IDrive e2 cloud storage
IDrive e2 is an S3 compatible cloud storage product from the privately held IDrive, Inc, which offers related services including online backup, file sharing, and compliance. Additional products offered are IBackup, and RemotePC, along with IDrive cloud storage of which IDrive e2 is an outgrowth.
In excess of 4 million customers trust a staggering 500+ petabytes of data to the IDrive enterprise class data centers that feature both physical and biometric data, seismic protection, are hardened to be anti-ransomware, and HVAC temperature controlled. A number of clients are compatible with IDrive e2, including NovaBackup, QNAP, Cyberduck and Duplicati.
IDrive e2: Plans and pricing
The cost of IDrive e2 is based around the amount of storage per month. There is a generous starter amount of 10 GB that can be stored for free, or used as a free trial. After that initial 10 GB amount, the cost is $0.004/GB/month which is a significant value over other providers in this space.
There is also an option for an annual subscription, which is currently offered at a substantial discount. The entry level is 1 TB of data, and the normal cost is $40/year, it can currently be had for the downright bargain price of $4 for the year.
There are also no restrictions for the minimum amount of data retention, and the ingress and egress are both free.
IDrive e2: Features
IDrive e2 can be used on a variety of platforms, with dedicated software for Windows and Mac, with regular updates that are almost monthly. There are also mobile apps available, for both the iOS and Android platforms. The platforms supported go even beyond this with software for a Linux/Unix server, a Window’s Basic Client, and a thin client for PC’s and Macs. Data can be accessed from mobile devices, and can be backed up from them.
The goal is to use IDrive e2 as a destination for data from these multiple devices, so that smartphones, PC’s, tablets and even hard drives can all be backed up to a single cloud account. Files and folders can then be synced together in real time across multiple devices.
In a situation where you need a physical copy of the data, IDrive e2 has that covered as well. IDrive Express can deliver physical media with your data- in less than a week.
All of these uploads can take quite a bit of bandwidth. IDrive e2 deals with this, by doing incremental backups. The process is to look for the modified part of the file, and to then only transfer the modified data to not clog up the network bandwidth. Furthermore, there is True Archiving, as no data gets deleted from the online account until either you manually delete it, or run the command for Archive Cleanup, which then matches the account to what is on your computer. By the way, with the snapshots feature, IDrive e2 will retain up to 30 previous versions of the files that are backed up to the account, which is ideal protection from ransomware attacks.
While IDrive e2 supports the standard Amazon S3 API, it lacks support to host static websites.
IDrive e2: Security
IDrive e2 features 256-bit AES encryption that gets applied on both transfer, and on storage. For additional privacy, a private key can be created at account creation, which is a differentiator compared to other cloud accounts such as Google Drive.
Security is also enhanced as all eight of the data centers are in the US. Each facility features raised floors, temperature control, 24/7 controlled secure access, seismic racks, video camera surveillance, and security alarms. All of this contributes to a 99.9% uptime.
IDrive e2: Also consider
Users should also take a look at BackBlaze B2 Cloud Storage. In comparison, BackBlaze has simpler pricing at $5 per TB of storage monthly. We also like that BackBlaze can run IaaS apps, which IDrive 2 does not support.
IDrive e2: Final verdict
IDrive e2 represents an attractive next step for users that want to go up a notch from more traditional cloud storage solutions. We like the affordable price of data storage, including the first 10 GB are no cost, the multiplatform support with smartphone apps, and the multiple options for support.
Alternately though, we take issue with the lack of support for IaaS, the phone support hours in the Indian Standard Time, and the lack of support to host a static website. Overall, we think this option is worth a close look for many users.
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