Rackspace introduces Cloud Drive and Server Backup | Hacker News Reader

Rackspace introduces Cloud Drive and Server Backup

rackspace.com

27 pointstimf16 comments

Is it possible to use a service such as this to host user files (pdf, word, images) for a web application? Do cloud hosting services offer virus scanning for docs and pdf files? I was considering just using the Scribd API to host the file on Scribd since the files do not need to be private, but would be interested in a solution that does not involve Scribd branding on my site.

These kinds of interfaces are more for desktop/end users and you pay a surcharge, I think you would be better off using S3 or something similar directly. It's cheaper, there are better tools to interact with it programmatically, and it is "pay per actual use" instead of a flat fee.

You can also usually "flip on" the CDN feature for very popular and/or large files (Rackspace's CDN feature is performing better than Amazon's CloudFront for people currently).

Beware the bandwidth charges though. For some situations you would be FAR better off renting a VPS or even a dedicated box, it all depends on the particular deal and your needs.

Interesting.

Comparing Dropbox and Jungledisk's pricing:

Dropbox is $9.99/month for 50GB of storage. Jungledisk is $(3 + 6.75)/month for 50GB of storage.

Jungledisk seems a little cheaper at the 100GB level, assuming you're using the Rackspace cloud instead of S3.

Has anyone had any experience with the Rackspace hosted email? How good is their web-based client?

$4/month for 10 gigs is a nice price point. I sent an email to Dropbox a while ago asking them for something similar, because I didn't need 50 gigs, but 2 wasn't really enough.

I pay Dropbox 5 or 6 bucks a month for 20 gigs. It's been available as an account option for a few months at leas.t

what is the generic url for selecting that? I don't see it on my account, and thats the amount I'd like personally

I don't know if they are doing A/B testing or some kind of segmenting on which plans show up. Turns out it's $6.99, very reasonable for me anyway.

I used their 50 gig/6 months promotion a while back, and when it ran out I wasn't using it enough so I thought about cancelling, but the 20 gig option was what saved it for me, which in itself is interesting because the difference is only 3 bucks :-)

Here's a screenshot of dropbox.com/plans for me: http://grab.by/COT

They must be A/B testing it, only the 50GB/100GB show up for me: http://grab.by/D6f.

That is exactly what I'm looking for as well (especially if it does versioning).

Full disclosure: I work for Rackspace.

I'm a fan of the web interface to the Rackspace-hosted emails. It's fast and seems pretty easy to use. IMO, it's better than Outlook's limited web client I have available to me on a Mac.

You can get a 2 week free trial for the Rackspace email: https://signup.apps.rackspace.com/.

I think you just got a new client. I've been managing the email for my startup and I didn't even want to install a web interface, given the security issues (recent roundcube comes to mind), in fact I have a ban on php apps or mysql for example.

Gmail for business is $50/year per user, so for 3 or more users Rackspace is cheaper.

What in the Standard (free) version of Google Apps doesn't work for you?

Free Gmail has gone down for me twice this year, I guess that's not too bad. Psychologically I compared Rackspace with the paid Gmail version although rationally we can include the free Gmail as well as you pointed.

I'm using a Rackspace cloud VPS and I'm happy with it; I'm glad they are moving to other sorts of storage.

The proper way of deciding between Gmail and Rakspace Email (I may end up doing this) is to try both with a spare domain name and see how my team and myself like them.

Counter-anecdote: Rackspace DFW datacenter (we have a server there) has been down more in the last year than Google Apps.

I use Rackspace Email too, because I figured it's too important to leave to something like Google Apps.

I've been disappointed lately, though, since all the emails I send to @me.com get blocked, and their "fanatical support" people don't want to help troubleshoot (it's always "Oh, our logs show the email was sent).

To me, that was kinda the whole reason I went with them. I think I'm gonna switch to Fusemail or even Google Apps now.

(Full Disclosure: I work at Rackspace)

Dan I am going to take a look at this personally and make sure we address this. This is not acceptable and we owe you more than just saying its not our fault. I will follow up by email.

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