Jungle Disk Blog

We’ve launched new web-based usage reporting for Cloud Files and Managed Amazon S3 accounts. These reports will let you see your current storage usage (updated daily) as well as upload and download bandwidth and request counts for Amazon S3 online disks. We’ve also consolidated the previous Jungle Disk Plus and Workgroup usage reports into a single reporting interface.

A few things to keep in mind with the reports:

• Get and Put requests are not tracked for Cloud Files disks and will show up as zero
• For Desktop users with personal Amazon S3 accounts, neither the bandwidth nor disk usage reporting will be accurate since your requests go directly to Amazon S3. You can always see your Personal S3 account usage on the Amazon site.
• Jungle Disk Plus upload and download bandwidth is included in the daily usage bandwidth totals, but is also broken out separately on the Jungle Disk Plus bandwidth report.
• Total files and bytes are updated once daily, so the current day’s totals may match what you currently have stored. To get an up to the second count, you can run a Consistency Check from the Help menu in Jungle Disk Monitor.

I also wanted to give a brief update on the status of Cloud Files support. After the 2.60c release, access was restored to all existing Cloud Files users, and existing Cloud Files users can now create new Cloud Files online disks as well. We have temporarily disabled new users from creating Cloud Files online disks while we work with the Cloud Files team to make sure that similar issues in the future don’t cause widespread downtime. We’re in the process of implementing those changes now and once complete will re-open Cloud Files support to new users. We expect this work to be completed within the next few days.

We’ve been working continuously throughout the weekend with the Cloud Files team to help ease the capacity constraints we previously discussed and restore full access to  to Jungle Disk users of Cloud Files. Through our investigation we’ve determined that a significant cause of the problem was a bug in Jungle Disk 2.60a that prevented the directory cache system from working properly and resulted in an excessive load on the Cloud Files system even under normal operation. We have corrected the error and Jungle Disk 2.60c is now available for download.

• Desktop Edition downloads
• Workgroup Edition downloads
• Reseller Edition downloads

All Jungle Disk users of Cloud Files now need to upgrade to 2.60c to restore access. Once you have upgraded, you should have complete access again to all your files. We also recommend that Amazon S3 users upgrade as well – the bug also affected Amazon S3 online disks and results in extra LIST queries and slower backups. In addition, the Cloud Files team found it necessary to release a number of infrastructure updates over the next few days to further optimize usage between Jungle Disk and Cloud Files.  We will keep any disruption from maintenance to a minimum.

The full list of changes in 2.60c is below. A number of other fixes are included and as a bonus we’re including a new feature that was originally planned for later – Growl support for OSX.

• Added Growl support on Mac
• Fixed directory cache bug that caused extra LIST requests
• Fixed bandwidth limiting not working on Jungle Disk Plus uploads
• Fixed loop in rm -rf on Linux
• Fixed crash due to path lenth > 1024
• Added fix for blank filenames to consistency check
• Backup report now submitted correctly when time limit reached
• Fixed import of legacy (pre-2.0) configuration files
• Fixed crash when removing Amazon S3 account

We have posted additional details on the root cause of the problem and the steps we have took to correct the issue and prevent similar problems in the future.

Since launching Cloud Files support last week, we’ve seen an overwhelming response from both new and existing users. Unfortunately we have seen this demand create some unexpected capacity constraints in the system and resulted in some system disruptions between the Jungle Disk and Cloud Files systems.  Rackspace has had to temporarily disable some accounts (about 1-2% of all JungleDisk users) while the issues are resolved.  If you are receiving errors while accessing a Cloud Files online disk you are likely in this group. We have sent an e-mail to affected users, but wanted to post a blog update as well to update you on the current status. Please know that no data loss has occurred.

Rackspace is currently adding users back to the system gradually until everyone is active.  For current status, please monitor the Cloud Files Status page. We’ll be working closely with Rackspace going forward to ensure that sufficient capacity is always available for Jungle Disk users.

Note that Amazon S3 users and online disks on the Amazon S3 service are unaffected by the current situation.

Actually, we haven’t stopped hiring. We’ve been looking for (and finding) some great folks to join the team since last October, but we still have positions open. We’re especially looking for experienced Linux C++ developers to help make our Linux software even better and add more platform-specific features. For more information, please see our careers page.

If you happen to be in the Virginia Tech area, I’ll be at the Mailtrust/Rackspace job fair tomorrow at the Mailtrust offices in Blacksburg. You can find directions and more information on the Mailtrust blog.

We’re pleased to announce the release of Jungle Disk 2.60a, which adds support for our second cloud storage service, Rackspace Cloud Files. Cloud Files is an online storage service similar to Amazon S3 and operated by Rackspace, the parent company of Jungle Disk. Rackspace is the largest hosting provider in the world and has a reputation built on Fanatical Support. We discussed Cloud Files in more detail in our previous blog post, including the pricing for the service – a flat $0.15 per gigabyte with no additional charges for bandwidth or requests. Jungle Disk customers can now choose to store their data with Amazon S3 or Rackspace, or even both.

We’ve also added support for Jungle Disk-Managed Amazon S3 accounts, which we announced plans for last year. New customers can choose to use their personal Amazon S3 account or an Amazon S3 account managed by Jungle Disk. Using a Jungle Disk managed account eliminates the need for a separate signup process and manual copying of S3 account keys. This feature won’t be very useful for our existing users who already have their own S3 accounts, but it will greatly simplify the signup and install process for new users who aren’t familiar with Amazon Web Services.

The full list of changes and fixes in Jungle Disk 2.6 is below.

• Added support for Rackspace Cloud Files service
• “Buckets” now referred to as “Online Disks”
• Added support for managed Amazon S3 accounts, with usage billed by Jungle Disk
• Improved support for using multiple Amazon S3 accounts in Desktop Edition
• Added support for multiple Amazon S3 accounts in Workgroup Edition
• Added new Background Process manager to Mac version
• Added ability to enable and disable web access in the Desktop configuration dialog
• Improved handling for changed passwords
• Fixed installation issues with Jungle Disk service
• Fixed issue connecting to some UNC network shares
• Fixed timestamp issue on Linux network drive
• Fixed RequestTimeTooSkewed errors when local clock is wrong
• Fixed issue that prevented Macs from sleeping in some cases
• Fixed “run missed backup” option behavior when offline at scheduled time
• Fixed problem where a failure to obtain a directory listing would cause duplicate backups
• Fixed high CPU usage with large backup log files

Because of the number of fixes included, we recommend all users upgrade even if you aren’t planning to use Cloud Files or the other new features. Use the links below to download the new version now!

• Desktop Edition downloads
• Workgroup Edition downloads
• Reseller Edition downloads

A mini-FAQ on Cloud Files and Amazon S3 managed accounts is included below:

What happened to Buckets?
Buckets are now known as Online Disks in Jungle Disk. Rackspace Cloud Files uses the term containers instead of buckets, but rather than confuse users with two terms for the same concept, we decided to move to a service-agnostic description. We now refer to both buckets and containers as Online Disks, a term which we feel gives users a clearer picture of what they represent.

How do I start using Cloud Files?
For Desktop Users, after upgrading to Jungle Disk 2.6, create a new Online Disk using the link on the left hand side of the configuration dialog (make sure Advanced Options are enabled). In the Create Online Disk dialog, change the location from Amazon S3 to Rackspace Cloud Files. Complete the dialog and you can then configure automatic backups or the network drive on your new Cloud Files online disk.

For Workgroup Users, you can create new Online Disks using the Web Management interface and select the location as Rackspace Cloud Files.

In the future, we are planning on offering a service to migrate data from Amazon S3 if desired, however for now you will need to re-upload your data to Cloud Files if you decide to make the switch.

How is Cloud Files Usage billed?
Cloud Files usage is billed at $0.15 per gigabyte-month. There are no additional charges for bandwidth or requests. Your Cloud Files usage charges will be included on your monthly Jungle Disk invoice (if you have Jungle Disk Plus or the Workgroup Edition). If you don’t have Jungle Disk Plus or Workgroup Edition, you will receive an e-mail asking you to update your payment information to allow us to bill you for Cloud Files usage. All our billing is currently done through Amazon Payments.

Does Cloud Files support Jungle Disk Plus?
Yes, all the Jungle Disk Plus features including upload resume, block-level updates and web access are supported by Cloud Files. There are no bandwidth charges for Jungle Disk Plus when used with Cloud Files.

What is the Managed Amazon S3 Account?
When creating an Amazon S3 online disk, you will have the option to use a Jungle Disk-managed Amazon S3 account or your personal S3 account. If you select a personal S3 account, you are responsible for signing up for the Amazon S3 service and paying the monthly charges directly to Amazon. If you select a Jungle Disk managed account, Jungle Disk will manage your S3 account and your usage charges will be billed on your monthly Jungle Disk invoice. For existing customers with personal S3 accounts already we recommend you continue to use your own account.

Starting with the Jungle Disk 2.6 release we’ll be offering a new subscription option for the Desktop Edition of Jungle Disk. While the lifetime purchase pricing for Jungle Disk has proven extremely popular, we’ve found that it does pose a barrier to adoption for some customers because of the upfront cost. The optional Jungle Disk Plus subscription adds further confusion to new users who may not understand what it adds over the basic Jungle Disk purchase.

Under the new subscription pricing option, new users can get a license for Jungle Disk Desktop including all the Jungle Disk Plus features for a flat $2/month with no upfront purchase. Just like now, a single license can be used on multiple computers at no additional cost.

Our current users (most of you reading this) won’t be affected at all – we aren’t adding a new product or additional subscription for existing users. The Jungle Disk Plus features will continue to be $1/month for lifetime licenses holders.

The primary reason for this pricing option is a desire to simplify pricing for new users, especially as our customer base expands from early adopters to mainstream consumers. With the new subscription pricing as well as the simplified pricing for storage from Rackspace Cloud Files, new users will be able to get unlimited online storage for a flat $2/month + $0.15/gb. Compared to the current pricing formula of $20 + $1/month  + $0.15/gb  + requests + bandwidth we think that’s a big improvement.