Online Backup and Synchronization Systems

 ( under construction )

We are currently evaluating a number of OSPs, Online Storage Providers. Of course, we're not evaluating all OSPs and other services mentioned on this page but perhaps you may find another OSP or service that satisfies your backup and synchronization needs. Always check the website of the OSP for the latest information.

By the way, if you're looking for a very secure client side encrypting online storage and synchronization system, you may consider a system like Sync.com. See Sync.com's website for an explanation. Platforms: Mac OS, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android devices. Storage, Personal: 5 GB free and, for example, Sync Pro Solo Basic 2000 GB = $ 96 / year (Feb 2022)
[ Although it looks like Chrome OS is currently not yet explicitly mentioned, most important aspects of Sync's Android app seem to work in the context of the ChromeOS Android subsystem ]

However, if you prefer to use tools like SFTP, RSync, check for example the storage providers ADrive.com, CloudDiskSpace.nl, Hetzner.de, KeyWeb.de, Mihos.net, OVH, Rsync.net, and Strato HiDrive mentioned below.

  1. ADrive ( website )
    scp, sftp, rsync (ssh), webdav drive
    Linux, Mac OS, Windows
  2. Amazon Cloud Drive ( website and Amazon's learn more page )
    Unlimited storage US$ 60 / year ( March 2015 )
    Amazon's EFS ( webpage , article )
    Amazon's web services ( overview , S3 API )
  3. Backblaze ( website ) , B2 / API , blog
    Duplicity or Restic , Duplicacy , Benchmark
    Mac OS, Windows, Android, iPhone
  4. BitCasa ( www.bitcasa.com , discontinued April 2016 , TechCrunch )
  5. BitTorrent Sync ? ( website )
  6. Box.net ( website )
  7. BuddyBackup ( www.buddybackup.com , discontinued May 2022 )
    Platform: Windows, Peer-to-peer based backup system
  8. Carbonite ( website )
    Platform: Mac OS and Windows FAQ

  9. CloudDiskSpace ( website in Dutch )
    An open source OwnCloud / NextCloud and (S)FTP / Rsync based storage provider,
    OwnCloud , for example Euro 60 / 50 GB / year ( Sept 2020 )
    (S)FTP / Rsync , for example Euro 40 / 50 GB / year ( Sept 2020 )
    CloudDiskSpace provides a number of secure storage access protocols, such as scp (secure copy), rsync (synchronization over secure SSH), and secure SFTP.
    This means you can use your favourite WinSCP, FileZilla, Duplicati ( previous version ) or other tool to access your online storage. In particular rsync over ssh is a very comprehensive synchronization tool, which is available for Linux, Mac OS, and Windows (e.g. install Cygwin for Windows, it's a free and comprehensive Linux commandline toolset on top of Windows, including several command shells, no need to re-partition your harddrive)
    Encryption: It's easy to add your own fully automatic client-side encryption using tools as mentioned below to protect your company documents.
    Secure command shell (ssh) access is also included, so you can login to your personal storage space.
    It's also possible to use space of your personal cloud disk for website hosting and host your own website at yourname.clouddiskspace.nl

  10. Comodo backup ( website )
  11. CrashPlan, R> ( website )
    Consumer version discontinued, Aug 2017
    Platform: Linux, Mac OS, Solaris, Windows
  12. Cyphertite ( cyphertite.com , discontinued Aug 2015 )
  13. DataHaven.net P2P ( www.datahaven.net , discontinued ?)
  14. Degoo P2P ( website , docs )
  15. Diino ( www.diino.com )
    Platform: Linux MacOS Windows
    discontinued ?
  16. DollyDrive ( website )
  17. Dreamhost Objects ( webpage )
  18. DropBox ( website , blog , infrastructure )
    Linux, Mac OS, Windows
  19. Dump Truck ( discontinued Dec 2015 )
  20. EveryDayBackup ( website, Dutch )
  21. FileTransporter ( website )
  22. Google Drive ( website / eml )
  23. Hetzner Storage Box ( website )
    ftp, ftps, sftp, scp, rsync via SSH, samba / cifs, https, webdav
  24. IceDrive ( website )
  25. iCloud ( website )
    iOS, Mac OS, Windows
  26. iDrive ( website , hybrid backup )
    Platform: Linux, Mac, Windows
  27. JottaCloud ( website )
  28. Jungle Disk ( website )
    Platform: Linux, Mac OS, Windows
    Encryption: secure client-side encryption
  29. KeyWeb Cloud ( website )
    ftp, sftp, rsync, windows file sharing, http
  30. LiveDrive ( website )
    Platform: Mac OS and Windows
  31. LocalBox ? (beta)
  32. MaidSafe P2P ( website , wikipedia )
  33. McAfee Online ( website ) discontinued Dec 2014
  34. MediaFire ( website )
  35. Microsoft OneDrive ( website )
    Platform: Mac OS, Windows
  36. Mihos ( website in Dutch )
    ftp, sftp, rsync, sshfs,
    Synology hyper backup and Qnap hybrid backup compatible
  37. Mozy
    March 2019: Mozy acquired by Carbonite,
    Platform: Mac OS, Windows
  38. Nomadesk ( website )
    Platform: Mac OS, Windows
  39. OpenDrive, R> ( website )
    Platform: Mac OS, Windows, iPhone, Android
  40. OrbitFiles ( acquired by drop-my-site in 2012 )
  41. OVH ( website , Dutch version )
    scp, sftp, rsync
  42. OxygenCloud ( website )
  43. PCextreme ( website in Dutch, select English in menu)
  44. pCloud ( website )
    Platform: Linux, Mac OS, Windows; mobile: Android, iOS, Windows mobile.
  45. Pogoplug ( pogoplug.com , TechCrunch article )
  46. Porton ( website in Dutch)
  47. Proton Drive and Mail, VPN ( website )
  48. Rsync.net ( website )
    scp, sftp, rsync, restic
  49. Sia ( website )
  50. Space Monkey P2P (website , basics , kickstarter , Acquisition Vivint / Forbes)
  51. SpiderOak ( website )
    • Platform: Linux, Mac OS, Windows, and iPhone, Android mobile devices.
    • Encryption: secure client-side encryption
    • Backup and synchronization of unlimited computers.
    • 2-factor authentication
  52. Storj ( website )
    Tardigrade.io ( website )
  53. Strato HiDrive ( website NL , DE , UK , RESTful API )
    Note that in case of the NL HiDrive, protocols like scp, sftp, rsync over SSH, webdav are considered an extra feature (4 to 7 euro / month, last check HiDrive page Oct 2020)
  54. SugarSync ( website )
    Platform: Mac OS, Windows
  55. Symform P2P
    discontinued, July 31, 2016

  56. Sync.com ( website , blog , security / privacy )
    Mac OS, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android devices.
    Client side encryption / zero knowledge technology
    Storage, Personal: 5 GB free and, for example, Sync Pro Solo Basic 2000 GB = $ 96 / year

  57. Tarsnap ( website ), website quote:
    Online backups for the truly paranoid, download client source code.
    • Platform: many Unix-like systems, including BSD, Cygwin for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X : tarsnap client source code provided.
    • $25 / 100 GB storage / month, $25 / 100 GB network traffic (see website for details)
    • Note that the Unix-like Cygwin for Windows is free, you can download it here, no need to re-partition your harddisk, just install Cygwin on top of Windows in a separate user directory, for example the default C:\cygwin directory.
    • In case of Microsoft Windows and Cygwin, also read how easy it is to solve the status access violation problem (Jan 2012), likely already solved in more recent releases ;-)
    • Archive and compression library: LibArchive , storage Amazon S3

  58. TeamDrive ( website )
    Platform: Linux, Mac OS, Windows
  59. Tonido ( website )
  60. Transip ( storage page in Dutch , other products )
    1TB = 5 Euro / month, 2 TB = 10 Euro / month
    SFTP, Webdav, unfortunately not (yet ?) a very efficient rsync over SSH protocol to transfer files like Hetzner and 5+ other storage providers (check: June 2022)
    Note that free client and server side rsync software is available for Linux, macOS, Windows.
  61. TrendMicro ( SafeSync, formerly Humyo ) discontinued Jan 2017
    Platform: Mac OS and Windows
  62. Tresorit ( website )
    Linux, Mac OS, Windows, and mobile devices
    2.5 TB = Euro 25 / month or Euro 240 / year (Subscription: "Solo")
  63. Ubuntu One, discontinued June 2014
  64. Upthere ( upthere.com ) discontinued March 3, 2020
  65. Wuala discontinued Aug 17, 2015
  66. Younited ( www.younited.com ) , Synchronoss. discontinued October 1, 2015
  67. Yuntaa ( www.yuntaa.com ) discontinued
  68. ZipCloud ( website )
  69. Zoolz ( website )
  70. ZumoDrive ( zumodrive.com ) discontinued 2012

Storage Encryption as an OS Drive / Volume

If you want to store confidential information (like password files, etc) in the cloud it's a good idea to encrypt these sort of files. In addition, in case your laptop / desktop needs to be repaired, it's also a good idea to have protected at least the most important information on your hard disk, e.g. password containers, company documents, and similar files :
  1. BoxCryptor ( website , boxcryptor classic )
    Note that BoxCryptor Classic ( = version 1.X ) is not supported anymore. In addition, BoxCryptor 2 is not encfs compatible and cannot mount multiple BoxCryptor volumes at the same time (checked Nov 2015), a feature that was very convenient in BoxCryptor 1.X
  2. BoxProtect ( website ? )
  3. Cloudfogger ( website )
    discontinued 2016
  4. CryFS, Beta ( website )
  5. Cryptomator ( website )
    Open source, AES encryption
  6. DiskCryptor, OSS ( website , LiveCD )
  7. DoxBox ( website , github )
  8. EncFS 4 Win ( website )
  9. EncFS implementation GetSafe for Mac OS and Windows ( website , github , twitter )
  10. EncFS for Mac OS X, Linux: too many info sites to mention, you might consider to start here. Only a 10-hour audit, but consider these encfs remarks
  11. SkyCrypt ( website )
  12. TrueCrypt ( website , discontinued , copy old repository ?, audit )
  13. VeraCrypt ( based on TrueCrypt, new website, old website )
  14. Viivo ( website ) Discontinued July 1st, 2017

Few KickStarter / IndieGoGo project examples

Most cloud storage systems are datacenter oriented, see abovementioned 50+ solutions. Many of these storage systems allow you to access your files world-wide, using a laptop, smartphone, et cetera. Secure client side encryption can be either built-in or provided by a seamlessly integrated third-party tool. This way you may also store more confidential company info, using datacenter oriented storage systems.
However, an increasingly number of crowdfunding projects use special purpose hardware and software to build private / personal cloud storage systems, see the following examples. Note that special purpose hw / sw always requires a more detailed performance, robustness and security evaluation.
  1. Amber X ( indiegogo )
  2. Brease ( kickstarter )
  3. CatDrive ( indiegogo , Halos.co )
  4. CloudFleet ( indiegogo , cloudfleet )
  5. CloudFTP ( kickstarter )
  6. Cubbit ( indiegogo , website )
  7. Daplie ( indiegogo , daplie )
  8. Holo ( indiegogo )
  9. iSunCloud, P2P ( indiegogo )
  10. Lima / Plug 2013 ( kickstarter comments )
  11. NextDrive ( indiegogo , nextdrive )
  12. OpenProducts OPI ( indiegogo , open products )
  13. SherlyBox ( kickstarter , comments , sherlybox )
  14. SMiD Cloud ( indiegogo , smid cloud )
  15. SpaceMonkey, P2P ( kickstarter , comments , spacemonkey )
  16. Transporter ( kickstarter )
  17. Wedg ( indiegogo , comments , kickstarter )
In addition to abovementioned examples of special purpose hardware / software solutions, you might consider to build one yourself in case you're familiar with Linux and additional open source software packages. Depending on the performance requirements, such a solution may be based on one of the following small form factor hardware components.

To be done: NAS disk alternatives that can interoperate with a diversity of cloud storage systems.

Remote / Local Synchronization and Backup Software

  1. AeroFS ( website )
  2. Arq, Mac OS / Windows ( website )
  3. Back in Time ( website )
  4. Backup PC ( website )
  5. BatchSync FTP, bi-directional ( website )
  6. CrococryptMirror ( website )
  7. CryptSync ( website 1 , website 2 )
  8. Csync ( website , archive , used in owncloud ? )
  9. Cyberduck ( website )
  10. DeltaCopy ( website )
  11. Duplicacy ( website )
  12. Duplicati backup: Linux, Mac OS, Windows ( website )
  13. FileZilla ( website )
    Last check April 2016: note that if you click the green button, in addition to FileZilla, you may get Ad-Ware too. Use the Show additional download options link for FileZilla that hasn't Ad-Ware bundled. The version that includes Ad-Ware is less than 1 MB, the version without Ad-ware is more than 5 MB.
    In case you do not want to support the project by means of the bundled Ad-Ware download, consider a donation. It's an excellent file transfer tool.
  14. FreeFileSync: Linux, Windows ( website , website 2 )
  15. Genie backup ( website )
  16. GoodSync: Linux, Mac OS, Windows, Smartphones ( website )
  17. HashBackup ( website )
  18. Mountainduck ( website )
  19. OwnCloud: Linux, Mac OS, Windows ( website , security issues , fork NextCloud )
  20. Rclone ( website )
  21. Restic backup ( website , Docs stable , latest , backblaze article )
  22. Rsnapshot ( website )
  23. Rsync ( documentation , manual page )
  24. S3cmd ( website , simple how-to )
  25. Syncovery: Mac OS, Windows (website formerly Flexible File Sync)
  26. Syncplicity ( website )
  27. Syncrify: Linux, Mac OS, Windows ( website )
  28. SyncThing / Pulse ( website , github )
  29. Synkron: Linux, Mac OS, Windows ( website )
  30. Unison, bi-directional sync ( website )
  31. WinSCP ( website ) Windows FTP, SFTP FTPS file transfer client, has several scripting / synchronization options

Misc Links

  1. Adept, IBM / Samsung ( webpage )
  2. Amazon sync info ( website )
  3. Ceph ( website )
  4. Clipperz ( website )
  5. Cloud Storage Explorer (SkyDrive) ( website )
  6. Cryptonite ( website 1 , website 2 )
  7. Delta Cloud ( website )
  8. eCryptFS ( website , wikipedia )
  9. FileTransporter ( website )
  10. Freenet ? ( website , wikipedia )
  11. Git-annex ( website )
  12. Google Cloud Storage for Developers ( website , docs , fuse )
  13. Google Go language ( webpage )
  14. Gladinet ( website )
  15. Hive2Hive P2P library ( website )
  16. Keezel ( website )
  17. Lima / Plug ( Work in progress , MeetLima 1 , MeetLima 2 ?? , Facebook ), July 2013
    See also the Wanser-R product or Nasu2 webpage, or this reseller / distributor WebConnexxion webpage, this is the hardware they use.
    Previous project ForgetBox links to MeetLima ?, use Google translate in case you do not understand French, or use Google Chrome to translate pages automatically.
  18. LocalBox Initiative ? Info in Dutch: AG , Computerworld.nl , Libbit , NOS , Security.nl , Tweakers.net , and many other (Dutch) sites.
  19. LuckyBackup ( website )
  20. Memeo GDrive ( website )
  21. Nebulostore P2P ( website )
  22. Odrive ( website )
  23. OwnCloud and Raspberry Pi ( website )
  24. S3-Rsync ( website )
  25. Samsung SideSync ( website, more detailed in Dutch )
  26. SeaFile ( website )
  27. Shadow Protect ( website )
  28. SherlyBox ( website )
  29. SiaCoin P2P ( website )
  30. Single board computers ( webpage )
  31. Skylable ( website )
  32. Tahoe-LAFS ( website )
  33. ThinAir ? ( website )
  34. TomP2P DHT library ( website )
  35. Twisted networking library ( website )
  36. Web of Trust ( wikipedia )
  37. ZFS ( wikipedia , linux , bsd , zfs overview, in Dutch )

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