Cloud storage pricing can be very complicated for many people to understand, especially if you’ve never really looked into cloud storage before. Most commonly, there are a number of different elements that will go into cloud storage pricing. Depending on your provider, your cloud storage pricing may be pay-as-you-go for these things, or you may pay for a certain number of them. Here are the four things to look for when you’re considering your upcoming cloud storage pricing.
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Stable Storage
Stable storage has to do with how much of your data is currently stored with a company. If you upload 100 GB of data to your company’s cloud storage, the company will consider you to have 100GB of stable storage. Companies may vary in how they calculate this; you may pay to reserve a certain amount of storage, allowing you to store up to that amount, or the company may calculate exactly how much you’re storing, then bill you based on a fee per GB.
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File Downloads
Depending on the cloud storage product that you use, you might be billed directly for file downloads. Some companies roll this price into your general cloud storage purchases, but if you don’t regularly download files, you may end up overpaying. A company that charges for file downloads will typically charge by the GB, and you’ll usually be charged for any amount of a GB that you download.
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Moving Data By Mail
Especially if you have a large amount of data that you’re hoping to upload to the cloud, you’re probably going to want to move that data by mail. Think about it this way – a physical hard drive with a 10 Gigabit ethernet connection will take a day or two to move 80TB of data, whereas a 100Mb/s connection would take a whopping 75 days to move the same amount of data. This is typically going to be a kind of “set-up fee,” so it’s a good idea to see how much data you need to move and how expensive it will be to do so.
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Product Support
Lastly, make sure you look at how much product support is available for your cloud storage service, as well as whether you might be able to upgrade your product support for even more help. Most of the time, cloud storage users can utilize some kind of online help knowledgebase for free, and may be able to upgrade to get 24/7 customer support tailored to their individual account.
Conclusion
Cloud storage pricing varies dramatically, and it’s always important for you to look into the cloud storage system that you’re personally using for your account. No matter what cloud storage you’re interested in, there should be a simple, transparent breakdown of pricing and services available on the company’s website. That way, you can plan for all the pricing that you’re going to need so that you can access the cloud services your company needs.
