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Thanks @Fliphost. Was nice getting away from the site for a while.
@pubcrawler - Thanks for the post. Nicely summarizes the uses people have for storage VPSes. You're right, I don't have much use for them myself, but your post shows how others might.
Welcome back @pubcrawler!
@nutjob your name definitely matches your personality! The funny thing is, we seem to be in agreement - don't use dropbox as your only backup solution. It works great for immediate backups, but there's no way to batch restore files, making it unsuitable for many cases. Unfortunately, you're too stupid to understand what I'm saying! I never said they didn't have their place (I use dropbox for syncing, it's great), but people seem to think they can get away with only using dropbox.
What if there was a bug in your wonderful text editor that caused it to save over a folder and delete all of your dropbox data? My only point is that you should not depend on Dropbox as your only source of backup, it's not designed to be as fault tolerant or reliable as a backup system, of course, you seem to be so smart, you probably already know that!
There's a plethora of online services out there now that call themselves 'file sync', 'backup', and of course, 'cloud'. It would be interesting to have another discussion in Off Topic about their distinctions and features. If Dropbox is not a backup, which one is?
Anyone care to kick it off?
One way to use a storage VPS: Owncloud
If you're running a serious business having offsite backups with a fast connection is a must.
If you're backing up your servers to your office computer that's great but what happens when you need to restore all of the data after the raid card malfunctions and you have to restore your data.
With a storage/backup vps you can restore your data at <=1GB/s.
So unless you have a 1GB uplink I wouldn't recommend backing up your servers to an office or home computer.
Still working on getting that put in
Google fiber, anyone?
I believe You meant to say 1Gbps or maybe 8Gbps, anyhow i agree, backing up data requires upload bandwidth something that most home ISPs won't provide at large.
I would like more ISPs to provide symmetrical links, or at least more upload, no mater the service is best effort.
Ok, we agree on something, but what you describe can't happen. Dropbox has archived that folder, it's backed up, and you can recover it. It's only deleted on your local machine.
It is a backup solution, albeit and simple but effective one for most purposes. His point is that it's not efficient when restoring large numbers of files and other such issues, and it has only simple archiving, but it backs up your files.
You seem to be thinking of "whole disk" backups which I don't think make any sense. I usually backup the key items on my Mac (Preferences, Keychain, a few other items) and it's a very manageable amount of data. I've migrated and restored my computer multiple times using only this critical data. Why backup stuff you can easily re-install?
@nutjob: In theory, yeah, you should be able to recover everything. Unfortunately, dropbox isn't designed to be a fault tolerant backup system, there are reports all over the internet like this: http://konklone.com/post/dropbox-bug-can-permanently-lose-your-files
As a general rule, you can never have too many backups of your irreplaceable files.
Dropbox, idrive, adrive, or any of the free backup services are way better than buying an external hard drive because:
1) It can stay in sync with your home computer as files change.
2) If your home computer crashes, catches fire, or is stolen, you should be able to retrieve your files (the key word there is 'should')
3) Can sync files between all your computers without having to plug/unplug an external hard drive.
4) Your data should be as secure as the password you used to protect it.
In my opinion, a Storage VPS is great if you need
1) Instant access to your files, and
2) Fast connection to your files (most VPSs have 50 or 100 megabit upload capability, versus a 1-3 megabit upload on a typical home connection. Backup services also usually have very slow upload because they are not designed for it.)
Personally, I would suggest against keeping any ultra-sensitive material backed up on a VPS though (tax returns, source code, bank statements, health information):
1) In case a hacker gains access to your files.
2) In case the provider swaps out hardware or goes out of business, who winds up with the hard drives?
3) In case the provider themselves decides to steal your data (highly unlikely, but possible in the low-end market)
For this reason, I shut down my storage VPS and got a dedicated server where I have full control over encrypting the data and changing the root password so even the datacenter can't access it. Yes, I am definitely that rare <1% of people that pays a lot for data security, but that is because my business and lifestyle rely on it.