Bitcasa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bitcasa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Original authors | Tony Gauda Kevin Blackham |
| Developers | Bitcasa, Inc. |
| Initial release | September 2011 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows OS X Android Linux |
| Type | Cloud storage |
| Website | www |
Bitcasa, Inc. was an American cloud storage company founded in 2011 in St. Louis, Missouri.[1] The company was later based in Mountain View, California until it shut down in 2017.[2]
Bitcasa provided client software for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Android and web browsers. An iOS client was pending Apple approval.[3] Its former product, Infinite Drive, once provided centralized storage that included unlimited capacity, client-side encryption, media streaming, file versioning and backups, and multi-platform mobile access.[4] In 2013 Bitcasa moved to a tiered storage model, offering from 1TB for $99/year up to Infinite for $999/year.[5] In October 2014, Bitcasa announced the discontinuation of Infinite Drive; for $999/year, users would get 10TB of storage.[6] Infinite Drive users would be required to migrate to one of the new pricing plans or delete their account.[6] In May 2016, Bitcasa discontinued offering cloud storage for consumers, alleging that they will be focusing on their business products.
The company started after an idea that was a finalist at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in September 2011.[7] In 2012 Tony Lee was recruited as vice president of engineering[8] and Frank Meehan joined the company's board of directors.[9] In June 2012 Bitcasa closed $9 million of investment. Investors included: CrunchFund,[7] Pelion Venture Partners, Horizons Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Samsung Ventures and First Round Capital.[10]
CEO Brian Taptich announced Jan 2017 that Bitcasa had been acquired by Intel. An Intel spokesperson later clarified that Intel had not acquired Bitcasa.[11]
Products and services
Bitcasa provided client software for web browsers, OS X, Microsoft Windows, Linux and a mobile app for Android. Windows versions include XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.
Bitcasa products provide centralized streaming storage so that all devices have simultaneous and real-time access to the same files. Files uploaded from one device are instantly available on all devices. Bitcasa does not require file syncing between devices. Centralized storage eliminates the need to duplicate files across devices or wait for files to become synchronized.[12]
The company has a patent pending for an "infinite storage"[13] algorithm designed to reduce the actual storage space by identifying duplicate content and providing encryption of the stored data.[14][15] According to Popular Mechanics magazine, Bitcasa uses a convergent encryption method whereby a client's data is assigned an anonymous identifier before it is uploaded. If that data already exists on the Bitcasa servers (such as a popular song), it is not uploaded but is instead earmarked as available for download by that client. This protocol is said to reduce upload time.[16] Bitcasa's encryption method reportedly cloaks the data while it is still on the client's computer and then blocks of data are sent by an enterprise-grade AES-256 encryption method to the data cloud for storage.[17] According to ExtremeTech, this service gives users access and ownership rights to their own data.[18]
In a review by Gizmodo of Australia, Bitcasa's cloud service was described as a "winner" that is "pricier than its competitors" but supported by Mac, PC and Android platforms.[19]
Mobile
Users could access their Infinite Drive through mobile apps for Android, Windows RT, and browsers and support offline viewing of files. The app collects and displays individual media types such as photos, video, music, and documents, independently of the folder hierarchy that they are stored in. Video files are streamed and auto-transcoded based on the device bandwidth. Items may be uploaded or downloaded or shared directly with social media sites. Files of any size can be shared with a web link that can distributed via email, text or IM.[20] After the initial server migration, only apps for Android, iOS and browsers were updated, effectively rendering other devices unusable with the service.
Security
A September 2011 article published in Extreme Tech said that Bitcasa's convergent encryption based system is "mostly" safe but has some risks associated with it.[18]