The cloud has been around for some time now and as each year passes people are getting more and more comfortable with it. The initial security fears have gone and people now have an abundance of ways to now store, share and view their files. This and uptake from the top three technology giants means that people have more choice than ever. Do you go with Google`s drive offering or Apples iCloud or do you in fact setup your own. Well, it’s an option more and more people are looking at and with Christmas just around the corner you might just see a fair few wireless hard drives in people’s stockings this year.
But why are people looking at this and what do you need? Well in short some people still have security concerns while others want more control. Negative press tends to stick in people’s minds and in truth many people simply wouldn’t know where to start. Besides, there are simply some things you do not want to engage in on your own cloud network. Take accounting for a small business for instance; since there are some fantastic options as far as cloud accounting software is concerned, why would you do this on your own? Aside from that, do you go down the dedicated PC route or install a wireless hard drive solution? Well today we will explore some of these options.
This can be an expensive option but you could turn an old PC into a dedicated cloud server. Sounds complicated but really it’s not. You just need a PC, an internet connection and some specialist software. While we won’t go in to the exact specifics you can read PC Advisors setup guide here.
The PC requires no modifications so the process is actually very straight forward but you will need to find some good specialist cloud software. PC Advisor recommends Tonido but there are many more and they can all be purchased at very reasonable prices. Software such as B-Drive Server and Air Playit Server are also quite good and worth reviewing.
Wireless Hard Drive Solution
The second option is to get a wireless hard drive and connect it to your router. This would allow you to access your files anywhere through a web browser and some manufacturers (such as Western Digitial) let you connect their devices seamlessly with services such as Dropbox and SkyDrive. This gives people the best of both worlds if needed and endless storage expansion capabilities.
Both approaches have their advantages but we expect to see more and more people going with the home media server / wireless hard drive solution in the future. This is cheaper, takes up less space and in truth is more reliable.
Businesses may also turn to their own setups for added security. Larger organisations already do this but it is likely to become increasingly more important for smaller businesses. Business data needs to be accessible after all and image the capabilities of a cloud based CRM. But whatever the need it looks like the cloud is here to stay and we for one are very happy about this.