On-line filing/directory structure

Pennywise

Does anyone know of any good, cheap, internet-based products where you can open/save files to a server as a direct replacement for open/save on your own hard drive or network drive?

I have found several "back-up" type services but these do seem quite clumsy and appear more for daily or weekly data backups rather than a real-time hard drive substitute for constant use throughout the day.

I would really like something so simple that you select an internet drive instead of the "c" drive in open/save in programs such as word or excel, preferably where you could put the internet drive as a favourite. The reason being that I work from three different PCs at three different locations and find it very difficult to keep up to date versions of all my files on all my pc's. Also, the idea of off-site storage is quite attractive for data security.

Anyone any ideas/suggestions etc?

mashedmassy

The best way is to set up some kind of Virtual Private Network (VPN) - buy a new dedicated server and store it a secure location. However, this is far from easy to set up and not for the faint hearted. As for price - FreeBSD or OpenBSD are free and designed from the bottom up as servers - however, again you'll need a lot of time on your hands to organise/set-up this.

Although, Win 2K is pretty cheap now and *should* do the job too.

meclive

Map a virtual drive to your ftp server (if you have one). Firstly install Novell NetDrive. Then follow these step-by-step instructions on how to set it up.

mashedmassy

Above sounds good....although ftp is not secure so it depends how sensitive your data is.

Chippy_Minton

Have a Google for online storage. There are several providers with free trials, including 'X: Drive' which I used several years ago when it was completely free. Their 'X:' drive appears just like your normal drives in Windows Explorer and Save dialogues within Word etc.

Another possibility is 'web folders'. These use the WebDAV protocol and require the web server to be running Microsoft IIS. Search Windows Help and Support for brief descriptions.

Another option is to use your ISP's webspace if you have any. You can upload/download files to it using ftp within Windows Explorer and then drag/drop or copy/paste files as required. And if your ISP uses IIS you might be able to use the web folders method instead, as this uses SSL so is more secure than ftp.

meclive

mashedmassy wrote:

Above sounds good....although ftp is not secure so it depends how sensitive your data is.

erm...what? If your going along those lines then you could say just about every computer that is connected to the internet is not secure...

As long as you choose a decent hosting company and make sure your passwords are good you shouldnt have many problems for just storing data. Obviously if its top secret confidential files that will prone to wandering eyes then there are better routes to follow.

Pennywise

Thanks for all the replies - plenty to think about!

albertross_2

how about carrying a 2.5" portable usb hard disk drive around with you, or using a usb flash drive?