1TB?, 2TB?, 10TB, 36TB? How Many TB of Cloud Storage Space do You Need? JottaCloud, Tencent, Kanbox, Baidu, 360 and BTSync...

polifrog


Did I mention free cloud storage?

Yeah, these are Chinese/Pacific Rim based companies so if that bothers you, you haven't heard of the NSA. With the USA having given up the last breath of honest governance there is no disadvantage in embracing the Chinese cloud storage give away. Understand that if your data is of the type that it might ruffle the feathers of governance it is best to have that data in a country that you do not reside.  And, of course, you can always encrypt before uploading.  

For those of you concerned about installing the PC client and mobile device software I have noticed that removing the software from my phone and/or computer once it has been downloaded, installed and used to sign in to my account does not reduce my increased cloud storage capacity.

Of note, according to the translations the Chinese think of it, not as a "cloud", but as a "network drive".  Get it free while you can...

What follows is a quick synopsis of four cloud solutions.  But for more details (including upload/download speed restraints as compared to American counterparts  and maximum file size restraints regarding not only upload, but limits as well) concerning each visit this guy's thorough comments as he explored each.  His preference was for 360.

JottaCloud (5gb up to 100gb maybe more)

https://www.jottacloud.com/



JottaCloud is not Chinese.  Rather, it is Scandinavian and claims to be protected from the NSA.  I don't know about being immune to the NSA, but I do like the interface.  It is clean, multilingual, and upload times feel short. I particularly like the backup features of JottaCloud.

Initial signup will net you 5gb but if you use this link (link removed due to the possible conclusion of this promotion) your initial signup will net you 10gig and add 5gig to my account.  This is not automated  so allow me a few hours to respond.   We both benefit. Once you have your account set up your subsequent referrals will net you  5gb per referral. Jottacloud claims that there is a limit of 100gig but I already have 105gig and I'd like to test the limit. I need your help.  Here is the link to your 10gig of JottaCloud.  (link removed due to the possible conclusion of this promotion)  Apologies to those who attempted to use the promotion.

While desktop clients and  file syncs are great, one current drawback to JottaCloud  is that JottaCloud appears to be totally reliant  upon synced/backup files.  That means that JottaCloud seems to be unable  to upload single files via the browser which is problematic  with OS's for which there is no JottaCloud client. My Chromebook is just such an OS and indeed JottaCloud does not work on my Chromebook .  That said, Google plans to make Android apps functional on Chrome OS devises and being that there is a JottaCloud Andriod App availabile  JottaCloud functionality on the Chromebook should be coming soon.

(NEW) Kanbox (10TB) Free

www.kanbox.com




 I have tried this and verified that it works. I currently have 10TB plus another 50gig.

The following arrived via an anonymous comment:

OK, after some tries I find how to link accounts and get 10 TB space.

1. register taobao and alibaba accounts with same email
2. bound phone number to taobao
3. register on Kanbox with same email as on taobao. System will find that you are already member on taobao, so they will tell you can login with taobao account.
4. download Laiwang soft on your phone and register with phone number that is bound to taobao.

5. then go to http://www.kanbox.com/invite/task, (translation in the photo to the left) ... search for 下载登录来往客户端 on page and click on 3.点击领取奖励

You will get 10 TB free!

Baidu (2TB)  (Via the Comments - Baidu now has a Chinese character capcha feature after email verification but it can be broken)  

I used the instructions in the video below and, yes, it took 6 or 7 tries, I lost count, but it works.  

Simply go to http://www.nciku.com/ draw each of the characters and then copy/paste them into the capcha field. (One note... Before I copy and pasted the chracters I entered an English letter into the capcha field, double clicked on it, then replaced that English character with the Chinese characters I created into the capcha field.) 

==

Baidu as well as the other three that follow require a more convoluted signup process made more convoluted by the language barrier.  I set Google to automatically translate all the Chinese it could to English ... a huge help and strongly suggested.  

Baidu offers 2TB free for life ... but only after one downloads, installs and signs into their phone app.  After that one must still claim the 2000GB.  Unfortunately the website, the desktop client nor the apps are offered in English.  That will change soon.

Here is  the best guide I've seen to your 2000GB of Baidu cloud storage.  

Of note, Baidu seems to be the only player of the four in this covered in this post that currently offers uploading via torrent and streaming of your movies.  

Also to be noted is the fact that while I have claimed my 2TB from Baidu I have not used this network storage offering much as I find the interface a bit cluttered.

Weiyun (Tencent) (10TB)

Although I have never been exposed to them until now, Tencent is apparently a huge tech company in SE Asia, like one of the top 5 in the world. That size allows Tencent (like Mega) to store data in multiple countries, not just China.  There is some confidence to be had in that.

One may upload file no larger than 4GB unless one engages the "power upload plugin" at which point the max. file size increases to 32GB. 

Here are the steps required to get your 10TB

1. Register in the QQ service
2. Install Tencent Cloud app for your smartphone. Login with the data from step 1.
3. Click “Get 10TB”.
4. And don't forget to use the  English version of  Tencent's web offering.

Qihoo 360 (36TB)

Qihoo360 is currently the MacDaddy of cloud storage with 36TB.   To get hold of all 36TB, you must download the PC client & the Android or iOS app.  Downloading and signing in to the phone app alone will net you 26TB but if you choose to download and sign in the PC client you will get another 10TB which gets you to 36,000GB

That's a lot of storage but it does not stop there.  If one signs in each day and clicks on the drawing one gets the chance to increase their storage quota by  around 1/4GB to around 7GB.  Over 30 days this netted me nearly 50GB ... not that I really needed it. Not only is there this game play, but there is another which nets me an additional 150gig/day and up. My understanding is that 360 maxes out at 150TB.

Unfortunately Qihoo is still displayed in Chinese as are the apps and the PC client.  That will change soon, though.  Patience.

For those of you cautious about installing the PC client, I flipped steps 5 and 6 choosing to only to install the mobile device software and get the 26TB for my wife's account.  She was, however,  disturbed by the related Chinese notifications so I later removed that software from her phone incurring no penalty in the process. 

Here are the steps required to get your 36TB

1. Go to http://huodong.yunpan.360.cn/xt and click the orange button.
2. In the popup window, click the text near the bottom right corner to Register a new account.
3. Then enter your email address and your password twice.
4. Get 10TB-- Now go to http://huodong.yunpan.360.cn/xt to download the PC software (labeled 1), sign in with your account from steps 1 and 2 above and then go back to http://huodong.yunpan.360.cn/xt to claim your 10TB by clicking the orange button. (From the comments: Timo Riemer said, "When the desktop client appears i had to click on the chinese text in the bottom right corner and use the login screen that appears.")
5. Get 26TB-- Now repeat step number 4 but download your phone app (the QR code helps to get your phone to the right place), sign in with your phone and then claim your 26TB 

BitTorrent Sync (Free)


I would be remiss if I did not include BTSync in this list as a sharing/syncing  and remote backup option  for those who prefer a personal "cloud" in which encrypted data is shared or synced directly between devices without a "middleman" such as the cloud or network drive.

Via BTSync one may sync or share encrypted data between two computers, two phones, or a computer and many devices in any combination.

You begin by you choosing a folder you want to sync at which point BTSync provides you a "secret". With BTSync installed on another device, you can provide that secret and link the folders. At this point they will securely synchronize peer-to peer meaning that none of the data passes through the cloud.



I use this tool to backup photos on my family's Android devices to the family computer which is increasingly becoming our family's personal cloud server.  My son also uses it to make large files such as movies and music stored on his computer at home available to his iPhone so that he has access to those files at school.  From his iPhone he sees only the file names he has made available to his phone, files that he can individually choose to download to his iPhone.  He can also share a read only "secret" to others via QR code so that they too have access to his files for viewing.

The result is that BTSync, by virtue of being cloudless, is one of the most secure easy to use file transfer tools available.

Yunio (1TB+1GB/day)  (Via the Comments -- NO LONGER FREE)

It appears that one may keep their current  free account for $400/year.  This is cheaper than the $600 a new user at the same site would pay for the same product but it looks like I will be bowing out of Yunio all the same.

A shame.

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As an aside I'd like to relay synopsis of China's cloud storage price-war written by MarkusMcNugen:

Here’s the summary of the “Cloud Storage War in China”:
· Before all this, free storage services in China are mainly focused on capacity under 15GB.
· But on 8/13/2013, Kingsoft (03888.HK)announced that it has received $20 million investment. With this financing, Kingsoft Kuaipan, a service under Kingsoft offers 100GB free storage service to personal users.
· Then Qihoo 360 said they offer users 360GB
· Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), the largest search engine in China, said: pay 1 RMB, you’ll get 1TB permanent space (1USD=6.1RMB)
· Then Qihoo said they’ll offer users extra 666GB on top of the 360GB, that’s more than 1TB
· Then Baidu said it offers 1TB free, and users who pays 1 RMB gets an extra 1TB
· Then Tencent joined the war and offers 10T. See my thread here.
· Then Qihoo calls itself the terminator to this war and said it offers users unlimited storage, free and permanent!
· Then Baidu changed it service to offer users the 2TB for free and will refund the 1RMB to users who paid.

Other competitors in the war include:
· Sina (NDSDAQ: SINA), famous for its Twitter like service called “Weibo”, said it offers 100GB and if you share one file to the public, you’ll get the same size of free permanent space (They called it “unlimited”)

· 115.com (just an ordinary cloud storage company) offers 15GB to new users and all users get 1TB every year, increasing to unlimited size.

For those concerned with security:
Qihoo is a reputable chinese company that makes very popular anti-virus software which you can find in the Android market by searching "Qihu 360". All uploaded files are encrypted using your accounts password, and not even the employees of Qihoo have access to your files.

NitWitCharmer