shooshie »

Those who remember dot.Mac, Apple's former online storage & backup system, remember that it took the form of a folder or drive that always sat on your desktop. You could drop anything in to it, and it went there instantly like an actual folder in the Finder. Then the computer would sync with the server and upload it when you weren't looking.

Dropbox works like that, except that they have managed to make it far more transparent than Apple ever did. It may even be why Apple stopped providing that service. Dropbox is something you can basically forget about. Just drop files into it any time you want, and in seconds they are uploaded to the server. Control-Click any file and it will offer you its online URL. That consists of a Dropbox address, followed by the filename. You can make a QuicKeys routine that combines the two, and you don't even have to look up that address when posting. Just hit the QK shortcut, and your URL is pasted into this forum or anywhere you want it to be.

That makes it very easy to post pictures of anything, any time you want. I post a lot of pictures, and that's how I do it. Piece of cake.

It's also just as easy to transport a large file; just drop it into Dropbox and give someone a URL for it. On top of that, there are all kinds of options to create special folders to share with just one person or a group, and those folders remain until you delete them. There is the browser-based access which Frank described, for which you have to zip a file first, but I rarely ever use that, since I'm almost always working on my own machine these days. For me, Dropbox is just another folder. Drop files in, post a link. I don't think it's possible to get any simpler, and it has been 100% reliable for me. You don't even have to zip it in the Finder. Just drop and use. Thus the name... Dropbox.

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Dan Worley
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Re: Cloud Storage for DP Projects

Post by Dan Worley »

I can tell you from experience that when Dropbox first arrived on the scene it would corrupt some file types leaving them completely worthless. Ever since then I have been a bit leery of it and I think testing before trusting is the best approach (for any of these services). Though I use Dropbox quite a lot, I've never used it to transfer or backup DP project files.

I tested it quickly and I had no problems recovering and opening unzipped DP Project folders from Dropbox's Desktop app's folder. The projects worked just fine.

From the Web interface, it will zip the folder before it transfers it to your drive, which is fine, and it seems you cannot download a folder that's over 1GB. They tell you to do that from the Desktop app.

Personally, I still would use caution and zip the folders first before storing them on Dropbox.

Using Dropbox to backup a few projects is okay, but for mass storage, I would go with Amazon S3. Set the files to go to Glacier (if you can wait a few hours for retrieval ) and it costs even less.
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Re: Cloud Storage for DP Projects

Post by frankf »

What I started to experiment with is Dropbox as a cloud archive. This means setting the zipped project folder to not appear in my Mac's Dropbox folder and not take local disk storage space. This gives me cloud archive in addition to local and offsite backup. Cloud storage, for me at least in some cases, takes the place of off site storage of a physical backup HD.
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bayswater
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Re: Cloud Storage for DP Projects

Post by bayswater »

Shooshie wrote:For me, Dropbox is just another folder. Drop files in, post a link. I don't think it's possible to get any simpler.
Yes, it's another folder. That's why I didn't start using Dropbox when it first came out. I could already do what it does with Transmit and remote server space.

What I hoped Dropbox, or someone will do, is let me define existing folders and have those replicated in background to a remote server when there is activity in them. Maybe it has started doing this. I haven't followed up
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Re: Cloud Storage for DP Projects

Post by Dan Worley »

bayswater wrote: What I hoped Dropbox, or someone will do, is let me define existing folders and have those replicated in background to a remote server when there is activity in them. Maybe it has started doing this. I haven't followed up
That's what Gobbler does. At least Gobbler 1 does. Gobbler 2 is a big question mark for me.
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bayswater
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Re: Cloud Storage for DP Projects

Post by bayswater »

Dan Worley wrote: That's what Gobbler does. At least Gobbler 1 does. Gobbler 2 is a big question mark for me.
I just have to get off my butt and put a Folder Action and script in place and automate the FTP backup I'm using.
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swpowe
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Re: Cloud Storage for DP Projects

Post by swpowe »

To use one drive I don't zip anything up I just create a folder structure for my projects within the one drive folder. Read and writes work well for projects even in progress.
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