CodeStore.net comments on "Moving To The Cloud"

Reply from PaulG

PaulG — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 05:21:37 -0600

Have you seen Windows Live Mesh Beta (mesh.com - which is now moving into the Live tools) which is free from MS? It works in a similar way to DropBox, and although that has a lowly 5Gb by comparison, it does allow some very good folder specific sharing to anyone else with a Live ID. You also get a "virtual desktop" to manage all the files.

Reply from Erwin

Erwin — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 05:59:45 -0600

With your Prominic server you were in the cloud before the hype!

Reply from Paul

Paul — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 05:46:25 -0600

Hi Jake,

2K ! Yes, Mine was 1.2K and i've just reduced to further. (I'm also VAT registered). I've been using FreeAgent for invoices and accounting purposes http://fre.ag/33m48gvl , there is a trial if you want to try it out.

Reply from Jake Howlett

Jake Howlett — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 04:40:05 -0600

Good point! I guess it would do no harm every couple of months or so to backup everything to an external HDD or NAS box.

Worth pointing out that the 30 day undo option (called Ratpack?) is an add-on option for $34 a year. I might well add it today while I remember.

Reply from Jeroen Jacobs

Jeroen Jacobs — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 03:16:05 -0600

Okay, I need to learn to read before I post something :p

Seems that DropBox has a 30-day "undo" history....

I dind't say anything, ok ? :-)

Reply from Jeroen Jacobs

Jeroen Jacobs — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 03:08:03 -0600

I think DropBox is a very nice idea, and I use it myself too. However, I would never consider it a "backup-solution".

For example: if your pc gets ifnected with a virus, one that deletes all files. When it reaches your dropbox-folder, it will delete all those files too, thereby losing all your off-site data too. There is no way to get your files back, unless the DropBox-people have a daily back-up system in place for all their users.

I wonder if there is something like DropBox which allows "real" backup, and is not too expensive.

Reply from Jake Howlett

Jake Howlett — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:43:52 -0600

Mine have never complained about my self-baked Excel file of 8 years, so I keep on sending them that. Maybe that's why they charge so much. Is spending 2k a year on accountancy too much?

Reply from Jake Howlett

Jake Howlett — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:38:51 -0600

Hey, stop trying to pinch my own referrals! I've already got an extra 3gb thanks to the above links.

Dropbox is good for sharing files with customers too.

A few months back an IT admin person from a customer tried to email me a 2gb NSF file (you'd think he'd know better) and was all surprised when I didn't receive it. Needless to say I pointed him to dropbox.com which worked a charm.

Reply from Bill

Bill — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:09:32 -0600

Have you seen the news that Sage accounts are doing a cloud offering - http://www.sageone.co.uk.

Dont get me wrong. Sage accounts (on the PC) is a repugnant horrible piece of software. Here's hoping the cloud version is better. But anything to allow my accountant, bookeeper and I to actually keep the accounts up to date is a good idea.. ;-)

---* Bill

Reply from Roy Rumaner

Roy Rumaner — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 09:59:46 -0600

I use Dropbox for those files I want on all my systems and SugarSync to back up everything on the one PC that I use every day. I broke down and bought the 30Gb package, backed up all my critical files and if anything happens to my PC, I can just pull what I need back down to a new machine.

If you want an extra 500mb - 10gb of space, sign up here.

https://www.sugarsync.com/referral?rf=ebhqmhyjr2g35

Hey, it gets me more free space every time someone signs up that way.

Another nice thing about DropBox is the ability to share files with friends. A lot easier than emailing things back and forth.

Reply from Tim

Tim — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 07:02:05 -0600

Dropbox is indeed a very nice thing to have. I've been using it for quite some time now and I am really happy. I use it mainly for work.

And I (unfortunately) got to test it last year when the HD of my work PC just crashed on me. Just went into the office, picked up a new machine, installed Dropbox and 10 minutes later I was back on track. Worth every penny.

Reply from Jake Howlett

Jake Howlett — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 06:21:10 -0600

With Dropbox it just syncs any file in your "My Dropbox" to the "cloud". The files exists in the cloud *and* on your hard-drive. If Dropbox (or whoever, as I guess they all work in a similar way) goes bust then you have your original (but now un-backed up) files in place. You just need to hurry to find an alternative.

As somebody point out yesterday anything could happen and there's always the chance that an evil insider at dropbox could maliciously delete your content on both sides. Unlikely, I know.

I guess it always pays to keep your own backup on the likes of a NAS box at home that you update every week or so. Manual backups you have to remember to update never works though does it?

Reply from Tim C

Tim C — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 06:10:48 -0600

Jake

I too like the idea of everything being available everywhere. My big concern is the same about any form of backup - what if it goes wrong?

What if Dropbox go out of business? Have you lost vital data, or do you still have a local backup? Do you have another cloud backup provider to backup your backup?