6 ms·

One device, 1TB of personal cloud storage

64 points by blaze33 12y ago

zhte415 12y ago
So, the storage and distribution model is a bit like FreeNet, distributed across other devices, but everything is private, no sharing?
- alenlpeacock 12y ago
  Everything is private, every user has a unique key associated with their account, and every object (file and folder) has unique, individual encryption keys generated for it. Because of the way data is encrypted, the system supports sharing at the file and folder level without granting access to other data in a user's filesystem.
blaze33 12y ago
Seeing the discussion around disk42 (Saas version of seafile) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8739094 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8739094 I thought it would be a good time to repost the space monkey link (not that I'm affiliated nor a user) to see where we are in terms of distributed storage protocols now. Some q&a I had with their co-founder: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6996053 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6996053 (parent discussion mostly about an alleged kickstarter scam)
- notum 12y ago
  Actually Space Monkey was discussed before as well: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5564546 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5564546 While the fragmented/distributed backup approach is cool and useful some people might not like paying $50 for the privilege of seeding other people's files with their bandwidth.
  - blaze33 12y ago
    Thanks, I hadn't seen this thread before, I was actually thinking that an open protocol would allow you to have a fast/reliable/etc. backup in exchange of a share of your local storage. Obviously if it's phrased like I'm paying to have other people use my bandwidth, that's a big issue.
    - ansible 12y ago
      A few years ago, when Dropbox was starting to get popular, I was thinking of a similar scheme. You would pay for the device, and then you would get X% free cloud storage as long as it was online. Some people would prefer a fixed up front cost and no monthly fee.
tckr 12y ago
I was one of the kickstarter backers and I am quite disappointed in the product … so far as I have dismembered the SpaceMonkey and the 2TB hard drive now is part of my Synology NAS setup. SpaceMonkey's features are at best rudimentary and only usable as a personal cloud storage. Don't even think about working in a team (to be fair, the team is working on sharing features). The device used huge amount of bandwidth and made the network in my coworking space unusable. So today I can only recommend to look into a different solution …
- throwaway509468 12y ago
  I'm also one of the Kickstarter backers. The device's bandwidth usage indeed interferes with normal usage of the network. When I contacted support, they told that they wouldn't add a lower bandwidth cap setting. I had to disconnect it months ago and the device has been stored since then.
  - alenlpeacock 12y ago
    The device needs around 400kbps of uplink capacity currently, though we are working to lower that. In my own home, I'm on the slowest DSL tier that my provider offers, and only have 700kbps upstream. Space Monkey works fine here, and I can still do dual Netflix streams while it is running. Some users will have to manually adjust their bandwidth settings in environments like this.
    - tluyben2 12y ago
      Not everyone lives in a well connected city; I live in a rural area and we can only dream of 400kbps currently. It's a problem which will not be a problem in the future, however they have been saying for many years now that 'soon' it will all be different.
    - WhitneyLand 12y ago
      Why does it "need" 400kbps? How was the decision made about that number, and why not simply allow users to set a limit?
RyanMcGreal 12y ago
> Whether you use an iPhone, Android, Mac, or Windows, we have you covered. Does it support Linux?
- tartuffe78 12y ago
  Seeing as you posted the list of platforms they support, and Linux isn't on it, the answer is no.
- cefstat 12y ago
  The page https://www.spacemonkey.com/tour https://www.spacemonkey.com/tour mentions under Linux "Alpha access by request".
cabirum 12y ago
"So, what a wireless speaker has to do with cloud storage?" — my first thought after opening the website. "Oh, its not wireless" "And not a speaker."
unwind 12y ago
So, if it's "Only $49/year" (top of page) but also provides "1TB of personal cloud storage for $10/month" (bottom of page), how many months are there in their years? Do I pay per year, or per month? Is the hardware "free"? Very confusing, and that took maybe 20 seconds to find.
- DEinspanjer 12y ago
  Yeesh, I missed the monthly charge. What legitimate reasons other than pure profit would they need to charge a non-trivial monthly charge? Unless they are completely failing to sell enough devices to accommodate the distributed storage, they aren't having to store the data themselves. At most it seems they just have to have servers to facilitate the distributed coordination.
- alenlpeacock 12y ago
  The confusion results from two different plans: Plan A: buy the device upfront and own it. Price includes 1 year of network backup service. After the first year, if you want to continue the network backup, it's $49/year ($4/month). Plan B: don't pay anything upfront for the device and lease it plus the service for $10/month for as long as you like. Plan A is the only service available directly from the website currently, and we need to clarify the copy on the webpage -- thanks for pointing out to confusion.
  - gregd 12y ago
    As a Kickstarter backer too, we've pointed out to you guys for months that your pricing scheme was confusing and didn't make any sense. You haven't cleared it up any since.
  - ctdonath 12y ago
    Yes, clarify! Say so! First thing I read: $49/year. Last thing I read: $10/month. No further clarifications. Not something that evokes trust, esp. when backers are saying they've been shouting about this for months. Even in stating "Plan A: buy the device upfront and own it" - ok, how much is that?
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
- astrodust 12y ago
  "Taking care of your own backups" involves moving drives off-site, like having a backup buddy you can swap drives with once in a while. Unless you do this frequently you're always at risk of losing considerable amounts of data. Suffering a calamity that causes you to lose everything in a physical location is rare, but it happens. Floods, fires, or war do happen. Having encrypted backups in the cloud means a lot less will actually be lost in that case.
akerl_ 12y ago
I admit to being confused by their security statements. Is the OS and code running on the device open sourced? Given that it looks like the device is handling the encryption, and I got the device from them, I don't see any publicized way for me to verify that any encryption is actually happening.
rehemiau 12y ago
http://sherlybox.com/ http://sherlybox.com/ I'd say sherlybox is a better deal
- serf 12y ago
  http://pogoplug.com/devices#pick http://pogoplug.com/devices#pick a top end pogo plug with a 3TB drive would be cheaper and more capable (usb3.0/sd card/user choice in HDD), or you can save fifty bucks if you don't need multi-user support.
thedangler 12y ago
I want to try this one. https://www.lacie.com/ca/products/product.htm?id=10597 https://www.lacie.com/ca/products/product.htm?id=10597
- alenlpeacock 12y ago
  One of the reasons Space Monkey exists: http://www.infoworld.com/article/2856553/cloud-storage/you-cant-buy-a-cloud-at-best-buy.html http://www.infoworld.com/article/2856553/cloud-storage/you-c...
kolev 12y ago
People continue to abuse the term "cloud" these days...
mrb 12y ago
I have been watching Space Monkey for a while... I love the concept of local-to-your-home-network storage made easy to use and easy to share anywhere, even on devices outside your home network. This easily beats any cloud service when it comes to synchronizing speed because I can sync at 1 Gbit/s on my GbE network, vs. the ~10 Mbit/s uplink of my cable Internet. There is also Pogoplug [1] which is a superior idea IMHO: the user provides his own USB hard drive(s). This reduces the price of the device and gives more space flexibility: you can connect any size and any number(!) of drives via a USB hub. There is another company doing something similar to Pogoplug, but I cannot remember their name at the moment. Of course the downside of Pogoplug is that there is no backup. But for my own needs, I would prefer Pogoplug's trade-off (unlimited storage & no backup & no constant Internet traffic) compared to Space Monkey (1TB limit & automatic backup & constant ~400kbit/s of traffic background to the SpaceMonkey distributed network). [1] http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/5/2910802/pogoplug-series-4-review http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/5/2910802/pogoplug-series-4-r... (I link to a review because the company's main website does not do a good job of describing the product: http://pogoplug.com/devices http://pogoplug.com/devices)

64 points by blaze33 12y ago

So, the storage and distribution model is a bit like FreeNet, distributed across other devices, but everything is private, no sharing?

alenlpeacock 12y ago
Everything is private, every user has a unique key associated with their account, and every object (file and folder) has unique, individual encryption keys generated for it. Because of the way data is encrypted, the system supports sharing at the file and folder level without granting access to other data in a user's filesystem.

blaze33 12y ago

Seeing the discussion around disk42 (Saas version of seafile) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8739094 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8739094 I thought it would be a good time to repost the space monkey link (not that I'm affiliated nor a user) to see where we are in terms of distributed storage protocols now. Some q&a I had with their co-founder: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6996053 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6996053 (parent discussion mostly about an alleged kickstarter scam)

notum 12y ago
Actually Space Monkey was discussed before as well: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5564546 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5564546 While the fragmented/distributed backup approach is cool and useful some people might not like paying $50 for the privilege of seeding other people's files with their bandwidth.
- blaze33 12y ago
  Thanks, I hadn't seen this thread before, I was actually thinking that an open protocol would allow you to have a fast/reliable/etc. backup in exchange of a share of your local storage. Obviously if it's phrased like I'm paying to have other people use my bandwidth, that's a big issue.
  - ansible 12y ago
    A few years ago, when Dropbox was starting to get popular, I was thinking of a similar scheme. You would pay for the device, and then you would get X% free cloud storage as long as it was online. Some people would prefer a fixed up front cost and no monthly fee.

tckr 12y ago

I was one of the kickstarter backers and I am quite disappointed in the product … so far as I have dismembered the SpaceMonkey and the 2TB hard drive now is part of my Synology NAS setup. SpaceMonkey's features are at best rudimentary and only usable as a personal cloud storage. Don't even think about working in a team (to be fair, the team is working on sharing features). The device used huge amount of bandwidth and made the network in my coworking space unusable. So today I can only recommend to look into a different solution …

throwaway509468 12y ago
I'm also one of the Kickstarter backers. The device's bandwidth usage indeed interferes with normal usage of the network. When I contacted support, they told that they wouldn't add a lower bandwidth cap setting. I had to disconnect it months ago and the device has been stored since then.
- alenlpeacock 12y ago
  The device needs around 400kbps of uplink capacity currently, though we are working to lower that. In my own home, I'm on the slowest DSL tier that my provider offers, and only have 700kbps upstream. Space Monkey works fine here, and I can still do dual Netflix streams while it is running. Some users will have to manually adjust their bandwidth settings in environments like this.
  - tluyben2 12y ago
    Not everyone lives in a well connected city; I live in a rural area and we can only dream of 400kbps currently. It's a problem which will not be a problem in the future, however they have been saying for many years now that 'soon' it will all be different.
  - WhitneyLand 12y ago
    Why does it "need" 400kbps? How was the decision made about that number, and why not simply allow users to set a limit?

RyanMcGreal 12y ago

> Whether you use an iPhone, Android, Mac, or Windows, we have you covered. Does it support Linux?

tartuffe78 12y ago
Seeing as you posted the list of platforms they support, and Linux isn't on it, the answer is no.
cefstat 12y ago
The page https://www.spacemonkey.com/tour https://www.spacemonkey.com/tour mentions under Linux "Alpha access by request".

cabirum 12y ago

"So, what a wireless speaker has to do with cloud storage?" — my first thought after opening the website. "Oh, its not wireless" "And not a speaker."

unwind 12y ago

So, if it's "Only $49/year" (top of page) but also provides "1TB of personal cloud storage for $10/month" (bottom of page), how many months are there in their years? Do I pay per year, or per month? Is the hardware "free"? Very confusing, and that took maybe 20 seconds to find.

DEinspanjer 12y ago
Yeesh, I missed the monthly charge. What legitimate reasons other than pure profit would they need to charge a non-trivial monthly charge? Unless they are completely failing to sell enough devices to accommodate the distributed storage, they aren't having to store the data themselves. At most it seems they just have to have servers to facilitate the distributed coordination.
alenlpeacock 12y ago
The confusion results from two different plans: Plan A: buy the device upfront and own it. Price includes 1 year of network backup service. After the first year, if you want to continue the network backup, it's $49/year ($4/month). Plan B: don't pay anything upfront for the device and lease it plus the service for $10/month for as long as you like. Plan A is the only service available directly from the website currently, and we need to clarify the copy on the webpage -- thanks for pointing out to confusion.
- gregd 12y ago
  As a Kickstarter backer too, we've pointed out to you guys for months that your pricing scheme was confusing and didn't make any sense. You haven't cleared it up any since.
- ctdonath 12y ago
  Yes, clarify! Say so! First thing I read: $49/year. Last thing I read: $10/month. No further clarifications. Not something that evokes trust, esp. when backers are saying they've been shouting about this for months. Even in stating "Plan A: buy the device upfront and own it" - ok, how much is that?

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

astrodust 12y ago
"Taking care of your own backups" involves moving drives off-site, like having a backup buddy you can swap drives with once in a while. Unless you do this frequently you're always at risk of losing considerable amounts of data. Suffering a calamity that causes you to lose everything in a physical location is rare, but it happens. Floods, fires, or war do happen. Having encrypted backups in the cloud means a lot less will actually be lost in that case.

akerl_ 12y ago

I admit to being confused by their security statements. Is the OS and code running on the device open sourced? Given that it looks like the device is handling the encryption, and I got the device from them, I don't see any publicized way for me to verify that any encryption is actually happening.

rehemiau 12y ago

http://sherlybox.com/ http://sherlybox.com/ I'd say sherlybox is a better deal

serf 12y ago
http://pogoplug.com/devices#pick http://pogoplug.com/devices#pick a top end pogo plug with a 3TB drive would be cheaper and more capable (usb3.0/sd card/user choice in HDD), or you can save fifty bucks if you don't need multi-user support.

thedangler 12y ago

I want to try this one. https://www.lacie.com/ca/products/product.htm?id=10597 https://www.lacie.com/ca/products/product.htm?id=10597

alenlpeacock 12y ago
One of the reasons Space Monkey exists: http://www.infoworld.com/article/2856553/cloud-storage/you-cant-buy-a-cloud-at-best-buy.html http://www.infoworld.com/article/2856553/cloud-storage/you-c...

kolev 12y ago

People continue to abuse the term "cloud" these days...

mrb 12y ago

I have been watching Space Monkey for a while... I love the concept of local-to-your-home-network storage made easy to use and easy to share anywhere, even on devices outside your home network. This easily beats any cloud service when it comes to synchronizing speed because I can sync at 1 Gbit/s on my GbE network, vs. the ~10 Mbit/s uplink of my cable Internet. There is also Pogoplug [1] which is a superior idea IMHO: the user provides his own USB hard drive(s). This reduces the price of the device and gives more space flexibility: you can connect any size and any number(!) of drives via a USB hub. There is another company doing something similar to Pogoplug, but I cannot remember their name at the moment. Of course the downside of Pogoplug is that there is no backup. But for my own needs, I would prefer Pogoplug's trade-off (unlimited storage & no backup & no constant Internet traffic) compared to Space Monkey (1TB limit & automatic backup & constant ~400kbit/s of traffic background to the SpaceMonkey distributed network). [1] http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/5/2910802/pogoplug-series-4-review http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/5/2910802/pogoplug-series-4-r... (I link to a review because the company's main website does not do a good job of describing the product: http://pogoplug.com/devices http://pogoplug.com/devices)