Data Backup Digest

Cloud services are becoming increasingly popular due to the convenience that they offer. The ability to store your data online means that you can access it at anytime from anywhere. They are also very easy to set up and use. There are numerous different companies out there that offer their infrastructure for cloud storage. Two of these are the technological giants Google and Microsoft, with Drive and SkyDrive respectively. Both offer pretty similar functionality, but each service comes with their own pros and cons. This article will explore which is the superior service and which one could be best for your data storage needs.
Perhaps one of the most important feature to cloud storage is what the data capacity limit is. SkyDrive offers 7 GB of free space (although if you signed up before the 22nd of April 2012 then you could get 25 GB space free) compared to Drive’s 5 GB. Google offer a variety of paid plans in order to increase that limit. You can get 25 GB for $2.49 a month or 100 GB for $4.99 a month. There are various different plans on offer all the way up to 16 TB, where the charge is $799.99 a month. SkyDrive doesn’t offer as much space, but their plans are cheaper. You can get 20 GB for $10 a year, 50 GB for $25 a year or 100 GB for $50 a year. The average user doesn’t need to store terabytes of data in the cloud, so SkyDrive is superior when it comes to cost.
As mentioned earlier, one of the great things about cloud storage is that you can access your files from wherever you are. Say you are in a business meeting, for example, and you have forgotten to put your presentation on a USB stick. If it is in the cloud then all you need to do is log in to your account and retrieve the file that way. Both Drive and SkyDrive have clients for Windows and Mac and mobile support with applications for iOS and Android. However, it is only SkyDrive that supports Windows Phone (which is to be expected since it is the same company!). While something like SugarSync offers support for these as well as BlackBerry and Symbian, the better program for amount of mobile operating systems supported is SkyDrive. However, it will of course depend on what type of phone you have on which program is more suitable.
In terms of interface, both programs work pretty much the same. You simply place the files that you want to sync to the cloud in a special program on your computer. This ease of use means that there is no steep learning curve and the systems can be integrated with little fuss from users. Each platform can be accessed through the internet browser.
Both services are similar, but in terms of application support and cost then SkyDrive comes out on top. If, however, you want to store vast amounts of data in the cloud then Drive is going to be the best option out of the two as SkyDrive only offers up to 100 GB.