Symform is a revolutionary cloud storage service that offers virtually unlimited free cloud storage against unused hard disk space. It uses an innovative approach of relying on distributed storage, rather than on traditional data centers to backup your data. That means, it utilizes the extra disk space available on your system to create a globally distributed, P2P network to backup data; something what Torrents generally do.
The basic plan starts with 10 GB of free cloud storage space, which you get as soon as you sign up with the service. For additional cloud space, you can either opt for paid plans or donate an unused share (twice the amount of what you need) of your hard disk to Symform network. Symform securely backsup your data by encrypting, shredding, and spreading it across its globally distributed network.
Worry about storing your data on other’s hard drive? Learn how Symform works:
Symform takes proper measures to ensure that your data is safe from physical theft or hackers. While typical data centers protect your data by spreading them across a few servers, Symform creates a geographically distributed network by implementing disk spaces as servers to store your critical files and documents.
It first encrypts your files using secure AES-256 encryption algorithms, and then break each file into data block of up to 64 MB each. It further shreds each block of data into 64 fragments and builds a 1.5x data redundancy by adding 32 parity fragments. Finally, the 96 fragments of each block are distributed to 96 unique, geographically separated disks in Symform network.
Getting Started with the Service:
You can sign up with the service via a desktop client app, which you can download free of cost using the link given at the end of this article. The service requires configuring the desktop app for folder syncing options and bandwidth usage.
Once this is done, it starts an automatic syncing of your files to its cloud storage. Now you can easily access these files from anywhere using your Symform account credentials.
Initially you get 10 GB of free cloud storage space with Symform. Additional storage can be purchased either by paying Bucks or Bytes. Let’s have a look at Symform’s pricing plans.
Pricing Plans Offered by Symform:
Symform follows a 2:1 ratio, so every 2 GB disk space that you contribute to Symform network will get you 1 GB additional cloud storage. Otherwise you can pay an amount of $0.15 for each extra GB per month. Apart from that, it has some other plans as well with customer support. Lets’ have a look on them.
- Free – 10GB/month: support forums, general webinars.
- Professional – 300GB or $14.99/month: support forums, general webinars, email support, telephone support within business hours.
- Business – 1TB or $49.99/month: support forums, general webinars, email support, telephone support, dedicated account manager, and 1 training session per year.
- Premier – 4TB or $199.99/month: support forums, general webinars, email support, telephone support (24×7), dedicated account manager, 4 training sessions per year, and 2 hours support response for critical issues.
Also check out free web-based service to share cloud storage with your friends.
Key Features of Symform:
- Free cloud storage and backup service.
- Offers 10 GB free cloud storage.
- Offers folder-level synchronization.
- Bandwidth configuration options.
- Works on the concept of distributed storage.
- Encrypts data using industry standarad AES-256 encryption algorithm.
- Break encrypted data to blocks and fragments and distribute them to 96 geographically separated devices.
- Uses RAID 96 redundancy to distribute data over 96 unique locations.
- Powerful Cloud Control that constantly monitors all devices holding your data, automatically regenerates the fragment which is at risk of failure and redistribute it to another device on Symform network.
- Hot Copy features that allow creating an off-site copy of your Symform-hosted data for quick restore.
- Uses parallel connections across Symform-connected devices to maximize data throughputs (upload and download).
- Additional cloud storage (unlimited) available against paying money or bytes.
- Plans with flexible customer support available.
- Cross-platform support.
Also check out some other free cloud storage services we reviewed earlier: Zools, Cubby, and Bitdefender Safebox.
The Final Verdict:
Symform is a highly-secure cloud backup service that uses an entirely new and interesting approach to backup data. If you have a few bytes of unused disk space to share, you can get a highly secure, cost-efficient, and redundant backup solution for your cloud storage needs. Check out Symform now and give it a try!
