Make Tech Easier » online storage

How To Access Windows Live Skydrive From Your Desktop

Damien — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:48:12 +0000

Dropbox, Sugarsync and Zumodrive are some of the great online storage services that you can use to store, sync and access your files right from your desktop. However, they only offer a meagre free storage space (less than 5GB) that may not even be enough to backup your MP3 files. On the other hand, Windows Live Skydrive provides a whopping 25GB of online storage space, much more than the storage space of some of the 1st generation netbook and it is even enough to install a whole operating system on it. As good as it seems, there is one limitation. Skydrive is purely web based and does not provide any desktop-based application for you to sync your computer data with the cloud.

If you are looking to access your Skydrive account from your desktop, Gladinet is the application for you.

Gladinet Cloud Desktop is an application that allows you to mount cloud storage services as local folders and integrates online applications with the local desktop. It supports services such as Amazon S3, Google docs, Picasa, Adrive, and of course Skydrive.

Download Gladinet Starter edition (FREE)

Start the installer. At the end of the installation, it will prompt you to do some initial configuration.

Select a drive letter for Gladinet to mount to. Make sure that the drive letter does not conflict with any existing drive. Click OK to continue.

In the next window, click on the Mount Disk Storage

Under the service provider, select Windows Live Skydrive from the dropdown bar. Of course, if you are using other storage services, you can also configure them the same way here.

Enter your login credential.

You can now access your Skydrive right from the desktop.

The advantage of using Gladinet is that it mount the online storage as a network drive in your system (and it does not do a sync), so even if you computer has less than 25GB of space, you can still mount it and access all your data (you will need an Internet connection though). In addition, the ability to mount several online storage services mean that you won’t ever face the problem of insufficient storage space again.

Gladinet comes with a Starter edition (free), Professional edition ($29.99) and a Premium edition that is due to be released soon. Personally, I have found that the Starter edition contains features more than I ever need and is sufficient for me. However, if you require more features, you can always upgrade to the Professional edition easily.

What other ways do you use to access Windows Live Skydrive?

How To Access Windows Live Skydrive From Your Desktop originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Syncplicity – More Than Just A File Storage Solution

Damien — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 13:00:00 +0000

While there are many sites that provide online storage solution, most of them are limited to basic upload/downloading and sharing features. If you are looking for a comprehensive online backup and file-sharing system that allows you to sync across multiple computers, then Syncplicity could be the one you are looking for.

Syncplicity is an online storage service that aims to make backup, sync and sharing a breeze for its users. By installing the desktop client on your computer, you will be able to easily specified the folders to backup and get it sync quickly and automatically to the server and any other computers that have Syncplicity installed.

Revision control

Other than Dropbox, Syncplicity is the only online storage provider that does a revision control on all your files and data. This means that all the changes (to the files) are recorded and you can easily revert back to the previous version without any fuss. In the event that you’ve accidentally deleted the files, you can retrieve it from the Syncplicity’s Recylce Bin (unless you removed it permanently from the Recylce Bin).

File sharing

With the desktop client, you can easily share your folder(s) and its content with your friends. When you create a share folder, an email will be sent to your friends who you want to share the files with. Upon receiving that email, your friends will be able to view the files in their browsers, or if they are also Syncplicity users, the files will get sync to their computers.

Third parties integration

One thing that I like about Syncplicity is its tight integration with third-party apps like Facebook, Google Docs, Picnik, Scribd and Zoho.

Facebook

When you add a folder of photos to Syncplicity, it automatically creates an album on your Facebook account and uploads all the photos in the folder to the album. You don’t have to spend your time to upload the photo again. You just need to sync it and let Syncplicity do the job in the background.

Google Docs

By creating a sync between Syncplicity and Google Docs, you can now edit your document offline and have it synchronized back to the Google server without you knowing it. Similarly, if you edit the document online, it will sync back to your computer automatically.

Picnik

Syncplicity allows you to edit your photos with Picnik, even if you don’t have a Picnik account. Simply right-click on the image and select Edit in Picnik. The Picnik’s editor window will automatically load in your browser. Once you have completed your editing, the edited image will be automatically sync back to your server and desktop.

Conclusion

Overall, there are several great features in Syncplicity that distinguish itself from the rest of its competitor. The tight integration with the third-party apps have been an useful feature that have saved plenty of my time and effort.

If there is anything to complain, that must be the lack of support for Linux. It is currently available for Windows and they have also released a beta version for Mac. There is no news about any support for Linux for the time being.

A basic Syncplicity account is free and comes with a 2GB storage space. For heavy users, you can sign up for the premium account at $10 ($9.99 to be exact) per month for 50GB of space.

For those who wish to have a larger storage space, but are not willing to pay the monthly fee, you can get more space by inviting your friends to join Syncplicity. Any friends that sign up via your invitation will increase your storage space by 1GB (per signup), up to a maximum of 3GB.

If you have tried Syncplicity, I would love to hear your feedbacks in the comments.

Syncplicity – More Than Just A File Storage Solution originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

Dropbox: Backs Up and Syncs Files From Your Desktop

Damien — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 02:30:00 +0000

Previously available only in Windows and Mac, Dropbox has recently launched a new version for Linux.

In case you are wondering, Dropbox is an online storage site that allows you to back up and sync your files right from your desktop. It comes with a desktop application that you can install in your OS and backing up files is just a simple drag and drop to the Dropbox folder in your hard drive. Any files added/removed from the folder will be automatically sync with the online server as long as you are connected to the Internet.

Other than a handy desktop application, Dropbox also has the ability to perform revision control on all the files inside the folder. In the event that you deleted any files accidentally, you can load up the revision history and restore back the files.

When you sign up with Dropbox, you get a free basic account that comes with a 2GB storage space. 50 GB storage is also available with a premium account that costs $9.99/month, or $99.99/year.

Installing Dropbox in Ubuntu

The Dropbox team has make it very simple to install Dropbox in Ubuntu.

Download Dropbox for Ubuntu package http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/5143/nautilus-dropbox-packages/0.4.1/nautilus-dropbox_0.4.1-1_i386_ubuntu_8.04.deb. (If you are using Fedora or other Linux distro, you can find the source file here)

Double click on the downloaded deb file to start installing the Dropbox application.

Once the installation are done, log out of your desktop and log back in again. You will now see a Dropbox icon on your system tray at the top panel. In the background, Dropbox will now download the remaining files and complete the installation process.

When it is done, a window will appear to guide you through the setting up process.

If you are new to Dropbox, choose “I’m new to Dropbox”

Enter your login credential

Follow the tour to learn how to use Dropbox. It’s really simple.

End of the tour. It’s time to start using your Dropbox!

You can find the Dropbox folder in your Home, under Nautilus. A file/folder with a blue icon means that synchronization is in progress while a green tick icon means that synchronization is completed.

Note: The installation of Dropbox on Windows and Mac is exactly the same as installation in Ubuntu, except that the installer file is different.

Dropbox: Backs Up and Syncs Files From Your Desktop originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)