Amazon Cloud Drive: full file on Amazon's Cloud storage service

Amazon Drive, also known as Amazon Cloud Drive, is a cloud storage solution that also offers data synchronization. This service allows you to store an unlimited number of photos and about 5 GB of space for data on a basic account.

Online storage services are among the most needed tools these days. More and more users are leaving important data on their phone or computer. Sometimes these disappear due to device malfunction or other issues. Therefore, storing data on a cloud-based service is a great move. This article is about the Amazon Cloud Drive service.

Amazon Cloud Drive: overview

Launched in 2011, Amazon Drive, known as Amazon Cloud Drive, is an online storage solution aimed at the general public. Prime subscribers get unlimited storage as well as 5GB for file backup. In addition, Amazon Cloud Drive offers paid plans for 20 GB to 1 TB of storage.

Amazon Drive lets you store and share all kinds of content, and not just photos, but also music files, Word documents, PDFs, and more. Songs downloaded from the Amazon MP3 store are automatically added to the user's Amazon Cloud Drive. But they are not counted in the storage quota.

Origin

Amazon first announced the storage service on March 29, 2011. The e-starter offered initially provide users with tiered storage plans as needed. Users only pay for the level of storage they were using, expandable up to a maximum plan of 1 terabyte.

In March 2015, unlimited storage plans, aimed at non-professional customer sections, were introduced. The plan offered a 3-month free trial for customers who wanted to try out the service before taking out an annual subscription.

Amazon Cloud Drive: apps

Amazon Cloud Drive offers desktop applications for Mac and Windows computers. There are also mobile versions for Android and iOS. More importantly, Cloud Drive is built into Fire Fone, Fire TVs, and the Amazon Instant Video app. The latter allows you to see the photos on the big screens

The Mac desktop app allows files to be dragged and dropped into an uploader to make a copy in the Amazon Drive account. In addition, one click downloads all files from the cloud.

Thanks to the web application, it is possible to create folders to organize files, rename them, move them, etc. As for the mobile apps, they have an automatic image downloading tool. This demonstrates Amazon Cloud Drive's ability to handle images. Once activated, these systems automatically download new photos stored on the phone or tablet.

Amazon cloud drive: functionality

The user interface of Amazon cloud drive mainly focuses on video and photo storage. However, it provides the ability to upload different types and formats of data to the available storage space. A file preview is offered for the majority of systems used. With mobile apps, documents stored in the cloud can be opened directly on the mobile device.

File Sharing

Amazon Drive offers a system for sharing files and folders. To do this, simply click on the content concerned and then on the “Share” icon. Several options are available to facilitate this, including through a link, an email or by posting the content directly to Facebook or Twitter.

As mentioned above, a "shared" tab allows you to quickly check the content distributed on Amazon Drive. This feature has been overlooked by many cloud storage services. Amazon also allows folder sharing, however it is not possible to give users editing rights. This severely limits its use for collaboration.

File synchronization

The Amazon development team has added block-level synchronization capabilities. In fact, when a user makes changes to synced files, only the updated files are downloaded. Amazon Drive also includes a feature called Selective Sync. The latter allows users to disable synchronization of certain files so that they are not saved on the hard drive.

While syncing is very fast, uploading to the cloud is particularly slow. Toupload a 1.50 GB file, it took no less than 4.54 minutes.

Amazon Drive cloud: security and privacy

Amazon Drive offers two-factor authentication. However, this system is not very efficient. In fact, the system does not have end-to-end encryption or encryption at rest.

In addition, Amazon's privacy policy gives it the right to use, access, and retain subscriber files. This is not only to provide the necessary service but also to comply with the terms of the agreement.

About this, the user gives all the necessary permissions to do so. These permissions include, for example, the rights to copy the files for backup purposes, to modify them to allow access in different formats. It also includes using file information to organize and access files to provide technical support. Amazon respects privacy and files are subject to the Amazon.com Privacy Policy.

Under the terms of this policy, the tech giant only uses the photos when they need to be uploaded to Amazon Photos. Users must grant permission.

Support

Amazon offers 24/7 support. But getting in touch with a human interlocutor can take a few hours. Indeed, it is not simply necessary to call. You have to describe the problem using a ticket system and ask to be called back.

A live chat option is available, but it only connects to a chatbot. Amazon Drive has an online knowledge base, but it focuses more on basic tutorials than troubleshooting.

Amazon cloud drive: prices

For the basic subscription, Amazon offers unlimited storage of photos, as well as 5 GB of space for videos and other files. Users who have not subscribed to Prime can benefit from the initial limit of 5 GB, for all file types, for free.

To increase this limit by 5 GB, whether the user is a Prime subscriber or not, you have to pay 1.99 euros per month for 100 GB of space. For 1 TB of space, you have to pay 9.99 euros monthly, or 19.99 euros monthly for 2 TB of space.

Amazon Drive and Amazon Photos: what makes them different?

Drive and Photos are related and share many features, but Photos has many more capabilities limited. Unlike Amazon Drive, Amazon Photos can only upload photos and videos. This means that you are limited to JPEG, PNG and MP4 files.

But it has an advantage, Amazon Prime members get unlimited Amazon Photos storage space for as long as their membership lasts. There are no additional costs, just unlimited photo storage.

Like Drive, Amazon Photos can be accessed from its website, on the computer, or through the iPhone and Android apps. However, this plan is only available for personal, non-commercial use and cannot be used in conjunction with a photography business.