Tag Archives: Amazon S3

Computers

21 tips for supercharging your cloud storage

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It’s not uncommon to have different files spread across different cloud services. The hassle, of course, is finding the file you’re after.

Cloud storage isn’t just for files and photos. With the right tools and services, you can do much more: organize data, or automate uploads and downloads. Synchronize, of course. Score extra space without paying an extra cent. Run a basic Web site from a cloud service, manage media, or even fax.

Best of all, most of the following cloud secrets have a similar price tag: zero. Read on to learn how to leverage online storage services in ways you never dreamed possible.

ORGANIZE AND AUTOMATE

1. IFTTT is your cloud-data gofer

IFTTT

The amazing trigger service If This Then That was practically designed with cloud storage in mind. Like your own virtual gofer, you can set it to fetch and carry cloud-based data from one service to another. For example, it has a prewritten “recipe” that will automatically upload to SkyDrive any Facebook photos you’ve been tagged in. It has another that archives Gmail messages to your Box account. You can even save all your Instagram photos to Dropbox. Of course, those are just the recipes others have created. IFTTT also lets you cook up your own for just about any action/reaction you can imagine.

2. One cloud service to rule them all

It’s not uncommon to have different files spread across different cloud services. The hassle, of course, is finding the file you’re after. Otixo makes this easier by giving you access to Amazon S3, Box, Dropbox, SugarSync, and other services under one roof. You can search across all your accounts, preview and share documents and photos, and even move or copy files from one cloud to another. Otixo costs $4.99 per month, or $47.90 annually.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Review: SyncUp syncs data whether you're logged on or not

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Sync programs are a dime a dozen. However, tightly written, easy-to-use, and nearly feature-complete sync programs such as @Max SyncUp are not. SyncUp walks that fine line between power and ease of use very well, and succeeds largely because it puts options within easy reach, yet keeps them simple and uses as little technical jargon as possible.

Clean, simple, straightforward. You can’t argue with the way options are presented in Max SyncUp or the array of them.

SyncUp ($25, 30-day free trial) has nearly every feature you could ask for: backup, file filters, scheduling, and both two-way and one-way synchronization, as well as support for domain users, email notifications, FTP servers, networks, and very granular scheduling. However, a possible weak point is the lack of online destinations. Google Drive is supported, but nothing else. If you want to back up more than the 5GB that Google Drive allows, to say Amazon S3, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

While SyncUp doesn’t support revisioning as such, it will keep multiple older versions of your files. It also syncs using plain file copying, to zip archives, or to its own proprietary encrypted archives. The program spawns its own service as well that allows it to perform scheduled operations whether you’re logged in or not. Nice.

@Max SyncUp supports Google’s online storage and FTP servers, but not Amazon S3.

@Max SyncUp is well-executed. If you use S3 or any other non-Google online backup or storage service, it may not be for you, but otherwise it should be on your shortlist of pay sync programs if freebies such as FreeFileSync won’t do.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld

Computers

Review: Handy Backup is plain, powerful, and easy to use

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Handy Backup is utilitarian in the best sense; it’s a backup program with a no-nonsense interface and a boatload of features. Despite its plain countenance, one of its iterations is sure to appeal to IT types and smart consumers. I looked at Handy Backup Free, which is… free.

1. There’s not a lot to look at, but there’s power behind the Handy Backup grille.

Handy Backup Free is easy to use and lets you selects files as well as repositories for backing up. Repositories are folders or accounts such as My Documents, an FTP, WebDav, Amazon S3, etc. It’s a little odd to see the latter items listed under a backup list, but it’s also nice. You can back up to and restore data from local drives, CD/DVD/BD, FTP, and across a network.

You create a backup, restore, or synch task in Handy Backup Home using step-by-step wizards. These are easy to use, and once a task has been defined you can edit all the options directly from a multiple-paned dialog. To skip the wizard, you can simply duplicate a task and edit the pertinent options. Said options include full, incremental, differential backups; compressing the backup to encrypted zip files; scheduling; and running tasks before or after a job.

Handy Backup also comes in a $39 Home, $99 Professional, $199 Small Server, and $599 Server editions. Home is the latest 7.x version, while Pro adds disk imaging, backing up to SFTP servers, and ODBC database backup. The Small Server edition backs up numerous business and enterprise-level databases such as Microsoft Exchange data, Oracle, and more. The full Server version has all that plus the ability to back up multiple PCs to a central location.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld