Our drop-off locations are open, but for your convenience, for customers in a 50 mile radius of Boston or 20 miles of Providence, we recommend letting our technician come pick up your device! Just $20. Click on LET'S START WITH A FREE DIAGNOSIS for arrangements.

Clients often ask about data storage and backup solutions to the cloud

Here are some of the most popular cloud based storage solutions for home users:

  • iCloud ( www.icloud.com) - great if having multiple Apple devices integration in having everything in one place, but can get expensive, it is frustrating to keep track of space usage for the various devices, and personally, highly dislike the syncing ability between all devices (meaning, if deleting something on the phone, it also deleted in the cloud and therefore all other Apple devices)

  • Google Drive ( https://www.google.com/drive/) - fairly cheap and perhaps the best all around agnostic cloud storage solution for computers and phones, especially given the free Google Suite of applications

  • OneDrive ( https://onedrive.live.com/about/en-us/plans/) - great in the Windows world, especially if having Office 365 Office membership, as it provides up to 1TB of cloud storage for free

  • Dropbox ( https://www.dropbox.com/buy?_tk=individual_hero_button) - fairly popular and cheap, great for computer and phones. Sometimes syncing can break due to upgrades and so on

  • BackBlaze ( www.backblaze.com) - reputable and pay by amount of data

  • Carbonite ( https://www.carbonite.com/backup-software/buy-carbonite-safe/) - fairly popular, has been around for a very long time, not quite home user friendly (more targeting businesses)

  • iDrive ( https://www.idrive.com/) - ok for starting up, but pricing scheme is annoying as it increases year after year

  • Amazon Storage ( https://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=15547130011) - fairly cheap, especially if you are a Prime member, have heard customer service is poor

Ultimately, the best but more expensive option is what is known as NAS (Network Attached Storage).

It is basically an external drive that connects via Ethernet to your home router.

Conceptually, it is like cloud storage, but it is actually a physical device in your home that you have full access and control of without the monthly payments.

Communication with the NAS using your other devices (other people can access it, as well, if they know the web address and password to connect to it), computers, tablets or smartphones, is performed via web access, typically via WiFi, though for computers you can also use hardwire Ethernet for higher transfer speeds. Many of them have other ports on the backplane allowing you to connect small portable externals, via USB for example, allowing you to manually create an extra local copy of the files for archiving purposes.

Here is a list of popular NAS devices from a fairly reputable source, PC Magazine:

https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2401086,00.asp (may be outdated)

List of folder + files, along with full disk backup solutions for home users:

https://www.pcmag.com/roundup/225753/the-best-backup-software (may be outdated)

Cloud backup, cloud data recovery, icloud data recovery, google drive recovery April 7, 2025

We offer 100% local service in New England.

Our technician can pick up for $20.

Drop off locations: Boston, Cambridge, Burlington, Framingham, Dedham, MA, Nashua NH and Providence RI. No appointment needed for drop off.

Can also ship to us from anywhere in the US or the world.

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