Cactus, you are correct. It is synch'd from local storage. 

However, if anyone uses that to work in the DAW, I'd recommend disabling the sync while working. Not sure what havoc that could cause otherwise. 

There is no comparison to how fast a stripped-down Linux machine can run vs Windows or MAC OS. Unfortunately, Linux has a long way to go for supportability of hardware and 3rd-party plug-ins, and Desktops.  

I'm surprised this cloud stuff is becoming a big deal all of a sudden.

Back in '98 when I was doing tech support for a computer company there was a lot of talk that within the next 10 years or so hard drives would start to become obsolete as all settings and files would soon be stored remotely.

I didn't like it then and I don't like it now.

I'd have to say at this point I wouldn't mix anything I care about using Ardour. I'd definitely use Sonar. I'm much better at using Sonar than Ardour and I've spent a lot of time practicing with it.

For me, having the Linux drive in my work bag means I can toy with a mix at work during lunch. :-) Or not have to take 2 laptops to the inlaws when I go (work laptop is always with me).

Mostly, I just do real audio anyway. I don't even know how to spell Middy.

Yes, Ardour has lots of VSTs but so far nothing that compares with my Sonar toys. Still, the UCX has compressors, reverbs, delay all built-in, along with loopback settings, so I can use the FX in the Unit itself if I want to and they aren't half bad. :-)

A lot of fun can be had this way. It isn't Sonar. I'm not trying to say it is.

And a lot of people will be frustrated trying to get their interfaces to work. The UCX is Class Compliant and that's the key to easy interoperability on Linux Ubuntu.

The main advantage of cloud storage for backups is that it is idiot easy to get your data off site. If your house burns down and you have your data on a hard drive or a pile of DVD's in the broom closet, you may well be out of luck. If the cloud is your only backup, you have the additional security problems of data corruption or hacking (rare) or the loss of the cloud site through business changes in the operating company. That latter eventuality has happened several times in the brief history of the cloud. If no one is paying the rent on the distant server, the owner may send you a nice email, warning you to move it by some date, or may just wipe your stuff. And of course if  you die with your passwords, the data may well be out of reach of your estate. A single cloud server should probably never be your only backup for significant data.

Cloud data is usually not secure in the sense of private, and there is a constant pressure to infringe even more on what little privacy there is. Homeland Security and other agencies are constantly pressing servers to give up data, and laws immunizing them from any recourse on your part to such disclosure are in Congress now. The FBI has a procedure manual that claims they do not need a warrant to get to your stuff, but just a subpoena issued by a Federal prosecutor. Any encryption applied by the storage site, is likely to have a back door that the operator can be legally compelled to use, and it is only a matter of time until such sites start refusing to host data that you have encrypted yourself for fear of abetting the ever present (at least in the minds of the police) terrorists. So if you are storing your offshore tax evasion accounts or your kiddie porn collection, a hole in the back yard may be a better option. For music files in various stages of mixing, none of that should be of concern.