It’s December. There’s maybe no better joy in the world than witnessing a child open a Christmas gift. And naturally, photos and videos are excellent tools to make Christmas morning last in our hearts forever.

But eventually, the computer’s hard drive runs out of space. Deleting any photos that captured a precious memory is inconceivable. So, the next question becomes, “How do I store more personal photos?”

Cloud storage allows access to photos anywhere at any time provided you are connected to the internet. “The cloud,” is just techno-jargon for online storage. And there are excellent inexpensive storage plans available. Plus, external hard drives are useful offline, too. Don’t view these two options as enemies but as friends for different purposes.

Use free online storage options with companies you know are reliable.

For those who prefer Apple products and applications, you automatically receive 5 GBs (gigabytes) of free online storage with the purchase of an Apple product. Use this plan for photos, videos, and necessary files. If you need more storage, options of 50 GBs, 200 GBs or 2 TB (terabytes) are offered through Apple One for a different monthly fee depending upon your location. For context, 1 TB equals roughly 250,000 photos taken with a 12MP (12 million megapixels or high resolution) camera or 500 hours of HD video.

Microsoft OneDrive might be the answer for those who use Microsoft applications and need an application they trust. OneDrive provides an option of 5 GBs of free storage capacity. If a larger online storage plan is necessary, alternatives of 100 GBs, 1 TB, and a 6 TB family plan are each available for a nominal monthly fee.

OneDrive also offers a cloud backup plan in case files are corrupted or misplaced online. Cloud backup automatically stores data to a private server provided you are connected to the Internet. It’s never fun to lose your data in case of an unlikely computer crash.

For those who own a Gmail account, 15 GBs of free online storage is available through Google Drive. Once you’ve reached that storage limit, options of 100 GBs, 200 GBs, and 2 TBs are available for a different monthly fee each.

Flickr allows users to upload 1000 photos or videos for free. But beware, photo files have a 200 MB limit with video up to 1 GB file size. If necessary, upload as many photos or videos at full resolution as you like with Flickr Pro.

External hard drives are safe and accessible.

Cloud storage is great whenever you’re connected to the Internet. But sometimes it’s helpful to access photos and videos offline. And portable external hard drives offer 2 TBs of storage space as little as $63 on Amazon.

Rather than only considering the benefits of one option, the combination of online storage and external hard drives is best when looking to store photos and videos. But be careful of what data you store to your computer. Whether offline or online, data breach is the exposure of sensitive information to an unknown party via hacking. Your sensitive information is private, try to keep it that way.

Managing online cloud storage and a cloud backup plan can be tricky. That’s why having a local IT tech company for help in case you need it is always a viable option. To help navigate the decision making process, contact a technician at DeBug Computer today at 775-883-3630 (Carson City), 775-782-0303 (Carson Valley) or via email at info@debugcomputer.net.