Can I store a project folder in cloud storage?

Would you mind sharing your cloud choice, or messaging it to me?

Ive been looking for a way to store my 28gb project file online in case of fire etc. Google drive, Icloud etc didnt work as i expected. I want to just backup the folder like you do on an external hard drive, not start a bunch of syncing.

The only one i found that seems to work like an HD is Mega, but im a little reticent because of the sketchy past - its not a dealbreaker and i am probably going to try it, but id love other options if anyone knows any.

BTW does Unity give us a way to do this if we pay them? I should probably start a thread and ask. Maybe it was too unstable for real cloud work, but i just want simple backup.

 

Microsoft's Azure DevOps (formerly known as Visual Studio Online) has an unlimited capacity service that is free for teams of up to five people. You access it like you would access a normal Git repository.

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/devops/
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/devops/azure-devops-services/

 

Thank you I do appreciate the link.

Unfortunately I dont know how to use git.

I have to admit, there are not many cloud services that are friendly and simple for artists like me. So far everything except Mega seems geared towards coders and engineers.

I just want to backup a 28gb folder by dragging and dropping it into a window.

Does git allow us to just store a unity project folder like this?

 

My unity project file is 28gb. I make regular backups to an external
Hard drive.

I would like to also back up a copy to the cloud in case of fire etc...

Can I buy cloud storage from unity that allows us to do this?

I am hoping to just drag and drop my folder into a web browser or something and have it upload. I’m not looking for any syncing or installations that would sink it’s teeth into my OS. And I don’t need any build etc. I’m just looking for a place online to store a copy of my project.

 

No, but the difficulty isn't that much higher depending on the client you go with. That said if you just don't want to bother I recommend looking into a normal backup company. Very few of them offer a free service (and the free capacity is usually only a few gigabytes) but the paid service is usually huge or unlimited for only a few dollars a month.

If I remember correctly you're on macOS. There are a few good companies mentioned at the link below including Backblaze which I have heard of (through a YouTuber that uploads all his videos there) but have never used myself.

https://www.cloudwards.net/cloud-backup-for-mac/

 

@protopop

Unitys own cloud (Unity Teams / Unity-Build-In-Version-Control) only offers 25GB space at the highest plan, so that's out of question for you.

If you're looking for cheap, big and secure "Drag & Drop" cloud storage I'd suggest GSuite Business (https://gsuite.google.com)
For just around 10 bucks a month you get unlimited storage (they call it "Team Drives"). Only limitation is a 750GB upload limit per day (per user).

If you don't care about security you could also get https://one.google.com/storage which is a lot cheaper (but also limited in size) - but beware that google can and will read your files and use them for marketing. If you are using those files commercial I highly suggest getting GSuite Business.

If you're looking for git I'd suggest https://visualstudio.microsoft.com (Azure DevOps) - which is free.

 

Didn't there used to be a git thing for windows that allowed you do do operations from windows explorer via right click and other things? I'm sure that was a thing... five years ago or something.

 

Thank you

I found google drive confusing but gsuite sounds better.

For git can you just use it to store a folder just like that? If so wouldn’t everyone be using it as a free backup?

Thanks for letting me know about unity. I think I have a very big project folder compared to most people I do make open world games and my project file has been around since Unity 4 so that’s probably why.

 

TortoiseGit. Only available for Windows though.

https://tortoisegit.org/

 

Thank you, and nice that you remember I’m in a Mac

Backbkaze has come up a few times. I will give them another work. I absolutely expect to it for the backup , I’m really looking for ease of use. Mega looks perfect too but just because of it’s sketchy past I’m concerned about using it. But if backbkaze or another solution doesn’t work I might. I’m really surprised how hard it has been to find just a basic backup service with a ‘for dummies’ front end.

 

There are a few solutions that are extremely easy to use but they almost always have some limitation that makes them unusable for the situation. Apple's TimeMachine, for example, only supports external hard drives.

Dropbox supports drag-and-drop to a sync folder but it's not exactly cheap at $10/mo and I wasn't positive if it would be any better than iCloud. I've used the free tier for a few years now though and as long as you don't try to directly open a Unity project from that folder it's been very good for me.

https://www.dropbox.com/individual

Beyond that I was looking at IDrive and they appear to have a drag-and-drop process but you're still working with an app to some degree and it had one huge FAQ with tons of entries. I just can't imagine it's any better or easier than Backblaze.

https://www.idrive.com/

 

Well - GSuites storage is basically just GDrive for Business - but it really isn't complicated. It's essentially exactly what you described: "just pull it into a webbrowser". You also have the option of installing Drive File Stream and have it as a mapped hard drive on your pc where you can just pull it in (this can eat up up to 20% of your PC's storage though, so beware).
For cloud-data-backup purposes I haven't found anything better in terms of price and features.

Git is a versioning tool.
You can use it to just backup your project and even allows you to go back in time. You could basically go back to where you were days ago (Say you made some changes, pushed these to git and a few days later you noticed that you made a big mistake and need your project from a few days ago. With git you can easily do this.)
But for not so technical persons it is a bit more complicated to get into than just the cloud storages you are used to, but once you get into it, you will love it.
There is also a whole lot more to it. You can branch off your project and work off of that branch for example. Lets say you want to try something that will take multiple days, but you are not sure if it's good. You can now branch of your project, try it out on that branch (have it saved securely of course) and if you don't like it you can just throw it away, without harming your main branch.

But the basics are basically just - you can get your data, you can push your changes, and you can go back in time. If you need anything more complex, you will generally find yourself able to do it too.

As for that part - yes. And everyone probably would, if
a) they would clearly announce that they are offering free space for basically nothing and
b) it would be easier to get into

Both for git, and even on GSuites Pages you will not find find a word of the fact that you really get free unlimited space. GSuite states unlimited space for more than 5 business users - but that's just the personal one, which can only be accessed by that one user.
What they are not telling freely is that you get unlimited Team Drive spaces with unlimited storage with just one GSuite Business account (~10$) to which you can even invite FREE gmail users.

For DevOps they are announcing and listing all them nice features. But no word of "unlimited storage".

 

I/m moving this here so i don't highjack this thread
https://forum.unity.com/threads/can-i-store-a-project-folder-in-cloud-storage.630094/#post-4221643

 

@Ryiah I used to use dropbox, but i kept having kernel panics. I don;t know if it was connected, but once i removed it they stopped, so im just reticent to try it again.

idrive sounds like another alternative to backblaze, although at first glance backblaze website and presentation looks a lot cleaner and inspires more confidence in me (i know dont judge a book but also...)

Thanks for both suggestions

 

Thanks for turning me onto gsuite. i just called Gsuite and they told me about a new product reelased last week called Google One. She also said gsuite needed a domain (which i have) and a lot of setup (not for me)

I said why hadnt i heard of this and she said it JUST came out

https://one.google.com/about

Anyways i will look at it more, but at first glance it looks like what i might need exactly. and its only like 3$ Canadian a month for 100gb storage.

 

i looked closer and what Google One does is just increase the amount of storage you can have on google drive. I think im going to ust try it and test it. I cant see any upload limits etc and i had read something earlier that made it sound like google drive could only store certain kinds of files, but i test uploaded an fbx and it seems fine.

 

I actually linked you to google one in my first reply. If you don't need security it's a good choice and is good cloud storage for the price.

If you do not have a own domain or do not want to use yours, you can choose to get one for under 1$/month with your GSuite account, which is automatically configured and setup. I set up GSuite a few times now and it really is not hard.
(You also get a office suite and a mail account with your GSuite Business account too btw)

You can upload everything in both of them. Just the type of files that you can EDIT right in there is limited.

I think if you are not bound to stuff like ISO27001 and such, and the data you upload is not too high of a security and privacy concern google drive with a raised storage amount (google one) is just fine, so give it a shot.

 

im sorry - i read that but went right to gsuite. You know your stuff, and so far it looks like Google One is good. Im not crazy security worried about this and i appreciate you laying out the caveats.

 

Sure. I'm currently using Plastic SCM. It's only been two weeks, so too soon to say if it is the best but it is doing the job. It's basically like GitHub but clear about big files storage compatibility. It's not that easy to set up though git isn't either.

That said, it's worth spending some time on having a decent VCS: you think you're okay without it but as someone else said, it's like having a time machine allowing you to screw things up knowing everything is safe.

You can pay extra for unity storage but I strongly advice against it, especially if you're a pro. I've been using collaborate last year and the team behind it left me stranded with bugs and poorly design features for month and this is still going today.

By the way, you don't need to store your entire project folder, the library folder is generated by Unity from the others. That's how properly configured VCS will allow for space optimization over sending everything any time you want to make a backup. They only backup the sources files and the following changes.