NetSpeak

Online storage service

A PAPERLESS office was one of the early hypes of the information technology world. But the technological obsolescence of data storage devices and the consequent inability to retrieve data from an older medium casts doubts on this "paperless office". I still remember the big 8-inch floppies that were used to store data in my organisation some years ago. When we changed our system, all of a sudden the invaluable data stored in the big floppies became absolutely useless. We are unable to read information recorded just a few years ago but can preserve and read even centuries-old documents recorded on paper. We need then to find a better storage mechanism that will adjust to technological change and transfer the data automatically to the new medium without the user's intervention. The Net-based on-line backup services may be the answer.

Service

An online backup service allows you to transfer your files to a backup server connected to the Net that can be accessed from any other machine at any point of time. Some services allow you store the files after accessing their site (web access), some provide you a client program that helps you access the Net drive just like accessing your local drive (like A:, C:, you can have say Z:). There are many services - some at a price (like http://www.backup.com) and some free (like http://www.xdrive.com). Here we will discuss the free services.

Xdrive.com

An excellent free online backup service, Xdrive.com lets you store/retrieve files through the Net and also as a local drive. Access the service at http://www.xdrive.com and register with it. Once the registration process has been completed, you will be able to store 25 MB of information (as a token of my constant use, after accessing it 10 times they enhanced my storage capacity to 35 MB!). If you want to share files with others this can also be done - just store it in the Public folder.

Transferring the files to the Net through the web is a bit of a difficult process and to facilitate the copying process, download the Xdrive client program from the site and install it. After installation the Xdrive icon will be visible and whenever you want, start the service by clicking at the icon. The software gives you the option of specifying a letter (X, Y, Z..) for your Net drive. So if the letter specified is X, this will automatically appear in the Windows Explorer tree. From now onwards, if you want to copy a file from/to the Net drive, use the drive letter X (for example, if you want copy the file 'a1.bat' from the C drive to the Net drive just type the command copy c:a1.bat x:).

i-drive.com

Another interesting service provider is i-drive.com. It can be accessed at http://www.idrive.com. As usual, register with the service and you will be given 50MB of free space. The utility File that can be downloaded from the site makes transferring websites to your i-drive easy. Once the utility is installed, to transfer a website that you are now visiting, just right click at the site window and click at the Book-mark to i-drive option.

Driveway.com

Another interesting service that you can experiment with is http://www.driveway.com which also gives 25MB space at the sign- up stage. To facilitate the file transfer process, you can use its features such as 'Clip to driveway' - which allows you to copy a web page by clicking at the Clip to Driveway button and Driveway drag-and-drop feature. These features can be set up through the site by accessing the 'Driveway Extras' page. For example, to implement the 'Click to Driveway' feature, access the Driveway, click at the 'Drive Extras' button, move to the 'Drive Clipping' portion and just follow the instructions.

Advantages of online storage

An obvious use of this facility is that it helps you access your files anywhere, anytime. Anybody who has some experience with computer-based files does not need to be told about the hazards of file corruption. Data generated after months of hard work can turn into garbage if the storage device fails or when a malicious computer virus strikes. A back-up copy is absolutely essential, which is where the online storage services become quite valuable. Since the user of an online service is not affected by the kind of storage medium in which the files are stored, such a facility protects you from technological obsolescence.

The only requirement is that the backup service should provide reliable and secure service for the user. For the dial-up users of our country it may be a bit difficult to use these services as the bandwidth is now so inadequate. Because of the unreliable and slow links it is almost impossible for a user to transfer large files to the Net. But over time as the bandwidth constraints vanish, an online storage service will become just another storage device like the hard disk or floppy that is attached to our computer. We will then truly have our own online hard drives!

J. Murali

(The author can be contacted at: murali27@satyam.net.in)

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Science & Tech
Previous : Ecofriendly pesticides control rice pests