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Hey, Virgil! I hope all is going well over there in VT. Sounds like you’re after two things here: Software as Service (SaaS) and Infrastructure as Service (IaaS). Office 365 is SaaS and would likely suit your productivity needs as long as you’re just looking for office based productivity software. Google Drive offers something similar and may possibly be cheaper. We have both 365 and Google Drive here at Eastern Oregon University, though I find myself using Google more for its convenience (it's much easier to collaborate with other organizations). There are probably others out there, too, but pricing for both is readily available on their sites and it sounds like both would suit your needs. IaaS is a little more complicated. The major players that I’m aware of here are Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. My experience has been experimental with AWS and Azure, but mainly with AWS (I use the University's private cloud for my server needs). Pricing for these services depend on how much space you use per month and how much traffic you get. It’s really cheap. For example, I’ve been toying with the possibility of using one component of AWS called S3 for digital image archive storage (20GB of images at the moment). Our digital archives interface will be kept in our own private cloud while the images in the archive actually exist on Amazon S3. We expect no more than 10,000 item views or GET requests per month with this setup and less than 20,000 new images or PUT requests for storage per month. This would cost us a little over $2 a month. If we happened to jump from 20GB to 1 TB the cost would be a little over $24 a month. I suspect Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure would have something similar. With AWS you have access to all the infrastructure services, but only pay for the services you actually use. Migrating data from your standalone server to IaaS shouldn’t be too difficult and I suspect you’d get support from whatever vendor you choose (it wouldn’t be any more complicated than migrating from one server to another). It sounds like what you have are straight forward file types, so it doesn’t sound like you’d be migrating entire systems… that would be more complicated. I think the next step for you is to contact these cloud environment vendors, tell them what you’re current situation is, and explain how you want your network infrastructure to look and behave in the future. I’d be curious if other folks have other IaaS solutions that they’ve used or are aware of. On Wed, Nov 1, 2017 at 3:03 PM, Cary Gordon <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Hi Virgil, > > If you are in a PC environment, the obvious choice is Office 365. Whether > it is the best choice depends on the specifics of what you do and the > number of clients/users that you support. There is also a version of Office > 365 tailored for universities. > > Cary > > > On Nov 1, 2017, at 12:24 PM, Virgil Fuller <[log in to unmask] > ORG> wrote: > > > > Thanks for the replies Kyle and Steve. To answer your questions: > > > > Currently we have a physical server on our network that we use as shared > storage, digital historical archive, and a platform for staff > collaboration. The problem is that it’s a clunky system, it’s aging, it > needs to be replaced, and we’re running out of space – a problem that’s > only going to increase. What we would like is to move to a cloud-based > storage with more space and better dedicated resources than we can afford > if we had to buy them outright and house them in our facility. Our concerns > are cost, migrating the data, having access on- and offline, mobile access, > security, reliable storage, and the ability to share and collaborate. I > am working in a PC environment and most of the staff is comfortable using > Office software so having built-in productivity apps right now is not a > pressing concern. However, if possible, we are interested in a service with > integrated productivity software available anywhere and on any device; > streamlining workflow is one of our goals. > > > > Virgil > > > > ------------------------------ > > > > Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2017 13:05:34 -0400 > > From: Virgil Fuller <[log in to unmask]> > > Subject: Cloud options > > > > Hi Everyone > > > > > > > > We've been researching cloud options at our public library and we think > one > > of these three would best fit our needs: > > > > > > > > Google Cloud <https://cloud.google.com/> > > > > Office 365 > > <https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/products/office/default.aspx> > > > > Egnyte <https://www.egnyte.com/> > > > > > > > > We have a few questions before we move any further: > > > > > > > > 1) Is there one that you prefer and/or used? > > > > 2) Would it be straight forward to migrate our server data to any > of > > these platforms? > > > > 3) We've read that some services charge per item, which leads to the > > bigger question, how do we get billed and would it be cost effective to > do > > away with the on site server? > > > > > > > > I would like to point out that our ILS is hosted elsewhere and not > getting > > moved to any of these. We would be using whatever service we go with > mainly > > for shared document access among staff and for storing computer backups. > > > > > > > > Thanks in advance! > > > > > > > > > > > > Virgil Fuller > > > > Reference and Historical Collection Librarian > > > > Rockingham Free Public Library > > > > 65 Westminster St > > > > Bellows Falls, VT 05101 > > > > 802.463.4270 > > > > <http://www.rockinghamlibrary.org/> www.rockinghamlibrary.org > > > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > > > Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2017 10:27:57 -0700 > > From: Kyle Banerjee <[log in to unmask]> > > Subject: Re: Cloud options > > > > Howdy Virgil, > > > > What you need your solution to do -- i.e. what do you/will you have, what > > do people need to be able to do, what kind of integrations you need, what > > kind of local expertise you have, and long term objectives -- should > drive > > your decision. Could you say more about your needs? > > > > kyle > > > > On Tue, Oct 31, 2017 at 10:05 AM, Virgil Fuller < > > [log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > > > Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2017 18:53:19 +0000 > > From: "McDonald, Stephen" <[log in to unmask]> > > Subject: Re: Cloud options > > > > What exactly do you mean by "cloud options"? The three that you mention > are for very different purposes. What do you want to use the cloud service > for? That is the first thing to figure out. > > > > Steve McDonald > > [log in to unmask] > > > > > > ************************** > -- Jeremiah Kellogg Systems Librarian Pierce Library Eastern Oregon University [log in to unmask] (541) 962-3017