IDrive Storage Review – What Is IDrive And How Does It Work?

When people need to share data for a school or business project, they may use a jump drive to
download it from their computer and give to their colleague. Unfortunately, if the jump drive is lost or
corrupted, you can lose the data until it is transferred to another device.

However, there is now an easier way to share data with others, by uploading it to the cloud. Many
companies are offering cloud storage to businesses and house computer users for a monthly fee. This
review of IDrive describes how with an IDrive login you can share pictures, documents, spreadsheets
and other data with anyone you wish too.

What is the Cloud?

Even though cloud services have been available for several years, many people still don’t understand
what they entail. You may hear someone say, they put it up into the cloud, “somewhere up there,”
without really knowing where their information is stored.

The term “the cloud” references software and services which are accessible through the internet instead
of through individual computers. Most companies offering these services make them available through a
web browser, like Firefox or Microsoft Edge, or through a mobile app for smartphones or tablets.

The services you can access can be almost anything. While most companies offer email and data
storage, Netflix, Hulu, pCloud, and Google Docs are examples of cloud services that provide
entertainment, photo storage, or a software office suite for creating shareable documentation.

Whenever you store data on a computer network in the cloud, it is kept on servers, which basically become external hard drives. Everyone is given access to the server with a unique password to store
their data, such as customer information, on the servers. If you use a computer network, then the
servers will be within the same building where you work.

The location for cloud servers may be in the same city you're in, or it could be in another country. When
you subscribe to a service, you'll create a username, and password like you would access your banking
information or any other service that you use online. Then, when you log in, you can access your files.

If you’re working with others on a project, you can share the information with them by “sharing” a
document, spreadsheet, photos, or other information with them. For instance, if you’re working with a
colleague in your department to create a budget, you could add them to a spreadsheet on Google Docs
by using their email address or name.

Companies like IDrive offer these services for a yearly or monthly fee. Some companies provide cloud
storage as a part of their application, such as Microsoft 365, or services like IDrive will offer small
amounts of storage at no cost to customers. However, the free accounts are best for individual users
who want to access their data, such as documents on their computer, wherever they go.

As long as you have internet access, you can access any document you store in the cloud. So, if you’re
working on the department’s budget at home, you can upload it to the cloud and then access it at work
without needing to take your laptop or a jump drive with you.

IDrive is a private company in Calabasas California that offers cloud solutions for backing up computers.
Whether they are home or business computers, clients can pay a yearly fee to back up their data to keep
from losing it if their systems crash, sustain damage, or if they sustain attacks by hackers.

The company has over three million clients who have backed up their systems and stored over 100
Petabytes of information on their servers. While they offer storage services, the main emphasis of their
business is to backup systems for large and small businesses and home computer users.

They can also back up data from iPhones and Android phones, including texts, call logs and the data
from any apps on these devices. It can also act to sync data between devices like computers and
smartphones and allows for data sharing.

However, the main emphasis for IDrive is providing cloud services for backing up computers,
smartphones, and other devices that run on Windows, Mac, iOS or Android operating systems. By
backing up these devices, you won't lose information if they crash, and you'll have a restore point if
hackers infiltrate the computer system or if it sustains a Ransomware attack.

Along with Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android mobile devices, IDrive also provides backup services for
Linux systems, Netgear networks, and applications like Facebook and Instagram. They can also offer
storage to back up a company’s servers, so if the servers crash or sustain damage, no information will be
lost, and the company can quickly get their systems running again.

After choosing the amount of remote storage that you want and open an account, you’ll use your IDrive
login to pull up the dashboard on your web browser. This dashboard allows you to manage your
computer system, whether it's your computer at home or on your company's network. The interface
also allows users to create multiple accounts with which to manage their computers.

IDrive provides several security measures that keep user data safe. These measures include optional
private encryption, encrypting data while transferring information and storing it on their servers, and
each account has password protection.

Their servers are also stored in several computer centers in the United States that restrict access. They
use 256-bit AES data encryption, which is among the best, and it works across all their services. IDrive
also gives customers the option of having a private encryption key, so only they have access to their
files.

Also, their physical security includes the construction of their data centers. The custom-designed centers
have raised floors with temperature control systems and cooling zones. They have seismic bracing, so
earthquakes will not damage their servers and they also have state of the art smoke and fire detection
systems.

Although other companies offer many of the same services that IDrive does, they do have features their
competitors do not. One feature they have that their competitors don’t is device syncing. This feature
allows users to synchronize their computer data with their smartphone, so they can access it from
wherever they happen to be.

Being able to sync an email account allows you to get the latest emails whether you’re using your
computer or commuting to work on the subway. So, you won't miss important notices or information
from work colleagues, your doctor, or whoever has your email address.

Some of their competitors do not offer private encryption for keeping customer files confidential, or
they may not offer continuous backup. Continuous backup does not require users to go to their
dashboard to back up their computer or smartphones. Instead, the system does it for them, so they
never have to worry about losing important data.

IDrive also offers users backup for their Instagram and Facebook accounts. If someone has a vlog on
either of these apps, then they won’t lose any of their videos, photographs, or other information that
they need for their accounts. Many of the company’s competitors do not offer these services.

The pricing for their services depends on how much data storage you, or your company, needs. They
offer a basic account for free that has five gigabytes of storage. It will not expire, and customers do not
need to use a credit card to open the account.

IDrive has two personal accounts for home or small business users. The first account offers two
terabytes of storage for one user with multiple computers. It costs $52.12 for the first year and $69.50
per year afterward. They offer it for two years at the cost of $104.52.

The second plan offers five TB of storage at $74.62 for the first year and then $99.50 per year. If a
a customer gets the two-year deal, then it costs $149.25.

The cloud services company offers several plans for medium to large businesses with the choice of
monthly or yearly payments. These plans are for unlimited users with unlimited computers and servers.
The smallest plan they offer has 250 gigabytes of storage for $74.62 for the first year and then $99.50
each proceeding year. Clients can also get a two-year deal for $149.25.

The next plan is for 500GB of storage at $149.62 for the first year, then $199.50 for each subsequent
year. The two-year price is $299.25. A 1.25TB plan is next for $364.72 for the first year and then $499.50
for each year afterward. The two-year price is $749.25. This plan also offers a monthly payment of
$49.50, which would make it $594 per year.

A 2.5TB plan is $599.62 for the first year, and then each proceeding year is $799.50. The first two-years
is available at $1,199.25. Monthly payments are available for $79.95. The next plan is for 5TB at
$1,124.62 for the first year and $1,499.50 for the preceding years. The first two-years is available for
$2,249.25, and it has a monthly payment plan for $149.95.

IDrive also offers a 12.5TB business plan for $2,249.62 for the first year, then $2,999.50 for each
following year. The first two-years is offered at $4,499.25. Their monthly payment plan for this account
is $299.95 per month.

They also after students and educational institutions a discount of 50 percent on their plans. Anyone
who has a valid education domain email address can get the discount as well.

The reviews of IDrive are almost always positive, and many reviewers consider the service to be one of
the best ones available. PCMag.com gave IDrive the highest rating of 4.5 or excellent during their review
of the best online backup services. They also made it an editor’s choice for four years in a row, from
2015 to 2018.

Tom’s Guide at tomsguide.com gave IDrive a favorable review but noticed some quirks the system has.
First, the interface can be confusing because there are two versions of it. The first version is the
dashboard which controls the management of your system(s), while the other one maps the storage of
your computer.

They also weren’t pleased with the fact that it has default settings that users cannot change until the
program is running. They didn’t like that when users select files to backup, the program doesn't
calculate how much space it will require, but it only shows how much has been already taken up.
However, they did make the service one of their editor's choices.

Some comments from users show they’ve had problems with slow upload speeds, that they received
charges for accounts they didn’t order, or that the private encryption code had to be shared with the
company via the web. However, most reviews were positive about IDrive’s services.

The two services that compare well with IDrive are Backblaze and Carbonite. However, both Backblaze
and Carbonite only offer online backup storage services, whereas IDrive is a hybrid storage plan with
online storage and sharing, as well as backup services. The company also provides backup for unlimited
devices with just one subscription, unlike the other two services.

While most reviewers think that Backblaze is easier to learn, they do not back up social data, and their
versioning has a limit of 30 days. IDrive can backup smartphones, tablets, and social data as well. The
flexibility and features are one of the many reasons that most reviewers recommend IDrive.

If you need a cloud storage service for backing up your computer, smartphone, or tablet data, IDrive is a
good choice. It also allows regular storage services, syncs your systems, and allows sharing of documents
with others. It is more flexible than many services that only offer data backup for computers.

After signing up for an account, there are many features to explore with an IDrive login. If you work on
social media, you can keep your data safe by backing up your Facebook and Instagram accounts, sync
your computer and mobile devices, and backup or store information from most iOS and Android devices,
as well as Windows and Mac computers.

They offer a free account to try their services before you buy them, so that could be a good way to
decide if IDrive is right for you or your company.