{"id":42251,"date":"2015-09-22T09:00:59","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T16:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/?p=42251"},"modified":"2021-12-21T23:16:12","modified_gmt":"2021-12-22T07:16:12","slug":"b2-cloud-storage-provider","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backblaze.com\/blog\/b2-cloud-storage-provider\/","title":{"rendered":"Backblaze B2: The World\u2019s Lowest Cost Cloud Storage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"blog-b2-launch\"<\/p>\n

Editor’s note:<\/strong>\u00a0 On March 9, 2018, Backblaze dropped the price of Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage downloads from $0.02 to $0.01<\/a> per GB. See our updated Backblaze B2 Cost Calculator<\/a>.<\/div>\n

Ever since we open-sourced the original Backblaze Storage Pod<\/a> and shared our storage costs, people have been saying, \u201cI love your backup service<\/a>, but I need a place to just store data. Can you give me direct access to your cloud storage?\u201d After a year of hard work and tremendous excitement from our team, I\u2019m delighted that today the answer is, \u201cYes!\u201d We are announcing a brand new service, Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What Is Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage?<\/h2>\n

B2 Cloud Storage is a service that enables developers, IT people, and everyone else to store data in the cloud. Often referred to as infrastructure as a service (IaaS) or object storage, it provides the ability to store, retrieve and\/or share data and scale up and down, while only paying for what you use. Backblaze B2 offers cloud storage similar to Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure storage, and Google Cloud Storage\u2014but at a much lower cost.<\/p>\n

This. Is. HUGE.<\/h2>\n

This is huge. So huge that we had to say it twice. Not \u201chere\u2019s a cool feature\u201d huge. But \u201cjump up and down huge.\u201d Before getting into all the details, I have to thank the entire team for all of their hard work, late nights and unabashed enthusiasm. There\u2019s nothing like a team yearning to offer an alternative to services from Amazon, Microsoft, and Google and making it a reality. It has been absolutely thrilling to see Backblaze go from a company in a one-bedroom apartment in 2007 to a player on the global IaaS stage.<\/p>\n

I also think this is huge for a lot of other people. In 2013 The Verge wrote an article about a company called Everpix titled \u201cWhy the World\u2019s Best Photo Startup Is Going Out of Business.\u201d The reason the company vaporized? It was because \u201ca forthcoming bill from Amazon Web Services\u201d was too high. Lower cost cloud storage might have let the company stay in business, employees continue to have jobs, and customers continue to use a photo service they loved.<\/p>\n

Everyone needs storage. Everything from artificial intelligence to virtual reality, drones, 3D video, internet of things, live video, connected medicine… All of it needs storage. And lower cost storage means more companies can launch world-changing products and offer better experiences at lower costs and higher margins. It\u2019s a virtuous cycle. And we think that Backblaze B2 can help.<\/p>\n

Is Backblaze B2 Like Dropbox, iCloud, or Google Drive?<\/h2>\n

No, Backblaze B2 is the underlying storage that services such as Dropbox would be built upon. As an example, Dropbox was originally built on Amazon S3.<\/p>\n

OK, So How Can I Use It?<\/h2>\n

Developer?<\/em> Use Backblaze B2 for the storage your applications need through the RESTful API.
\nIT?<\/em> Use Backblaze B2 to store your corporate data, backup servers<\/a>, etc. through the CLI.
\nRegular Joe or Jane with superhero storage needs?<\/em> Use Backblaze B2 to upload files you want to store and sometimes share online through the web interface.<\/p>\n

Some other possibilities:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Already use S3 or one of the other providers? Keep a copy in B2 Cloud Storage. It\u2019s less expensive than keeping a copy in another S3 region.<\/li>\n
  • Running out of storage in your corporate data center? Expand into Backblaze B2 to minimize your costs and reduce your storage headaches.<\/li>\n
  • Need to share a large file online? Upload and share it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    We know many of you have worked with storage systems for years. We\u2019d love to hear from you on how you think you could use the B2 Cloud Storage service\u2014so please share via the comments!<\/p>\n

    How Much Does Backblaze B2 Cost?<\/h2>\n

    So here\u2019s the best part: Backblaze B2 costs <\/a>just $0.005\/GB\/month to store data. Yes, just \u00bd a penny. Uploads are free. Downloads are just $0.05\/GB. No complicated tiers to track or penalties for accessing your data. See Backblaze B2 pricing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    B2 Cloud Storage charges 3x-30x less than others for cloud storage. We realize that sounds unbelievable\u2014and that\u2019s why we\u2019re so excited. For example, the lowest cost tier of S3 costs $0.022\/GB\/month. At $0.005\/GB\/month, Backblaze B2 costs less than one-fourth as much. See the detailed comparison of cloud storage prices<\/a>.<\/p>\n