Jungle Disk will be the first data storage service to support multiple clouds

Last week, Rackspace announced the acquisition of two companies - VPS provider Slicehost and cloud storage service Jungle Disk. While both acquisitions are indicative of Rackspace's new cloud hosting strategy, Jungle Disk is an interesting case, being a cloud storage/backup service originally based on Amazon S3. JungleDisk uses Amazon's global cloud service to allow the sharing of an unlimited amount of information through a secure, mountable network drive and automatic backup. The pricing model is also innovative -- users pay only for the amount of data they store, per gigabyte, without additional setup and support fees.

Rackspace is basing its cloud strategy on three brands, all part of Mosso, Rackspace's Cloud Hosting Division. While continuing to support the Amazon S3 platform, Jungle Disk will port to Rackspace's Cloud Files system in the coming months. The software comes in both desktop and workgroup editions across the Windows, Mac and Linux.

HostReview conducted an interview with the company's founder, Mr. Dave Wright, back in March. Apparently, the team at Jungle Disk has been busy during the time that has passed since then. Again, Dave Wright responds to our questions.

"In June, we launched Jungle Disk Desktop 2.0, which provided improved features and ease of use in a number of areas," said Wright. "In July, we launched the Workgroup Edition, which allows businesses to securely share data between multiple users and perform encrypted desktop backups. We launched our Reseller program in August, and of course this month we announced that Jungle Disk is being acquired by Rackspace."

Jungle Disk has published an FAQ regarding the recent developments, and it covers a lot of the issues that existing and new users will be interested in. The company explicitly states that it does not intend to discontinue support for Amazon S3 or change prices, for now. Still, some things will change, according to Wright: "We've actually been talking to [Rackspace] for a while now about supporting their Cloud Files storage service, and the more we talked the more it made sense to actually join forces. ...we're planning on adding support for Cloud Files as an alternative to Amazon S3 in the near future, and we expect to be able to expand both our product and support offerings as a result of the acquisition."

With its dual support mode, Jungle Disk will be the only service to offer backups in two separate cloud platforms -- the Amazon S3 and Rackspace's Mosso.

"Jungle Disk is the only online storage and backup service that is designed to support multiple clouds, rather than being tied to a single proprietary backend. We think that providing users with a choice of where to store their data, as well as the option to store copies of important data in multiple locations, gives us a significant advantage over other services."

Wright is confident about the leadership position of Jungle Disk technology, combined with Rackspace's infrastructure and its trademark Fanatical Support. When asked about what advice he would give to people looking for a cloud storage service, he responds, "I'd encourage them to take a look at Jungle Disk. Starting with the 2.0 release we've made the software significantly easier to use for less technical users, and we're going to continue to improve the ease of using going forward."