G-0LM5LRNCVT

The 5 Best Free Cloud Storage Services

I have written often about the need for genealogists (and others) to make frequent backups of their databases. The exact method of making these backups isn’t the most important factor involved; any method that reliably produces the required results is a good method.

Having said that, I must also chime in with two more critical and related suggestions: (1.) Making only one backup is insufficient (backups often become corrupted and that usually isn’t discovered until the moment of maximum need: when you need to restore some critical bit of information and (2.) keeping backups in the same place as your computer doesn’t provide protection against fire, floods, earthquakes, blizzards, and other natural in-home disasters. (Off-site backups are much safer and therefore better.)

It was with delight that I recently discovered an article written by Fergus O’Sullivan and published in the How-To Geek web site:

The 5 Best Free Cloud Storage Services

As the title suggests, O’Sullivan lists the better-known cloud-based file storage services, the allotment of free storage each service offers, and what extras are included with each offer.

The amount of free storage space varies from one service to another, ranging from 5 gigabytes to 20 gigabytes (for the first year only). You probably should back up more than that but starting with the various free services allows you to “try it before you buy it” and also to first become accustomed to the service(s) that you try.

My recommendation: every genealogist (and others) should read this article. This article isn’t written just for genealogists but it certainly does apply to genealogy record-keeping.

You can find “The 5 Best Free Cloud Storage Services” at: https://www.howtogeek.com/787191/best-free-cloud-storage-services/.