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A few years ago Microsoft wanted to enter the online storage business as
part of something they called ".NET My Services" (codename "Hailstorm").
.NET My Services was about having all your information online, and
accessible from anywhere. Other companies could build on these services
through a series of API's.
They canceled that product, because apparantly the world wasn't ready for
such a thing. It is fascinating to see that some of these ideas are a big
part of Web 2.0 today.
I believe that Windows Live is some sort of incarnation of .NET My
Services. The only difference is that the world is ready for it now.
Great article about online Web 2.0 storage.
I think I can verily say that we already have it. In GroupFactor
technology, exemplified at www.Quiknets.com (- go in as Guest Visitor). An
easy sign up member-based network, totally web based, where each member
has his own Private Box, for any files/documents, with a big range of
right-click management options, such as Send anywhere, Compress/Decompress,
etc. He can edit certain types of file. (eg r-click to Post Note, making a
OneNote -type document). In the same system, i.e.. Integrated,... is online
messaging - various types- and online document sharing, in "Meeting Rooms"-
these contain files, messages and dedicated Chat for those on the Access
List for a particular meeting room. All under one single sign on access ID.
So, there is no question of seeking an easily accessible third party site
to store documents edited/processed in the GroupFactor system--the storage
is already integrated inside, as one of the services....and the various
services live off and enhance each other--for example move a file from your
Private Box into a Meeting Room directly. In a meeting room, r-click to
"Create New Page" (a html document).
Trust? The Big Issue, indeed. Users need real security, under their own
control, as you say. Its what we call Telecryption and we will launch it
before the end of November.Your data is encrypted in such a way that only
you and whoever you send it to can decipher it. It stays encrypted on the
server. And you never have to remember any but one master password, yet you
have a different password for each of your correspondent relationships.
Files in your Private Box are encrypted by you by default, yet, from any
computer you can read them by simple one click, but no one else can. And we
offer encrypted Meeting Rooms, where data stays encrypted and is
undecipherable by anyone except authorised members of the "room", for whom
it decrypts transparently.
So, its Web 2.0 , I suppose, where all services reside on the Internet,
accessible from any PC (with Windows and IE for now), although we've only
just heard of Web 2.0 recently. We're a small Irish company, and have been
writing this for three years, in javascript, xml, com, dhtml and some other
tools, including some we developed outselves.
On the subject of datahavens, check out HavenCo
Trust and cost are still the major factors in having all your data hosted
for you. For the trust issue, even if you pay for the service there are
still loop holes in the terms of service for many of the current services
such as this one from the XDrive:
"You, not Xdrive, shall have sole responsibility for the accuracy, quality,
integrity, legality, reliability, appropriateness and copyright of all Data
and Xdrive shall not be responsible or liable for the deletion, correction,
destruction, damage, loss or failure to store any Data." So, basically at
this point, because XDrive relieves itself of any responsibility for my
data's existence and accessibility, I would still have to keep a copy of
all my data somewhere and make sure that it was all synced if there are any
changes, which is a massive effort in itself.
And, using XDrive as an example again, it costs $10/month for 5GB of data.
I have probably close to 1TB of data that I'd like to store somewhere
accessible and it grows every day. But I can't afford $2K+ a month to
store it! I'm sure it won't be long till there is an affordable option but
right now that seems to be a major sticking point.
If you are looking for a totally FREE online storage try www.limaspace.com
. With Lima Space you get 3GB of FREE storage space and Unlimited Bandwidth
for uploads and downloads.
hellooooooooo!
This makes it impossible for you to use Num Sum or 37Signals apps to do
your work and then keep the data created by these services stored in a
place that you choose and that you trust.
Here's a new technology that exposes a drive in the file system on any PC.
It stores your files as separate encrypted blocks mathematically across a
large distributed network of leased servers in co-location facilities. You
enter your Personal Enryption Code (a couple of encryption keys) into any
computer running the client to operate on your files, discard the key when
you're done and the files can't be found. You subscribe to a service, pay a
monthly fee based on how much you are storing. Truly simple, use it from
anywhere, and as far as an App is concerning, it's just coding to a file
system.
It is wonderful to see someone who is actually making the case for online
protection of information.
There are trusted services that store your data safe and secure online. One
such service is IBackup (http://www.ibackup.com)that has been around for
some time.
A new player in the online storage arena is http://www.myotherdrive.com.
Owned by ByteRocket, Inc. This site is unique in several ways. First, it
uses a Java Applet for it's user interface, which solves a lot of the
problems that HTML/Javascript based sites have. For example, it supports
multiple file upload (many sites like mydatabus require the user to upload
one file at a time). The files uploaded can be any size.
Based upon all the different on-line storage sites my favorite is an
American solution called Diino. It can be found at www.diino.com. It is
both a client based solution as well as a web solution. The synergy between
the two make this a much more attractive solution that myotherdrive.
