Where Physically is my Data on the Internet?

It is likely stored on "the cloud". Essentially that means that you have no control over the data, and anybody who hacks "the cloud" can steal it.

"The cloud" is just another way to extract money from us all for storing data on some giant server that you cannot control. It is already in use almost everywhere.

Very soon, thanks to Bill Gates and other thieves, you will not be able to put any operating systems on your computer, but will have to "rent" them and pay a monthly fee for something you formerly owned. They will be "on the cloud".

Bend over, here it comes.

1. 
   Salon
1. The Beginner's Guide to the Cloud

"Bend over here it comes"...lol. You always make me laugh.

If I bend over anymore, I'll be upright!?..............

Not until next month...

http://nsa.gov1.info/utah-data-center/

Third cloud on the right

Roku is a net appliance which streams data from dedicated servers and services. Picasa is a Google app that utilizes your hard drive as the storage medium. See the Picasa FAQ's.

Everybody's data is physicaly (and literally) in the wrong hands. We will never directly see where this leads or why. But our lifes will seem more and more miserable, and this will be a so slow transformation that we will feel is normal. We will keep blaming bad people around the world for the fear we will be experiencing and our sight will get more blurry on things right under our noses. Naaah. Conspiracy theories... S.M.

It's on some server, somewhere...it could even be in a foreign country.

I bought some of those 100 year archival CD's, burned my entire photo collection to them, and keep them in a fire safe. That way I can play around with the collection on my computer, and not worry about it if they disappear.

If you uneashed it, it's gone. Harsh, but true.

There is no truth in the nasty rumour that it's all in Kris's cast iron bathtub.

Join Derl in the queue

Big Brother IS watching!

If you ever watched 'The IT crowd', (British Comedy)

This explains a lot about the internet.

I myself like season 2, episode 1, work place outing.

Someone else hit on this...the Picasa FAQ's are pretty clear about where the data is actually stored.

Nobody is forcing users to put their data out there, anyway!

No conspiracy here, move along...

Not so fast there.

Check this out.

Software as a service - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is where you are headed, like it or not.

Migrating to the Cloud: Methodology and Design - Oracle

I read an article a couple of weeks ago, that said that any cloud server is only as strong as it's weakest link...so if one server is serving 50 different companies, it's only as strong as the company with the weakest security protocol.

I think there are going to be unforeseen problems with cloud computing.

Couldn't find any info on Google or Picasa re physical location of data. There is an interesting book Tubes which describes much of the internet's physical structure.

But I can't find anything re how to locate particular data.

Picasa FAQ's

Nope, looked there, nothing.

Good Lord,

Do a little leg-work. I Googled the question and it came up on the first hit. Pete provided a link to the Picasa page, but didn't spoon feed the exact answer.

Man, do a little clicking...HERE

P.S. I submitted this answer on an earlier response, but lack of interest (reading?) and tired fingers seem to abound lately...

edit: here's a screen shot if you are too lazy to click on the link:

^{_{This is an engineering forum, isn't it?}}

Ah, you seem to have misread my question. I'm asking where physically the data is kept. That is, the farm or drive. Picasa simply says they don't store it on my PC. They don't say where they do store it.

Picasa doesn't store any .jpg files. It retrieves them from your storage media (hard drive) when you open the program.

Data can be stored on your hard drive, or any other place you choose, for now.

More and more cloud sellers are promoting it as better than on-board storage. Not sure why

Backing your data up to a plug-in hard drive, or thumb drive is the most secure way to save it.

Ultimately, you may not be given that option, because Bill can't charge you for that.

Nope, you misunderstand what Picasa is telling you.

"looks at the folders on your computer and displays the photos it finds"

"your original files are never touched"

"Picasa creates a new version of your photo"

Picasa users need only search their hard drive for their photos...

Lyn says it below, too.

Everyone seems confused because you are referring to a Picasa WEB Album. These are photos stored ONLINE, that you probably uploaded from your local PC. The photos are on one of Googles servers.

https://picasaweb.google.com/home

Yes the files are stored on your computer in your user files....Picasa does not save copies of your photos....

http://www.foxhillfarm.org/Groups/Computer/CC_Newsletters/Picasa.pdf

http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/picasa/xfpg-Ik5urI

...and the servers reside at one of these eight server farms.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2219188/Inside-Google-pictures-gives-look-8-vast-data-centres.html

Amazing and a little scary.

...and the servers reside at one of these eight server farms.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2219188/Inside-Google-pictures-gives-look-8-vast-data-centres.html

Amazing and a little scary.

Very neat pics of the stuff we never see. My Picasa web albums could be stored on one or more of those servers. I understand that "cloud data" is routinely stored on at least two servers so as to always have a backup.

I imagine that further info (which farm, which server) is probably not available to us. And it doesn't really matter, I was just curious. Thanks, kramarat.

Sure.

Thanks for starting the thread. I didn't know that they had allowed anyone to see their facilities...pretty impressive.

The walk around is fun.....

can't find the bathroom......

There is a further distinction that seems to be missing. Lyn is complaining mostly about cloud based operating software, where you connect to a remote unknown server to access software that may utilize data that physically resides on your premises or may reside in the cloud. (a rented data center, or server farm)

Any enterprise that offers cloud based storage has rented space from any number of data centers to utilize as 'their' local physical storage. You are renting from them, and they have your data stored in multiple locations, to further enhance the chances that it will not be lost. You can rent either software or data storage or both. The cloud is a third party virtual computer. You can start your own local cloud. It's called a network.

Your first Picassa example is cloud software based. The second is cloud software and cloud storage based. My c drive and Media Player is not cloud based, even though it may tell Microsoft I just added content to a Media Player file.

Why rent when you can own? Because it costs more to own, for most of us. Is the reduced (it is not free) cost worth the perceived threat to your privacy. That is your call. I don't mind if someone sees my son riding his dirtbike. Would I put my company financials on Picassa, no, on Peachtree Accounting?, yes. It's very convenient. I don't have data theft threats from 12 different locations. When data is accessed, I know it. So for me, it works.

Russia is more down-to-earth; they store everything in the clod.

is there any difference really - as long as it stays there and you're able to access it

i unsubscribed my google account coz every time i logged in it tried to splash all my pictures to my face and then (each time) they failed doing so i just ended up with hanged browser no matter the brand (in principle i didn't intall their chrome - maybe it've managed it .. maybe)

(thread hijacking follows::) speaking of storage - the CD/DVD "jukebox" would be 2-in-1 solution to your local data housekeeping (you'd had'em 1-st stored 2-nd fast accessible by tray select fn) - none available at 1-st glance - there are some "enterprise" models (on a 2-nd glance) some of whitch just about affordable price but none can be bough at my homeland (which reminds me in what kind of remote village of the world i live - muhahaa)