|
The word
"Cloud" with all its derivations can mean many
things. These days, it has become a popular technology
concept. Cloud computing lets you store and access your
information somewhere on the Internet. Typically you
don't know nor do you need to know where the actual
physical networks and equipment are located. You just
save your stuff there and you reliably get it back. The
idea is that your data is protected in case your
computer is damaged, lost or stolen. Depending on your
situation, you may want to keep your data exclusively in
the cloud or use the cloud as a backup to what you have
stored on your computer's hard drive. Nomadesk is a
service product that lets you choose and control exactly
how and when you want to use the cloud to your best
interest.
After a
simple download and installation, Nomadesk lets you
create one or more virtual hard drives that look just
like your computer's hard drive icon. You name each
drive and assign it a drive letter. Technically,
Nomadesk is a virtual fileserver. Normally when you drag
a file or folder to your computer's hard drive, that
data is copied to it. With the Nomadesk hard drive icon,
any information dragged to it is first encrypted and
then copied out to the cloud via your Internet
connection. In fact, you use the Nomadesk hard drive as
you would use any local hard drive which makes using
Nomadesk about as simple as it gets. If you know how to
use your computer's hard drive, you already know how to
use the hard drives you create with Nomadesk because
they work the same way.
You
control Nomadesk by using its Dashboard interface. This
is a window that lets you visually monitor all of the
virtual drives you create. You can add more, rename,
delete and perform a host of other maintenance and
housekeeping functions to the Nomadesk environment.
Having everything in one location makes it really easy
to control. For example, one of Nomadesk's most
important features is its ability to synchronize the
data on your computer's drive to the Nomadesk virtual
drive. Let's say you add an address to your address book
and save it. Using the Dashboard, you can set things up
so that Nomadesk automatically copies that address to
the corresponding virtual drive. This synchronization
process insures that the content of both the local and
virtual drives are identical. And Nomadesk doesn't waste
time copying the entire address book. Thanks to their
DeltaSync technology, only the portions of the address
book file that was changed since the last
synchronization gets copied. When your drives are in
sync, you can access everything whether you are online
or offline.
Another
very important thing about Nomadesk is the size of your
cloud. Some cloud services limit how much data you can
backup. Nomadesk offers unlimited backup to insure you
can get everything safely secured.
The other
impressive feature offered is their TheftGuard service.
If your computer is stolen, you can issue special
instructions that literally shred your data when the
thieves try and access your information. This is done
via a unique serial number within the Nomadesk
dashboard. Add to that the ability to actually track the
stolen computer's location on Google Maps. Nomadesk
displays the map along with location information you can
use when notifying the authorities.
Nomadesk
is available in two versions. The Personal Fileserver is
ideal for individuals who want to backup and synchronize
their computer. You also have the ability to synchronize
your PC's data with up to five different computers. Team
Fileserver offers all that plus the ability to
synchronize with an unlimited number of computers. Other
features let you share your virtual drive with others,
invite guests for a limited time of sharing and add
files to your virtual drive using email. Check the
Nomadesk website for a full range and description of
these features.
The
Personal Fileserver is
$50
for a year of service. Team Fileserver is
$15
a month. Both versions offer a free, full-feature 30-day
trial. Nomadesk works with both Windows and Macintosh
computers.
There are
a number of offsite backup services being offered these
days with more on the way. But given Nomadesk's
abilities, you should take the time to check them out as
they currently seem to offer a more robust feature set
at a competitive price.
www.nomadesk.com
|
