When you start shopping for online cloud storage solutions, one of the first things you will probably notice is how many different offerings are out there in terms of data storage. But how much data can be stored on a 1 TB plan? Will you run out quickly and need to pay for more immediately? Before you decide on a cloud storage provider, here are some things you should know about the volume of storage you need.
Calculating Data Needs
Unfortunately there isn’t a simple formula or an online calculator where you can plug in some basic numbers and have it spit out the exact amount of data storage you will need (although that would be pretty handy). Calculating your exact needs is more of an art than a science, and it requires you to think carefully about exactly what kind and how much data you currently have and will expect to have in the future.
For example, if you are an avid movie enthusiast and you want to back up your entire collection of films, or you’re a freelance graphic designer and want to keep a backup of all the work you’ve done for clients, you will need more storage than if you just want to back up a few documents and files related to your personal finances.
Scaling Up in the Future
Before you commit to any cloud storage provider, make sure you know how much can be available, and at what price. If you’re working with a cloud storage solution that requires you to pay for upgrades even for small increases in storage, that could end up costing you a lot as your data storage needs grow.
Unlimited Storage: A Better Solution
For many people, both individuals and companies, finding a cloud storage solution that offers you unlimited storage space is going to be easier than trying to decide how much you use now and projecting that into the future with all the uncertainties about pricing and availability. Some companies that had “unlimited” storage offerings quickly pulled back from that (Microsoft 365 famously offered unlimited storage to its Home and Personal subscribers, then put a 1 TB limit on data for the same users just a little over a year from when it started), so make sure your solution actually has unlimited data backups.
Storage Whale offers unlimited data backups and the best cloud backup solution in the universe, so if you’re tired of trying to figure out how much storage you need, find out how beneficial unlimited can be.