Is your data on cloud 9?

Are you one of those folks who are weary of storing any of your files online? If so you really are missing out! Number of cloud based tools and cloud integration to existing devices are blowing my mind these days and I wanted change your mind today. Even if I don't get to accomplish my goal with this post at the very least you will now what you're missing out on. 

I'll dive into examples since this is the best way to demonstrate what cloud storage can really do. Let's talk about DropBox, it's nominated for the best cloud service and best overall startup in the cloud category of Crunchies 2011 awards. Currently many people take advantage of its simple yet very powerful ability of making your data portable. Dropbox has a software for Mac, Windows, or Linux so to get started you install the program on your computer, then create a free account (up to 2GB free). DropBox creates a folder on your computer and keeps all data in this folder constantly synched among all your other devices. Your data in the DropBox folder becomes accessible from web as well as mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry apps are available). To give you a picture on how this helps, you work on your PC at the office and by the time you get home your MAC has the files synced down with the latest changes. How cool is that! Let's say there is a bunch of people working with these files, you can give them access from your control pane at the DropBox website so all of you can collaborate. It just works. It syncs super fast in the background without any interaction as long as your computer is on and connected to Internet. So you jump on a plane and work on your files offline, as soon as you land and connect to Internet your MAC at home has all the revisions. Let's say you visit a client and your laptop does not play nice, you can't get it to turn on and you need your files. You quickly jump on your client's computer, open up a browser, go to www.dropbox.com and within seconds you have your files at your fingertips! My experience has been such that it's drug like (not that I would know what drugs are like). I can't imagine trying to deal with my important documents without DropBox and I can't believe I had to at some point in the past.

Another popular tool is Google Docs. Google approaches things a bit differently with cloud data. They want you to work within the browser when working with your files. All your files live on the Google server so the unfortunate thing is that if you're not connected to Internet you can only view your offline files. No modifications permitted. On the upside though you can access your documents anywhere you can find Internet connection. Plus you don't have to buy or download any Office suite. What makes this sort of approach really useful is when multiple people need access to a document for simultaneous editing and viewing. Google docs shows you edits taking place by others live which is an incredible benefit when making sure changes are not lost on any given file when number of people attempt to modfy it at the same time.

Another product is BitCasa. I'm currently on the beta tester program and it seems promising. BitCasa is the first company to offer unlimited storage on the cloud. Certain functions like syncing files with your local computers are not available yet and the PC version is still in beta (as of this post). However the idea of signing up to an umlimited storage on the Internet and having all your stuff with you wherever you are is about to be possible for everyone.

Last but not least is my favorite: CTU cloud through RackSpace. I have partnered with RackSpace since late 2009 and have been offering this product with much success. Benefit of this tool is in its unmatched variety of features. As far as I know CTU cloud is the only tool that offers: online backups, cloud network drive, and sync folders in one package. Online backup executes daily and keeps up to 10 versions of your files for safekeeping. Cloud network drive creates a drive letter which points to your private cloud storage. Keeping files on cloud becomes as simple as changing file location on your computer. Sync folders let you pick a folder on your computer to keep it synced with all your other devices (just like DropBox). Depending on your needs you can choose to use one, two, or all three options at the same for different purposes.

In summary there are many cloud tools out there for your data and many more on the way. Reason why it's a booming marketplace is because more people are feeling safer with Internet and migrating to online storage. So cloud storage is here to stay. My personal opinion is that benefits way outweight privacy concerns and all of us shoud take a look at how we can make our lives easier by joining the flock of cloud adopters.