Jungle Disk Mini-Review: offsite data storage

[cthorpe]

I just received word from the developers that they are putting together a discount on Jungle Disk for our members.


Stay tuned.

[justice]

So I've been looking to backup my music collection.. And further research has lead me to the following model. It seems I'm wanting to do 3 seperate things which I thought was all backup:

* Backup: Keep a secure backup of files i'm working on in case of hard drive crash or accidental deletion, such as my documents folder
* Archival: keep large amounts of data  that I might need a long time from now and delete it off my local drive, such as ISO images or installation images
* Syncing: Have information available both at work and home in an up to date version.

Because Amazon S3 charges per GB, Jungledisk is good for Syncing. Backing up data is also good especially with previous versions now part of the automatic backup. However you want to look for an alternative for Archival if you're especially price conscious like myself and get yourself a huge harddisk instead and move stuff off your system. Currently I'm paying over 10 dollars a month, which means it could be cheaper to use Mozy ($5 a month for unlimited backup, but once you delete files off your system it gets deleted after 30 days) if my 'Backup' data is particularly large. However you can't sync or archive with Mozy.

So I'm now looking to move my archived files off JungleDisk and onto something else and then see what the bill will be. Also looking at Dropbox for syncing, maybe its more seamless.

[tomos]

I just received word from the developers that they are putting together a discount on Jungle Disk for our members.

-cthorpe (July 22, 2008, 03:09 PM)

oh
just bought it yesterday, ah well, it's very reasonable here with the $ to € exchange rates

[J-Mac]

I went ahead and made the purchase shortly after the review was posted.  Other than that one snafu with Amazon S3 servers going down a few days ago, this has been working surprisingly well!  After having canceled Mozy after a year, JD is a pleasant surprise.

Thanks again, justice!

Jim

[tinjaw]

I too purchased Jungle Disk after reading the mini-review.

[cthorpe]

For anyone who hasn't purchased Jungle Disk yet and is thinking about it, we will be running a discount in August.  You will be able to purchase a license for $15.00 instead of $20.00.  We will also be giving away three copies in the August drawing.

[tomos]

Couple of things:-

When you purchase Jungle Disk you simply use the password you created on purchase to "activate" the software
This may have been mentioned above somewhere but it took me a while to figure it out cause I purchased it early last week and only added the password today to activate it [- I had been looking for a regristration key ]

The Jungle Disk forum doesnt work properly (for me anyways) if Adblock Plus is activated in FF3 -
no reply, quote, PM, etc, buttons visible

[tomos]

I forgot I had used Amazon payment to purchase JungleDisk - just in case you do the same it simply shows up as AMZN PMTS+reference number on your CC bill
-
first I was thinking OMG Amazon S3 is much more expensive than I thought (I only have 400MB or so uploaded yet) but it turns out the monthly bill for that was ... eh...
20(US)cents = 13 euro-cents = one happy camper

[Change]

So I'm now looking to move my archived files off JungleDisk and onto something else and then see what the bill will be. Also looking at Dropbox for syncing, maybe its more seamless.

-justice (July 23, 2008, 03:46 AM)

Why not use FolderShare? Unlimited space for free because it's not stored online. You don't have versions, but it works perfectly fine for syncing. Only downside, I believe, is that both computers need to be connected for the sync to work (until it's done syncing).

I was actually in the same boat as you and figured I needed several backup solutions if I didn't want to spend tons on online storage. I eventually settled for:
* JD for important files that can change often (email, documents, program settings, desktop etc.)
* Flickr for storing and sharing photos (unlimited)
* FolderShare for syncing
* Dropbox for sharing or when I need versioned files
* 2 portable harddisks which I will store in remote locations and sync every 6 months (to store my music collection, another copy of my photos just in case, installation files etc.)

[justice]

To be honest Foldershare (when I last used it) would great but there were two things that prevented me from using it all the time: the tiny temporary files that get created before the file is synced over (double the files in the folder, come up in search results, can't remember why I really didn't like that though), and the fact that my work pc will never get the full info because i don't leave my home pc on during the day (which was a stumbling block). Maybe I should try it again

Dropbox however exceeds all my expectations, so I can't wait until there's more space available. I guess I need to look into a portable harddisk too.

[tomos]

* JD for important files
...
* Dropbox for sharing or when I need versioned files

-Change (August 22, 2008, 03:17 AM)

Change, I'm curious why you favour Dropbox over JungleDisk for versioned files (I havent used Dropbox myself - I have "applied" but havent heard from them *)

I'm using Filehamster to version my important files - then I backup the Filehamster versions so it prob wouldnt make much difference to me (at the moment) but as I say - curious

* [edit] justice just offered me an invite -thanks!

[Change]

Change, I'm curious why you favour Dropbox over JungleDisk for versioned files (I havent used Dropbox myself - I have "applied" but havent heard from them *)

I'm using Filehamster to version my important files - then I backup the Filehamster versions so it prob wouldnt make much difference to me (at the moment) but as I say - curious

-tomos (August 22, 2008, 05:55 AM)

I favor Dropbox for versioned files because:
- it's easier to use for me
- files are backed up immediately
- biggest advantage: Dropbox is free (versioning in JD = more data traffic & more storage = $$)
- I haven't figured out how to sync things across computers with JD yet (using Dropbox for that too, next to FolderShare, which I use for bigger amounts and larger files)

I could setup an extra bucket in JD and change its schedule to every 5 minutes to have a similar effect. The advantage with JD would be encrypted storage for the versioned files (complete privacy & security) - Dropbox doesn't offer that. I noticed another downside with Dropbox for me with versioning that JD doesn't have: every save counts as a new version and that can add up very quickly for me since I tend to save very often (became a habit after losing changes in the past).

I did use FileHamster too, but I got annoyed with the many popups asking me if I want to delete versions, add files or other things. Using a lot of diskspace too because it's not storing the diff but the whole changed file. Also didn't feel like I had a lot of control over which versions I'd like to have saved and kept automatically. I'm sticking to CVS/SVN for development versioning now, Dropbox/JD for the rest.

justice: FolderShare still has the same disadvantages. Another one I forgot to mention: it seems to lock files while syncing. It's pretty annoying when I'm working in Dreamweaver and need to do many saves to check in the browser if the changes have done what I was aiming for. All the time I get the "file locked" error message.. So if there is another free solution for syncing large amounts of data without these disadvantages, then I'd love to give that a try. Or maybe I should just separate my data a bit better depending on how I use it..

[tomos]

thanks for the comparision/description, Change 

btw, re Filehamster, what I do is: always have comment window show & when the revision is important I select "Protect revision" & later I do a spring clean & delete all unprotected. It's worth my while because I'm working with relatively big files & they add up (I should actually request automatic protection when comment is made )
but
if youre  "sticking to CVS/SVN" you're out of my depth anyways

[tomos]

checking out their website today

I notice "Plus" is now called "Jungle Disk Desktop Edition Software" and costs $2 a month. (there isnt any once off fee)
Q.1) That's the only download that's on offer - anyone know the situation?
I'm still back as version 2.10a the latest is 2.60a - if I update will I have to pay this monthly fee?


They say it does "Block-level file updates: upload only changed portions of files"
Q.2) this sounds like synching as opposed to what dropbox offers (which is the option to go back to previous versions). Does anyone know it or use it and can say?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They offer 3 options in terms of storage
    * Rackspace Cloud Files
    * Amazon S3 US
    * Amazon S3 EU

Rackspace Cloud Files Rackspace Cloud Files Service Features     * No bandwidth fees for uploading/downloading data     * Pay only for what you use     * No minimum fees charged     * No commitment or minimum term Cloud Files is reliable, scalable and affordable storage for backing up and archiving all of your data.    Storage   $0.15 per GB-Month of storage used Data Transfer   No Charge Requests   No Charge

-
which would work out a lot cheaper than other options if you're moving &/or deleting lots of files
Q.3) anyone know anything about "Rackspace Cloud Files" [well it looks like Rackspace bought JD last year] and how to change to it (if worthwhile) if you already have an S3 account ?
 You have to re-upload stuff but I cant find how in the JD GUI or in the forums (keep getting offered hundreds of threads no matter how I try to narrow search) and when I look for more info in the official website I get offered the dreaded series of videos - I presume I'll have to upgrade which leads me back to Q.1 above

thanks

[TheQwerty]

Q.1) That's the only download that's on offer - anyone know the situation?
I'm still back as version 2.10a the latest is 2.60a - if I update will I have to pay this monthly fee?

-tomos (March 19, 2009, 10:50 AM)

If you paid for the lifetime license you can upgrade normally (from everything I've seen) without being charged.  The $20 lifetime license w/ $1 per month optional subscription (for web access, block level updates, and resume) is still available go to:
https://jungledisk.c...gleDiskPurchase.aspx and click "also available" which takes you here:
https://jungledisk.c...gleDiskLifetime.aspx

They claim the change is because users felt $20 up front was too much, but I have a feeling they're looking at it and feel it would be more profitable as a service with monthly charges.

They say it does "Block-level file updates: upload only changed portions of files"
Q.2) this sounds like synching as opposed to what dropbox offers (which is the option to go back to previous versions). Does anyone know it or use it and can say?

-tomos (March 19, 2009, 10:50 AM)

This isn't a type of versioning (though I believe JungleDisk offers that too).  This is more for dealing with large files where only small changes have been made.  For instance, take an audio file and just change the tags.  With block-level updates, they only upload the part of the file that has changed instead of the entire file, so a few KB instead of MB.  It's intended to make syncing quicker and reduce the amount of data transferred.

Q.3) anyone know anything about "Rackspace Cloud Files" [well it looks like Rackspace bought JD last year] and how to change to it (if worthwhile) if you already have an S3 account ?
 You have to re-upload stuff but I cant find how in the JD GUI or in the forums (keep getting offered hundreds of threads no matter how I try to narrow search) and when I look for more info in the official website I get offered the dreaded series of videos - I presume I'll have to upgrade which leads me back to Q.1 above

-tomos (March 19, 2009, 10:50 AM)

Rackspace did buy them, but they claim they won't discontinue Amazon S3 access anytime soon.  The advantage seems to be they don't charge you for the transferring just the space used, and from what I've read they seem as good as Amazon S3.  I don't have any experience with Rackspace, so I'm not sure if it's worthwhile to switch or not.

I do recall reading that you'd have to mount both clouds and transfer the data from one to the other yourself, but that JungleDisk is planning to offer a service or the functionality to make this easier sometime in the future.  So for now you'd have to transfer each bucket separately, and it seems like it could be a real pain.


I don't believe you'd actually have to upgrade your license unless you want support for web access, block-level updates, and resuming transfers.  As you already have a license though you should be able to just add those services for $1 / month, which I believe you do by logging into My Account on their website.

Hope that helps!

[tomos]

Hope that helps!

-TheQwerty (March 19, 2009, 12:04 PM)

- a lot !
thanks Qwerty

1) yes I think $24 per year is much more profitable to them than $20 one-time payment

2) AFAIK the versioning JD offers is where only the changed files get updated (but a full copy of changed file is made on each change)

3) I might just stick with what I have then for the moment and ask at their forum when I go to upgrade

thanks again