Dropbox v Backup v the cloud??

Ok so this is the situation - I've got a laptop and an iMac and I've got a back-up drive and a memory stick and to be honest its all getting a little bit confused as to where everything's stored and it would be so much easier just to have it all stored somewhere online so that that's wehere it goes and I always access the most recent files.

Does anyone have any tips - is dropdbox the best solution and secure and does it enable you to add attachments to emails via the web rather than a mail client such as entourage.

Any tips gratefully received thanks!

Laura,

Have a word with Chloe Wheeler - AKA Spidergirl - from Spider group. She's Markieting for Cribbs. I use their back up solution, highly recommended.

Pete

Hi Laura,

I agree it can be fun when you have multiple machines, with files always on the wrong disc. This is what I use:-

1. All email is accessed via IMAP and not POP. This way changes made via my laptop or iphone appear on my desktop and vice-versa. Your mail program should support this option. It also means that a copy of my mail is kept on the server in the Cloud. I use oneandone.co.uk for email and domain registration.
2. To synchronise and backup my business files etc I use a company called SugarSync. They give you 5Gbytes free and the 30Gbytes I pay for is only something like £25 per year. The difference with dropbox is that with SugarSync I specifiy which folders should be synced and these folders automatically appear on the other devices. So if I make a change to my business folder on the laptop it is automatically copied to the Cloud and then onto my Desktop. With dropbox I needed to remember to put the file or folder into dropbox which of cause I never did.... 
3. As I am backup paranoid my desktop is RAID'ed which means that if up to two discs fail I will not loose any data. I also use a company called Carbonite to backup my desktop to the cloud. Though not strictly necessary this does give me peace of mind as all my photos etc are on the desktop.
4. Contacts and calender are synced through iCloud, kindly provided by Apple. As iCloud and Outlook are not good bed-buddies I use a small program called OLMixedFolders to ensure that the Outlook Calendar and my Cloud Home and Work Calendars are fully synchronised. When the two giants get their acts together this extra bit of software can go.

This works very well. At the moment my laptop is connected in the office as I could not be bothered carting it home last night and I have worked at home all day using my desktop which is fully in sync with the laptop. 

Hope this helps. Please shout if anything does not make sense.

Gary

Personally dont like Dropbox for a few reasons:

- Two bad security stories

- No idea where data centre is

- No idea on staffing vetting

- Probably in USA, bad privacy

- Encryption is tied to login, so login and encryption doesnt matter

Your on online services or you could rent space from somewhere and use a simple client. The client can encrypt data locally and transfer. Best to use a true backup service/software for automated backup.

PM me and will give you some options.

Sorry, missed bit about email. IMAP or hosted Exchange will sync and backup all msgs.

Dropbox is as secure as any system that requires an email and a password to gain access.

Files on the server are encrypted and you can use a simple piece of software or something such as TrueCrypt to encrypt the files before they go onto the dropbox server if that is a worry.

http://getsecretsync.com/ss/

http://www.truecrypt.org/

Regards

Gary

PS. Dear Mr Webmaster, can we please have a spellchecker!

Hi Laura,

If your at Cribbs tomorrow shall we have a 121? We have a great solution which will consolidate all your files and email giving you access to it anywhere as it is hosted on our servers in Bristol.

All your files will be safely backed up and you can attach files to your hosted wmail which is fully synced to your phone. 

I can advise you to other solutions aswell tomorrow.

SpiderGirl

x

Thats a method. Encrypting data before stops even the admins of DropBox or whoever getting in.

Perfect Chloe sounds good. And thanks too for everyone elses input! :o)

Hi Laura

If you are still looking I would recommend CloudZow which I use myself and for which I am also an affiliate. It offers unlimited storage, Windows and Apple uploads and access from anywhere with a PC, laptop or smartphone. Please take a look at http://www.Safeguardnow.CloudZow.com.

I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Tony Duckworth        cloudzow.uk@gmail.com