Which Cloud Storage Do You Use?

We opened up an Internet poll last week about which cloud storage do you use. The poll will continue to be open for vote at Gladinet blog. The early results are interesting.

It looks like many readers are familiar with Google Docs and Microsoft Windows SkyDrive. Not surprising since both Google and Microsoft are big brand names. Both services are free. Both services were introduced long ago (Google Docs in 2006 and SkyDrive in 2007)

It is interesting to see Amazon S3 has a big lead over the rest of the crowd, especially over Windows Azure Storage. It is possible that Windows Azure brand the whole cloud computing under Windows Azure, instead of brand individual components like the Amazon S3, Amazon EC2 and etc. People may be more familiar with Windows Azure as it is in Visual Studio 2010 and don’t actually think of Windows Azure Storage as a separate offering. When the mind don’t think of it as a separate offering, you don’t use it as a separate service.

It is also possible that Amazon S3’s early start in 2006 contributed to the big lead. Windows Azure is introduced more recently in 2009-2010.

Google Docs started in 2006. Amazon S3 started in 2006. SkyDrive started in 2007. They are all well established as leaders by now. Year 2006 is special in that we saw the start of the cloud movement.

Rackspace Cloud Files scored better than Windows Azure Storage too. Rackspace CloudFS was introduced in 2008, a couple of years later than Amazon S3. So less people are using it when compared to S3. However, it is still among the leaders when compared to the other new comers.

There are more cloud storage services launched this year or last year, such as AT&T Synaptic Storage, EMC Atmos Online, Peer1 CloudOne, Mezeo and etc. As time goes by, more and more people will know them but now looks like it is still early stage. Who has the big marketing dollars to spend? Who positions well in customer’s mind? I couldn’t wait to see what it will look like two more years down the road.

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Visit Gladinet Blog to see the poll and take the vote!

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