Most cloud storage solutions like Dropbox and Google Drive give users space at a premium, but the actual data is stored in a data center in some remote location. A new product called Space Monkey aims to take the storage out of the data center and put it back in the hands of the user. This allows it to offer more data than traditional cloud storage solutions for a much lower price.
Space Monkey, unlike other cloud services, actually puts a piece of hardware in the home of the user. The physical device allows the company to offer 1TB of cloud storage for US$10 a month, which is substantially cheaper than other storage solutions. Dropbox, for example, charges $9.99 a month for 100GB of storage.
The other benefit of having a physical device is the speed. According to the creators of the Space Monkey, its offering is up to 60 times faster than any other cloud storage service on the market. Of course, this extra speed comes from being on the same local network as the device itself. If a user is out and about, Space Monkey promises speeds similar to that of traditional cloud storage services.
When data is uploaded through Space Monkey, it is encrypted and spread out to different drives on the network. This is done to protect the data in the event of a disaster, such as a fire. It also creates redundant copies, which helps make sure no files are ever lost.
Like most cloud storage solutions, a simple folder will be added to the user's desktop, and anything added there will be uploaded to the service for access anywhere. The company is also working on an iOS and Android application, which should help users get all of their photos and videos organized and in one place. All files are also available on the web.
Space Monkey is currently seeking funding for its cloud storage replacement on Kickstarter. The funding period ends in just over one day, and the project has more than tripled its $100,000 goal. A pledge of $119 gets users the Space Monkey device itself and one year of cloud access. The funding from the Kickstarter campaign will go towards scaling manufacturing and getting the product into the hands of users.
More information is available in the following pitch video.
Source: Space Monkey via Kickstarter
NAS is great but it gets destroyed with your home so a cheap off site storage method (a sort of group NAS) is a good idea. You could broker personal deals with friends for storage space but mostly nobody does.
I think a middle ground like spacemonkey makes a lot of sense. Functionally it works pretty much like dropbox but at much cheaper price.
I would just like to see an option without monthly fees. I don't mind paying the upfront costs of the device, I'd probably even be willing to pick up a higher end device with a bit more storage space if it came with a smaller free account.
There is only about a $30 difference between a 1TB drive ($70) and a 2TB drive ($100). If I run a 4TB unit I should be able to get 250G of space for free or like $10/year.
This also partly solves the bandwidth problem as ~500G of space on my 4TB unit would be used for my own stuff so I wouldn't have to use other peoples pipes unless my node went down and I needed the backup data.
I understand Kickstarter is just to get the product launched though. There is no reason they couldn't expand it later on after they get a successful launch. There are a lot of cool things they could do with them.