Any personal cloud backup services recommendations?

"Hi all, I'm wondering if someone has a good recommendation for personal cloud backup. I originally thought a NAS with remote access might be a good idea, but this won't be suitable because we can't guarantee it will be fully safe from harm.

My family has over the years got a lot of photos and videos which we want to backup. Is there any personal online backup software for me to automatically backup these files? Any help would be appreciated! "

Why choose personal cloud backup?

Why use personal cloud backup solutions instead of external hard drive backup or backup locally? There are some reasons below why choose personal cloud backup solutions:

• Both local drive and external drive will be affected by computer issues, such as system failure, hardware failure, virus, hacker, or other human error because it’s connected to your computer or will.

• Natural disasters damage your physical backup drive, for instance, a sudden fire, earthquake, etc. 

• The storage space of cloud backup solutions is scalable. Personal users can choose different storage space schemes according to their data backup requirements.

Therefore, it’s highly recommended to try the best cloud backup storage for personal use to backup files to the cloud instead of any physical backup storage devices.

4 best free personal cloud backup services

In the following, I’ll introduce you to the most popular cloud storage for personal use, including Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, CBackup. Then, you can store photos, documents, videos, designs, etc, and these data will be transferred to your personal cloud storage.

Google Drive

Google Drive is best for team and collaboration. Also, you can use it for individuals. It offers free users generous capacity, but space is also shared with other Google services including Gmail and Google Photos. To get more space without upgrading, you can complete the security checkup and you will get 2GB.

In addition to the basic features, Google Drive will offer users some integration features, such as Google Drive for desktop app, G Suit tools - Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Calendar, Google+, Sites, Hangouts and Keep. 

• Capacity: 15GB free and 100GB, 200GB for paid
• Capacity expansion: 2GB for completing security checkup
• Platform: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS
• File upload limit: 5TB
• Price: $2.99/month for 200GB, $9.99/month for 2TB, $99.99/month for 10TB, $199.99/month for 20TB and $299.99/month for 30TB
• Features: store any files, file upload from any device, share files with anyone, save email attachments from Gmail
• Integration: G Suit tools, Backup, and Sync desktop app

OneDrive

Microsoft OneDrive is best for Windows users, especially Windows 10, because it greatly integrates with other Microsoft products, such as Microsoft Office – Word, Excel, PPT, Outlook, etc. Also, it allows you to edit files online without downloading.

For its capacity, every free user will get 5GB of cloud storage. If you want more space, you can subscribe to office 365 for an extra 1TB. Besides, you still can choose to upgrade to paid options, including 50GB, 1TB, 6TB.

• Capacity: 5GB free and 50GB, 1TB, 6TB for paid
• Capacity expansion: office 365 subscription start at 1TB
• Platform: Windows, Android, iOS
• File upload limit: 15GB
• Starting price: $1.99/month
• Features: access files in offline mode, SSL encryption, easy file sharing, latest office application, edit files online without downloading,
• Integration: Microsoft Office, Outlook, AutoCAD

CBackup

CBackup is a professional Windows PC cloud backup for personal users. It offers a stable and secure cloud server called CBackup Cloud (10GB free) to keep your data safely and remotely. And you can restore backups in the CBackup Cloud to the original or a different location at any time. What's more, the interface of CBackup is very clear and the operation is very simple, you can figure it out quickly.

In addition, the paid plans for CBackup are very reasonable. You can upgrade to enjoy the large cloud backup space, 1000GB.

• Capacity: 10GB
• Platform: Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP
• File transfer limit: No limitation
• Price: Free, $4.99/month for 1TB, $14.99/month for 5TB
• Features: backup your files from Windows PC to its secure CBackup Cloud restore your files at any time

Dropbox

Dropbox is suitable for light data users because it only offers free users 2GB. But it gives you a chance to extend the capacity free of charge, including, invite your friends to join and get 500MB each referral, up to 16GB, complete the Getting Started guide for 250MB, provide “Mighty Answer” for the Dropbox forum and each answer get 1GB extra storage.

Dropbox also provides some useful features besides the basic feature, store files, file sharing, and transfer, such as Dropbox Paper, File Requests, and Dropbox Rewind. Dropbox paper is a great collaborative working tool, which acts as a group workspace and its desktop app will automatically backup your photos. If you are interested in these features, you can try them.

• Capacity: 2GB free and several paid option, 1TB, 2TB, 3TB for paid
• Capacity expansion: 500MB for each referral and up to 16GB, 250MB for completing the “Getting Started guide, 1GB for Mighty Answer on Dropbox forum
• Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Windows phone,
• File upload limit: unlimited
• Starting price: $8.25/month for individuals and $12.5/user/month
• Features: Dropbox paper, Dropbox Rewind, File Requests, 256-bit AES and SSL/TLS encryption, share any file like PowerPoint and Photoshop with anyone, anytime, anywhere access, free-trial for all editions

4 easy ways to create the personal cloud backup

After introducing the 4 cloud storage space for personal computers, then we will show you the detailed steps to create personal cloud backup with these cloud storage.

Create cloud backup for a personal computer with Google Drive

Step 1. Download Google Drive for desktop app, log in to your Google account.

Step 2. Click the Google Drive icon on the system tray, click the Settings icon  > Preferences....

Step 3. Choose folders in the My Computer tab, tick the Add folder button to select your personal folders to backup.

Step 4. Then choose Sync with Google Drive option, and click Done to perform the personal cloud backup.

★Tips:

You could click the gear icon on the top right corner, find your Google Drive account, and tick Upload screenshots and Upload RAW files option in File Types section for your personal cloud backup if required.

Other settings provided for you to set up bandwidth settings, Upload size, Proxy settings and more.

And now, your personal folders will be synced to Google Drive automatically.

Personal cloud backup with Dropbox

1. Download and install Dropboxinstaller.exe on your computer, log in your Dropbox account.

2. Click the Dropbox icon in system tray, and tap down arrow next to your Dropbox account, choose Preferences.

3. At the Backups tab, Click Set up at the This PC section.

4. Choose the folders you want to backup and click Next.

5. Click Continue with Basic and follow the steps to create personal cloud backup.

Personal cloud backup with OneDrive personal cloud storage

1. Download the OneDrive desktop app OneDriveSetup.exe and install it on your Windows 7/8/8.1. If your computer is Windows 10, and the OneDrive has already been installed.

2. Log in to your OneDrive personal cloud account.

3. Click the OneDrive icon in the system tray, select Help & Settings > Settings.

4. At the Back up tab, tap the Manage back up button at the Important PC Folders.

5. Choose the personal folders to backup, and press the Start back up button.

Then it will create personal cloud backup automatically with OneDrive personal cloud storage.

Create personal online backup with CBackup

There is another way to do cloud backup for personal computers, use the CBackup to backup data to CBackup Cloud. Besides, you could use to backup files to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc. It’s quite powerful among these personal cloud backup services.

Here takes backup personal computer files to CBackup Cloud as an example:

Step 1. Download the CBackup PC client, create a CBackup account first, and then sign in to your account.

Step 2. Click on the Backup tab and click on the Backup PC to CBackup Cloud button.

Step 3. Choose the computer files you want to backup to personal cloud storage. And click Start Backup to perform personal cloud backup easily.

What if personal cloud backup storage is not enough?

As you can see from above, the space free of charge is limited, Google Drive is 15GB, OneDrive is 5GB and Dropbox is simply 2GB. Space will run out sooner or later, you can choose to upgrade to the paid option, or get more space by gathering all of your free cloud storage.

Here, it’s strongly recommended try the free web version of CBackup, which can help you connect unlimited cloud storage with CBackup and automatically combine cloud storage into one to store unlimited files. Let's see how to combine unlimited cloud drives with CBackup:

Step 1. Sign in to CBackup with your account. 

Step 2. Click the "Storage" tab, choose Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive, and click Authorize Now. Choose your Google Drive/Dropbox/OneDrive account and allow CBackup access to see, edit, create and delete all of your personal cloud files.

Step 3. Modify the Cloud name and Storage path for file backup. Then, click the checkbox before "Note: Please don't modify or delete the CBackup path or backup files in your Google Drive account." and click "OK".

Step 4. To combine more free cloud storage space into one, just repeat the above steps to add more cloud drives even different drives, and click Storage > + Add Combined Cloud. Then follow the steps to get more free cloud storage space.

Drop it in the box

Try Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, or CBackup to create personal cloud backup because you will find the best cloud storage for personal use. Select the personal cloud backup services according to your demands:

• Google Drive has more free space and suitable for Google users;

• OneDrive is best for Windows users;

• Dropbox for light data users;

• CBackup is for all users who want to create cloud backup for personal computers.

• If the personal cloud storage is not enough, just combine more free cloud stroage into one with CBackup. Besides, you could create cloud to cloud backup, cloud to cloud sync with this free cloud backup software.