11.27.2007

Google to Replace Everyones Massive Storage Hardrives

Wired magazine touched on this last year, and noted that the 'Goog had moved it's headquarters not far from where I am along the Columbia river for it's abundant low cost hydroelectric access (needed to power it's massive server farms).

According to a report today from the WSJ Google will be offering mass storage for free and larger amounts at a fixed cost and could be operating within a few months.

I have investigated it and if I spend $100-$250 per year on upgrading my drives to bigger and bigger storage formats I am losing money and have less security than storing on a semi-dedicated server with one of the big company's who offer scalable solutions. This is hard for many people to wrap their minds around as we are so used to physical memory hardware. The other benefit is you can access your info anywhere in the world. Security? You are far more vulnerable at home then at a clean room with armed guards, video surveillance, redundant backups, and a team of technicians and 24 hours support.

The biggest hold-up? Now that broadband is readily available for most it's good FTP software. Firefox seems to have that licked though with it's latest in-browser plugin.

I am now looking at a terabyte as the minimum size drive I would purchase. 1000 gigs just doesn't seem like that much if you consider a DVD is just under a gig. Mind boggling.

Culled from Smartmobs

The Pondering Primate questions the Goog's commitment to service.