Feature Request: Extended Cloud Storage Providers

lonevvolf

I love the direct integration of 1Password with DropBox, and I understand that the integration was no small task. But with all the news lately about some major players getting into the cloud storage game, I would really like to see more options of cloud storage solutions. Just off the top of my head, I can think of so many providers which it would be great to have the option of using:

Microsoft Skydrive

Sugarsync

Box.net

iCloud

Cubby

Amazon A3 storage

and on and on



Many of these offer a better package than DropBox (even for free), and while 1Password doesn't really need much more than what Dropbox has, it's nice to give people the option to use the services that they already have or want to move to. Most, if not all of these already offer APIs for integration into their service, so it should be mostly a matter of investing the time into integrating these. I hope we can see something like this soon!

khad

Thanks for the feedback, lonevvolf!



The short answer to “Have you considered X as an alternative sync solution” is “Yes” for every value of X that people have asked about. We have considered them, and have had to reject them for various technical reasons.



Each item in your 1Password data is stored in its own, separate, file. This is great for syncing in that it means that only the changes need to sync and this can be done by file and folder syncing. This not only makes syncing faster and cheaper, it also makes it much more reliable and robust against potential data corruption. But this also means that 1Password needs to read lots of different files quickly as it runs. Dropbox does fast syncing while storing the local files on the native local file systems, allowing it to function properly.



As an illustration, an alternative such as WebDAV (which we worked on extensively but had to abandon before we moved to Dropbox) provides a file system abstraction layer that is just too slow for 1Password. It can hang when we try to access some file that it hasn’t cached properly. Also WebDAV isn’t designed for updating many files is quick succession. It’s not that WebDAV is bad, but it isn’t suitable for how we would use it.



Everything else we’ve looked at (and we have looked at many things) suffers not only from the same problems we saw with WebDAV, but they also lack usable APIs for all the platforms we need to support. It may be possible, for example, to sync data to an Android or iOS device using SugarSync, Wuala, etc., but it isn’t possible to sync that data in a way that would make it available to 1Password on those devices.



At this time only Dropbox provides what 1Password needs to sync your data, but we are constantly evaluating other possibilities. Who knows what may be possible in the future? <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />



If we can be of further assistance, please let us know. We are always here to help!

Tezcatlipoca

I'd like to echo lonevvolf's request <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />





There are two Dropbox alternatives in particular that have just launched, from two of the "big boys":





Microsoft has revamped its "SkyDrive" service to make it more like Dropbox, providing cloud storage and syncing via desktop and mobile apps.



http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57419130-75/microsoft-adds-paid-storage-tiers-to-skydrive-cloud-service/



https://apps.live.com/skydrive





Google has also entered the fray, with its new "Google Drive" service. Again, it's a "Dropbox style" cloud storage and syncing service, with desktop and mobile apps. Unfortunately there's no iOS app at the moment <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':(' /> but it is "coming soon".



http://googleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/introducing-google-drive-yes-really.html



https://drive.google.com/start#home





So, it'd be great if you were able to look into the possibility of using these as an alternative to Dorpbox <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> [subject to APIs etc. etc. of course]

khad

We are very much looking at services like Google Drive and Microsoft SkyDrive. At first glance it appears that they do have some of the crucial technical characteristics that we need (which so far only Dropbox has had).



What I can say at this point is that these are initially more promising than other sync services that we've looked at. The most crucial criterion is that on the desktop the files are genuinely stored on the local, native, file system. Google Drive and Microsoft SkyDrive appear to do that. But there are other criteria that will take more time to evaluate.



So I do have to ask for patience. It takes time to go from "initially promising" to "more thoroughly investigated" to "developing code to test" to "testing internally" to "beta testing" to "ready for users".



I can't even promise a timeline on "more thoroughly investigated", but I can certainly let you know that we are aware of these and other potential options.



Please let me know if there is anything else I can help with in the meantime.



Cheers,

binarymelon

[quote name='khad' timestamp='1335306207' post='59621']

We are very much looking at services like Google Drive and Microsoft SkyDrive. At first glance it appears that they do have some of the crucial technical characteristics that we need (which so far only Dropbox has had).



What I can say at this point is that these are initially more promising than other sync services that we've looked at. The most crucial criterion is that on the desktop the files are genuinely stored on the local, native, file system. Google Drive and Microsoft SkyDrive appear to do that. But there are other criteria that will take more time to evaluate.



So I do have to ask for patience. It takes time to go from "initially promising" to "more thoroughly investigated" to "developing code to test" to "testing internally" to "beta testing" to "ready for users".



I can't even promise a timeline on "more thoroughly investigated", but I can certainly let you know that we are aware of these and other potential options.



Please let me know if there is anything else I can help with in the meantime.



Cheers,

[/quote]



Do you have any reasons to believe that 1Password wouldn't work on Google Drive? I moved my 1Password datafile to Google Drive (synced on an iMac, Macbook Pro and a Windows 7 laptop) and haven't seen any issues as of yet. I did just back up my data file into my dropbox because you scared me a bit.



[b]edit:[/b] Crap, didn't realize this was posted to the iOS subforum. Ignore me.

khad

I think that is actually a very good point, binarymelon. For file-based syncing solutions on the desktop, there are some other options besides Dropbox that work well. The mobile apps need to have this sort of thing baked into them which is usually the biggest shortcoming of the other solutions we have looked at.



We don't normally pre-announce products or features, but please keep an eye on our blog (and Twitter and Facebook) for news. <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

iheijoushin

I have not been happy with DropBox for quite some time. I respect that others swear by it, but I do not like its memory/cpu usage when it spends 99% of the time doing nothing.



On a philosophical level, I dislike managing another account just to sync my 1Password data across my devices. I also dislike installing software in general, but needing to install a daemon-based program [i]just[/i] for 1Password is a bigger bummer. Especially one that has to live in my menu bar at all times and cannot be removed.



I'd love to see an in-house sync solution or to take advantage of built-in options like iCloud. Or even baking DropBox sync right into the desktop application would also address most of my concerns.



You guys are great and thanks for reading.

khad

Thanks for the kind words, iheijoushin!



I'm sorry that you have had some trouble with Dropbox and memory/CPU usage. Have you tried contacting Dropbox support? That is not something I have ever seen a problem with (and as you might imagine, we deal with a very large number of Dropbox users as AgileBits employees). It may be something simple they can resolve for you.





[quote]

I'd love to see an in-house sync solution or to take advantage of built-in options like iCloud. Or even baking DropBox sync right into the desktop application would also address most of my concerns.



[/quote]

All excellent possibilities! As mentioned above, we are always looking at other options. I don't have anything to announce right now, but please stay tuned. I think you will be very pleased. <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

troubleshooter

Adding my +1 for Google Drive support.



I don't sync 1P with my phone because of Dropbox's well-documented security problems (e.g. [url="http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/05/internet_security"]The Economist[/url]). Even more concerning to me are the credible allegations regarding Dropbox's honesty regarding their own security infrastructure and policies([url="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/05/dropbox-ftc/"]Wired FTC Complaint[/url]). Google offers more experience, more transparency, and in my opinion, is more trustworthy.

khad

Thanks for the feedback, troubleshooter!



I just want to reassure you — and anyone else following along at home — that your 1Password data is extremely secure no matter where it is stored.



From the moment we designed the Agile Keychain data format we ensured that it was able to withstand an attack should your data fall into the wrong hands, either as a result of a Dropbox breach or if someone physically stole your computer. As such, we use 128-bit AES encryption to protect your sensitive 1Password data as well as many other mechanisms to stop an attacker from ever accessing your information and we detail this here:



[url="http://help.agilebits.com/1Password3/cloud_storage_security.html"]http://help.agilebit...e_security.html[/url]



So, as long as you use a secure master password that you don't use elsewhere, your 1Password data is incredibly safe even when stored on a service like Dropbox. If you're not sure about the strength of your master password, please do take a look at our recent blog post on this:



[url="http://blog.agilebits.com/2011/06/toward-better-master-passwords/"]http://blog.agilebit...ster-passwords/[/url]



I'll make sure to pass your vote along to the developers. Customer feedback is one of many important factors we use in determining the best direction for 1Password. We really appreciate you taking the time to post.



Cheers,