Bitcasa: Unlimited storage, version history & sync

Bitcasa has just emerged from “skunkworks” mode. The cloud storage startup made waves in 2011 as finalist at TechCrunch Disrupt and runner up at Startup Battlefield. They were Kickstarter financed and then went silent. Throughout 2012, there were no public bulletins, but some analysts noted that they filed for 20 patents--a few are really slick! Now, during Feb 2013, they have unveiled a cloud service with an edge over all others (SkyDrive, iDrive, Dropbox, Sugarsync, etc). In my opinion, only Symform and SpaceMonkey come close to the model that I described 3 years ago (search for ‘Ellery’ and ‘RDDC’).

Bitcasa gives every user folder sync, a timeline for version recovery, and cloud storage without limits. And, I really mean limitless! By the end of next month, I may be using petabytes, as in millions of gigabytes! The space available to me shows exabytes are still available.  That’s more than all the grains of sand on the world’s beaches and all the stars in the heavens. How much does this cost? Just $99 a year, or $49 if you sign up early this month. (Promo Code: BETATHANKS). WildDucks can help this Blog by using our referral link. It tacks a free month onto your editor’s subscription.

I can’t guarantee that Bitcasa will be around next year. After all, most startups fail. But in this case, I crafted a substantially identical network architecture years ago. I understand the business model. Even with a high fraction of data hogs, the venture can profitably service users for the long haul. If an understanding of the secret sauce isn’t sufficient to assuage hesitation, this interview with CEO Tony Gauda will floor you. He combines the technical and marketing genius of Steve Jobs with the showmanship of Siegfried and Roy, and the smile of Barak Obama

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ImZWVxAQ_Q

Damon Michaels, a WildDuck contributor wrote:

Seems like a virtual drive. I need automatic backup of
my important data. I use Carbonite for this right now.

The folder-sync defaults to all drives in their entirety—even external drives and network attached storage! If you accept the default, it always backs up everything. But more importantly, Bitcasa reverses the model. As connectivity becomes more ubiquitous and speedy, they want you to use the cloud as your primary active storage. Eventually, it will even host your live EXE files (your apps) and your “bootable” OS. The synchronized copy on your PC will be the backup – as well as the one that is used when you cannot connect.

I proposed the fundamental principles used in Bitcasa architecture in this Blog, and 3 years ago in other articles. I called it a “Reverse Distributed Data Cloud” (RDDC). My spec adds distributed, P2P storage to the model. This reduces cost, creates redundancy, and makes a far more robust system. Not only does it get rid of the data center completely. With my model, it is unnecessary for the service provider to perform any backups. In effect, the live cloud is a RAID 10,000 constellation.

One architectural trade-off is the desire for massive de-duplication –vs– the compelling need for end-to-end encryption, in which only the individual users have the keys. These two features are incompatible. DropBox and Bitcasa claim that files are encrypted at the sender and that private keys are never given to the service. While technically true, that claim covers up a nasty little detail. They use a method called Convergent Encryption in which encryption keys are derived from a character string within the encrypted file. Although the service cannot decrypt a unique file (for example, your income taxes), they could compare a hash of your file to one provided by a government or alleged rights owner, thus proving that you have stored a copy of contested media. They could block access to movies and music that you have stored or even block your original upload. The good news is that with a full RDDC implementation, the need for de-duplication is greatly reduced or even eliminated. Therefore, a properly implemented RDDC can truly empower its uses with strong, end-to-end encryption.

I'll report more about Bitcasa after a few months of use. For now, I feel ratified to see my dream taking shape at several American ventures. If you find this field as fascinating as me, check out Symform, SpaceMonkey and Digital Lifeboat. That last venture is floundering, and may be bankrupt by the time you read this. But they have some very compelling technology for p2p, distributed storage.

Reverse Distributed Cloud: New way to backup & access data

In the past, you had several options for data backup—all quite boring, because they did nothing to make your data more accessible as you moved about your life (on those private jets, yachts and islands that we all own). And they certainly did nothing for cross-platform interoperability. That didn’t even factor into your purchasing decision, right? You simply backed up to a locally attached drive, a network server, or even to a remote service. When you lost data, you restored from the same device or server. What more do you need?

In the past year, a new data backup model has evolved: Backing up ‘to the cloud’. For most of us, this phrase simply means moving data or accessing apps that are stored remotely and managed by a service provider rather than accessed from a local drive or attached device. A key benefit, of course, is discipline. If a professional organization stores our data, it may not be as secure, but (we assume that) it darn well better be backed up continuously. Sooner or later–depending upon how much Wild Duck blood runs your veins–you will probably try it. But I submit to you that it can be improved significantly. The improvements will be achieved by the first party to reverse the model! (Are we Intrigued yet?!)

But consider this: What exactly are you backing up? I don’t mean What as in “What content”: Work documents, photos, tax returns, or movies of Aunt Betsy removing her first bunion. Rather, I mean From What. I suspect the question seems silly. You’re backing up local data–The stuff that is stored on your notebook, desktop PC, or handheld device. ¹

Of course, the market is already gravitating toward cloud backup solutions like Carbonite, Mozy, virtual drives like DropBox, and access anywhere solutions like SugarSync. (Hint: These services are adept at slightly different user benefits. More about this later). Let’s take Carbonite for example. The Boston based company had an IPO just this past week. For a very modest cost, Carbonite continuously backs up your PC data over the Internet, even as you work and surf. Cool! If you accidentally delete a file, lose your PC, or even if you are simply far from your PC, you can recover whatever files you need.

With a little creativity, there are clever things you can do with cloud storage. In 2007, Katherine Boehret ² was fascinated by a tiny startup called TubesNow. During the very brief time that the company existed (they closed during the same year), It worked like this: For each friend in your personal TubesNow community, you configured a desktop icon that looks like the end of a pneumatic tube. ³ Then, simply drag and drop files & photos onto any of your Tubes. A weird sucking sound told you that the photo was being whisked through a “tube” onto your friends desktop or into the folder shared with selected friends. Pretty cool. But even so, the company that offered TubesNow closed up during the same year. So did Xdrive, another drive-in-the-sky provider.

Coolness aside, the problem with all these cloud storage and sync solutions, is that they can only do one major task with fluid transparency. Either backing up your data, syncing data, sharing data, or accessing data from different devices. With a few tweaks, we can describe a simple architectural modification that inherently yields all four  benefits. Most importantly, it vastly increases security and privacy, and especially, redundancy.

Intrigued? I hope so. It’s unlikely that I will receive a patent on this idea (I am at the provisional stage). But I certainly hope to be known as the pundit who first described it in sufficient detail to spark widespread development by entrepreneurs.

October 2011 Update: Several start ups (or service reincarnations) are beginning to do what I will describe in Part 2. Symform & SpaceMonkey definitely get it! Symform is perhaps closest to the ideal model described here.

I call this model, Ellery’s Reverse Distributed Data Cloud (RDDC). Stay tuned. In the next few weeks, I will cover the “reverse” idea and then the “distributed” part. For nerds who just can’t wait (I should be so luckily), review my personal crib sheet. It’s a tiny bookmark-size strip of notes from which I will craft the next installments on this topic.

- Ellery Davies
Feedback is always welcome.
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¹ Let’s please agree to stop calling portable, connected devices “handheld devices”. Just call it a phone. After all, Palm is dead, Blackberry is a phone, and both have been usurped by Android and iPhone. For all intents and purposes, when considering the universe of portable and connected mobile devices, Android and Apple are the only two left standing!

² Walt Mossberg is an editor at both The Wall Street Journal and All Things Digital. In Oct 2007, his colleague, Katherine Boehret featured TubesNow in the Personal Technology column of The Wall Street Journal and at All Things Digital.

³ A pneumatic tube is the suction device used in the drive-thru lane of some banks and pharmacies to move paper and pills between your car and the window clerk. In the 20th century, it was widely used in businesses, stores and warehouses to move all sorts of things, but mostly to move written information. That’s why you don’t see them anymore. Today, information travels electronically and very often, it needs to move beyond a big building.