Cloud Storage

Wouldn’t it be great to access all your files no matter where you were?

In a world where more and more people have several computing devices (computer, laptop, smart phone, iPad, etc.) it has become increasingly difficult to keep track of all your files.

Picture this:  You create an invite list for a party and save it as a document file on your basement computer.  The next day, you’re sitting in your kitchen and want to view the list on your laptop.  You have a few obvious options:

  1. Walk to the computer in the basement and email the file to yourself.  Check your email on the kitchen laptop and grab the file.
  2. Walk to the computer in the basement and copy the file on to a USB drive or a CD/DVD.

Notice how all the methods involve first walking to your basement computer.  That’s not very efficient, and it doesn’t help you when you’re no longer at home.  Say you’re at a friend’s house and decide you want to review the invite list with her…how are you going to get the file if you didn’t remember to save it on a USB stick or email it to your friend?

Another problem with this method is that if you change the invite list on your laptop and save it, you now have an old version of the list still sitting on your computer in the basement.  You’ll have to manually email the file back to yourself or copy it via a USB stick or CD/DVD just to ensure the basement has the latest version of the file.

The solution to these problems is cloud storage.

By storing your files on the “cloud”, you can access them anywhere.

Cloud storage enables you to have your files follow you everywhere, like a (happy) cloud floating above your head.  There are many services that allow you to set up a cloud drive, but they all pretty much work the same way.

Each one of your computers or devices will have access to a special cloud drive (which just looks like a folder on your computer).  Rather than saving files to a traditional folder (such as “My Documents”), you save them to your cloud folder (such as “My Cloud Documents”).  Whenever you do in the cloud folder – add files, delete files, make changes to files, etc – gets reflected on every one of your devices because the cloud folder is the same for all your devices.

Using the example from above: You create an invite list to a party on your basement computer but this time save the file to your cloud folder.  To access the invite list from your kitchen laptop, all you need to do is just open your cloud folder.  The file is in there!  Remember: you didn’t save the file in a folder on your basement computer; you saved it to the cloud folder which doesn’t care what device you accessed it from.  You could even open up your smart phone, access the cloud folder and open the file right there in the palm of your hand.

Dropbox is a popular service that lets you set up a cloud folder

So now that you know what cloud storage is, setting it up for yourself is pretty straightforward.  There are several providers of software which help you set up cloud storage, but my preferred solution right now is Dropbox.

Dropbox is free software and offers free cloud storage.  It is available at www.dropbox.com.

Dropbox will have you create a username and password, and then will ask you where to store the cloud folder on your computer.  Most Windows users place their cloud folder (which Dropbox calls your “Dropbox” since it’s a catchy name) conveniently located under their username with their “My Documents” folder.

Here’s what this looks like set up on my computer:

dropbox

See?  It looks and feels just like any other folder, except that files I put in here are accessible to me anywhere.

Here’s a screenshot of the Dropbox app running on my Android smart phone:

dropboxandroid

As you can see, I even have access to the files inside my Dropbox folder from my phone.  The Dropbox phone app is free, and available via your phone’s app store (it works on both iPhones and Android phones).

You can store your music on your cloud folder

One of the coolest features of a cloud folder is that you can store your music files in it, and access them anywhere.  This is useful for people who have a large music library on their computer but want to have access to particular groups of songs from, say, their cell phone.

You can share your cloud folder, or certain files within it

That’s right – one of the cool features of a cloud folder is that you can typically share it (or subfolders, or specific files) with your friends.

Within my Dropbox cloud folder, I set up a folder called “Shared with Dad”. Using Dropbox, I enabled this folder to be shared with my dad by typing in his email address. Now my dad and I can share files using this subfolder within my overall cloud folder.  I can set up this sharing with any number of people, and can share only certain things with certain people.

Dropbox + KeePass: A sexy, encrypted match made in heaven

If you have read my discussion of password organization and decided to set up KeePass (or any other password software), you may have been worried about storing all your passwords in an encrypted file since you would need to be at your computer to access to this file.  Combining the safety of KeePass with the convenience of Dropbox solves this issue – you can have safe passwords that you don’t need to remember with you no matter where you are!

Here’s how it works:

  1. Install KeePass and Dropbox on all your computers
  2. Using KeePass, you store all your passwords in a secure password database (let’s call the file “passwords.kdbx”)
  3. Instead of saving passwords.kdbx on your computer, you save it in your cloud folder (your “Dropbox” since we’re using the Dropbox service)
  4. Access this password database from any one of your computers!  Add new passwords, add new websites, change passwords – it will all be reflected on all your computers

Even better: access your passwords on your cell phone!

  1. Install KeePass and Dropbox on your computer(s)
  2. Using KeePass, you store all your passwords in a secure password database (let’s call the file “passwords.kdbx”)
  3. Save passwords.kdbx on your cloud folder (your “Dropbox” since we’re using the Dropbox service)
  4. Install the Dropbox app on your mobile phone (search for Dropbox in your phone’s app store)
  5. Install the KeePassDroid or iKeePass app on your mobile phone (search for KeePass in your phone’s app store) (this step is necessary so your phone can read the .kdbx file)
  6. Open your Dropbox folder on your phone, and open the passwords.kdbx file – now you have complete access to all your passwords no matter where you are!

I can’t imagine life without this combination of tools, and I’ve only had it set up for a few months!