Jungle Disk

Jungle Disk is an application that lets you store files and backup data securely to Amazon.com’s S3 ™ Storage Service. S3 does not have an application So Jungle Disk provides you with one. Jungle Disk creates a network drive in your computer and you just drag folder and files over or you can setup an automatic backup. I’ve been using Jungle Disk foryears  and it is outstanding. Jungle Disk use to cost $20 and you could use it on as many computers as you wished but now I think it is some sort of monthly subscription. I think it’s $3 dollars a month. The data backed up via Amazon S3 is very cheap as well.

Backup Your Cloud

Backupify is one of the coolest services that I have seen. Backup all of your online life in one place. Enter all of your cloud accounts (Flickr, Twitter, Delicious, Zoho, Google Docs, Photobucket, Wordpress sites, Basecamp, Gmail, Facebook, Friendfeed, Blogger, Hotmail and coming soon Youtube, Xmarks and Tumblr) and Backupify will backup your data on those sites to an Amazon S3 server so you know it’s safe. Backup the cloud on the cloud. How cool is that?

Alternatives In The Cloud

I just told you in the two previous post about alternative software but increasingly I am turning to the Cloud (or Internet) for many of my applications. Here are just some of my favorites:

1. Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Live Mail – alternatives for your traditional ISPs email with an email program like Outlook Express.
2. Google Docs, Zoho, Microsoft Office Live – alternatives for Microsoft Office
3. Mint – alternative for Quicken
4. Quickbooks Online – alternative to Quickbooks software

Virtual Drives

I mentioned in the post Cloud Storage Overview that there are some services where you can store your precious files via cloud based storage (on the Internet). Here are a couple of options that will create a virtual drive on your computer as if it was an actual drive.

Dropbox is a service that gives you 2 gigabytes free with an option to pay a small amount for up to 100 gigabytes. For Windows, Linux and Macintosh.

Microsoft’s Skydrive gives you 25 gigabytes absolutely free but you need a third party program to make it a virtual drive. “Skydrive Explorer” is a free program that does this. It is really easy to setup.

Download and install Dropbox and Skydrive Explorer now.

Cloud Storage Overview

Here’s a list of services that will store store your files online.

GMail- Send yourself important files as email attachment to a GMail account or use GMAil Drive to create a webased drive on your computer. >7GB/ FREE

SkyDrive- 25GB of online Storage. FREE

ADive- 50GB FREE

Amazon S3- Unlimited storage for a very small per GB transfered and storage fee. S3 has no user interface you must use a third party program like Jungle Disk (PC, Linux or Mac) or Gladinet (PC only, FREE).

Carbonite- Ultimate backup solution. Automatically backup an unlimited amount of data for $49.95 per year.

esnips- Have not used. 5GB storage. FREE!

Godaddy- 50MB for $6.99 or less per year. 10GB $13.95 per year.

Mozy- 2GB FREE! $4.95 per month unlimited.

Several of these can be used with GadinetCloud Disktop that I wrote about in the last post.

Gladinet Cloud Desktop

Thanks to Zack who commented to my SkyDrive post for this one!

Gladinet is the future! It is Web 3.0! Gladinet is a great little application that brings all of your online storage to your desktop as virtual drives. Use online storages (Not only SkyDrive but ADrive, Google Docs, Amazon S3 , and others.) as if they were local folders on your computer. Access local folders on your home computer remotely as if they were right there (only with standard version which is only available by invitation right now). But you can download free version now.

There is so much more in this appliction I’ll let this video tell you about it.

Windows Live Mail

Feb 16, 2009

Apart of the the “Windows Live Essentials” set of tools “Windows Live Mail” stands out as a must have program for all of you that insist on using a desktop email client. “Live Mail” is beleaved to be the program Microsoft wanted to ship with “Vista” but it wasn’t finished or something and it didn’t get in. Instead we got “Windws Mail” (basically “Outlook Express 8″). You can download it now for XP, Vista and the Windows 7 Beta.

Cloud Storage Rap Up

My rule number 1 is: “If you don’t have two copies of a file on different devices you don’t have that file!” Here are some programs to help you to that end.

Carbonite

PC only

Unlimited storage for one computer.

Easy install! My Documents and Desktop set to backup automatically. Right-click to select other items to backup.

$49.95 per year for the first computer.

Jungle Disk

Puts a virtual harddrive on your computer using Amazon’s S3 service.

$0.15 per GB-Month of storage used
Data Transfer
$0.10 per GB of data uploaded
$0.17 per GB of data downloaded

Much harder to configure than Carbonite.

GMail Drive

Puts a virtual harddrive on your computer that save your backed-up data to a GMail account.

The downside of GMail Drive is that it is only 7GB. The upside is it’s free!

JungleDisk and S3

RULE #1: If you don’t have two copies of a file on different media you don’t have the file. This being the case you have to back-up continuously. Backing up to an external drive or network drive is a good way to do this, but what happens of there’s a fire and all of your computers and backups are destroyed? All of those family photos and important business documents gone.

A great way to back-up is to a server over the Internet. One of the best services to do this is Amazon’s S3 using Jungledisk. JungleDisk is the interface for S3. S3 just gives you the storage space and JungleDisk turns that space into a drive on your computer. Jungle disk cost $20 to use forever. As many computers as you like. All the upgrade for the software as long as the the company exist.

Amazon charges you a very small fee for storage and a somewhat larger fee for the transfer. There will be one large charge (though still very affordable) It will be even better now because they are dropping the price November.

The newest version can be used to backup your Windows Home Server.

Cloud Computing

Sep 26, 2008

What is “cloud computing“? Simply put it’s the use of resource on the Internet to get things done (doing work or being creative).

In the old days you went to a search engine and typed a topic in, you clicked on search and came up links to match your query. You went to the page you read what was there and saw the pictures. That was it! Over the years pictures started moving and then sound but what you did on the net was pretty much the same.

Today with the help of some visionary programmers you can now react with a site in a way that could make some applications on your computer obsolete. Instead of using a program you can to a site like Photoshop Express to edit and share photos. You could create and collaborate with others on a family tree with Geni. You can create and collaborate on text documents and spreadsheets with Google Docs and others. There is so much more you can do with cloud computing. These sights are numerous but some are listed here at Lessfeet.