Should You Store Your Files Online?

This week we have a guest post from Sally Davison from Fire Science Degree. And a good thing, too, because I’ve been so swamped that I still haven’t had time to test the StarTech SATA drive USB dock.

Online data storage is all the rage now; what with cloud service providers vying with one another to provide free storage for all your documents and other data, most people have moved all their stuff online. At the other end of the spectrum however are the naysayers and predictors of doom – they feel that the cloud is tenuous and unsafe and that your data could be seen by prying eyes, stolen by greedy opportunists, or lost due to ineffective backup and security measures. In spite of these varying opinions, the cloud is doing quite well and it seems like it’s here to stay. So the question that you need to ask yourself is, would you move your data to the cloud?

The answer is actually pretty simple – if your needs demand it, then by all means patronize the cloud; in my opinion, it’s the best thing that’s happened to data storage and file management. Online data storage offers a host of advantages:

• You don’t have to carry your data around with you – it’s easily accessible if you have a computer and an Internet connection.
• Most online file management systems sync the data on your system to the files online and vice versa – so when you update the files on your side, the master copy online is also updated when you save them. Similarly, when you download the stored data to your computer, the same file management system is maintained.

There are two kinds of online file management systems, and both have their benefits and drawbacks. One demands that you download software onto your system; however, you don’t have to explicitly upload your files every time you need to move them online – all you need to do is save them in a particular folder and if you’re connected to the net, the job is taken care of behind the scenes. The other does not ask you to download any kind of application, but you do have to upload your files every time you want them saved – it’s like storing attachments on your email, only a lot simpler and more convenient. You log in with your username and password and upload or download files as and when you need to.

If you do decide to store your data online with a random service provider, you must remember that there is a tiny possibility that it could fall into the wrong hands or be deleted for good. Using a second provider as backup is not a bad idea, but there’s still the chance that someone could get at your data if they had the means to. So if your data is very sensitive in nature and cannot fall into the wrong hands, it’s best to trust no one but yourself to safeguard it.

This guest post is contributed by Sally Davison, who writes on the topic of fire science degrees . She welcomes your comments at sally [dot] davison091 [at] gmail [dot] com.