Skip to footer

Five ways to store your data outside the cloud

Still a little weary of the cloud? We understand. For those of you who like the comfort of having a physical backup, here are five ways to store your data outside the cloud. 

|
Wally Santana/AP Photo/File
Microsoft Corporation's Vice President John Kalkman addresses the unlimited opportunities for software manufacturers in the emerging "Cloud" computing during a conference, in Taipei, Taiwan. Don't quite trust the cloud? There are other data back-up options out there.
  • By Lou Carlozo Contributor

No matter how big and nimbus-like the cloud is getting these days, we understand the comfort of having a physical backup of all your videos, photos, music, and more. As such, we've rounded up an assortment of mostly Editors' Choice data storage deals, from flash drives to micro SD cards, to a 128GB SSD for Macbooks and a portable 3TD HDD.

  • HP 500GB Portable USB 3.0 External Hard Drive bundled with Total Defense Premium Internet Security
    Store: TigerDirect
    Price: $19.99 via $60 mail-in rebate with about $4 s&h
    Lowest By: $66
    Expires: October 31

    Is It Worth It?: We remember when creating a backup of our computer meant inserting a tape into the tower and waiting about an hour for the hard drive to copy itself. Thankfully this Editors' Choice 500GB portable drive can do the job much more quickly... and economically. After the$60 rebate, you'll spend just $0.04/GB for this hard drive and bundled software.

    Note that Total Defense Premium Internet Security must be activated before the rebate can be redeemed, which involves providing your credit card information. However, you can cancel the service at any time within the first year without incurring any additional charges.

  • Western Digital 3TB Red Serial ATA 6Gb/s Internal Hard Drive
    Store: TigerDirect
    Price: $109.99 via $30 mail-in rebate with free shipping
    Lowest By: $15
    Expires: November 1

    Is It Worth It?: If you're in need of more internal storage, then look no further than this 3TB hard drive. As an Editors' Choice, this Red serial ATA hard drive will set you back little green: just $0.04/GB; that's the best price we've ever seen for this model. It's optimized for use in NAS systems that have one to five drive bays and features a 64MB cache. 

  • Tribeca Sons of Anarchy Bullet 8GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive
    Store: Best Buy
    Price: $3.99 with in-store pickup
    Lowest By: $2

    Is It Worth It?: OK, we know it might be a little too early to think about Christmas, but we know a good stocking stuffer/White Elephant gift when we see it! This Editors' Choice thumb drive is styled in the shape of a bullet and pays homage to TV show Sons of Anarchy. But it's also a steal at $4, or $0.50/GB.

  • Toshiba 1.5TB Canvio Basics Portable USB 3.0 External Hard Drive
    Store: newegg
    Price: $69.99 via coupon code "EMCWXVR62" with free shipping
    Lowest By: $20
    Expires: October 31

    Is It Worth It?: A few generations ago, you'd need a room the size of a gymnasium to fit 1.5TB of data. Now all your data can fit inside of this portable hard drive the size of a paperback. What's more, the 1.5TB of space boils down to a mere $0.05/GB and earns itself an Editors' Choice laurel. This USB-powered drive features an 8MB cache and runs at 5400rpm.

  • G.SKILL 32GB microSDHC Class 6 Secure Digital High-Capacity Card
    Store: newegg
    Price: $17.99 with 99-cent s&h
    Lowest By: $4

    Is It Worth It?: It sometimes amazes us that we can fit so much data onto such tiny devices. This micro SDHC is no exception! Perfect for mobile phones, digital cameras, digital music players, GPS, automotive recorders, and camcorders, it's 10% of the size of an SD card, and $0.59/GB.

    • You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
    Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
    What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
    editor@csmonitor.com
    Subscribe
    Mark Sappenfield
    Editor

    Dear Reader,

    About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

    “Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

    If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

    But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

    The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

    We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

    If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

    Subscribe to insightful journalism

    QR Code to Five ways to store your data outside the cloud
    Read this article in
    https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Saving-Money/2013/1030/Five-ways-to-store-your-data-outside-the-cloud
    QR Code to Subscription page
    Start your subscription today
    https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe