Tag Archives: Skydrive

Online backup try outs

Posted by Wujie of Dasheshire on

I tried MediaFire and BitCasa recently and after a few days of waiting for them to back up a couple gigabytes of data I decided to give up. There was no indication that a single file was uploaded, so forget it. Delete.

Then I found a deal with box.net that gives you an extra 5 GB if you download the iPhone app. That’s a total of 10 GB with folder syncing. This deal ends at the end of Oct 2012.

So now I’ve added another 10 GB of free syncing to my other services:

  • 9.25 GB on Dropbox (+25 GB “temporary” SpaceRace space)
  • 25 GB on SkyDrive (previous user bonus)
  • 5 GB on Google Drive
  • 5 GB on SpiderOak
  • 10 GB on Box

I’ve been using Dropbox the longest and save my programming work and GitHub folders there. The version history/recovery has already saved me a couple times when a program file I’m working on blanked out during a crash. And they give extra space to students – https://www.dropbox.com/spacerace?r=NTQ5NzIyNjg4OQ

I use SkyDrive for photos mostly. I like the look of the online image viewer. I also use hotmail, so it is easy to send friends a link to my photos. Service comparisons that I’ve seen online don’t mention that SkyDrive’s versioning is only for MS documents. It doesn’t store old versions of any other documents.

SpiderOak allows you to sync any folder so I have it backing up my desktop and a couple program config files.

I haven’t found a specific use for Google Drive yet. I like Google’s online spreadsheet more than MSN’s online Excel just because it will auto-scroll if you are highlighting cells while dragging the mouse off the page. It’s a subtle but important feature that MSN overlooked.

I don’t know what I will do with Box yet. (I think the best way to use multiple syncing services is to have a different purpose for each one.)

These are all syncing services. I decided to stay away from the backup services for now, especially the free unlimited space variety. You have to actively manage your backups and you never know when they may delete your account due to inactivity or a change in their payment policy, because they don’t declare that any space is permanently yours like the other services I use. If I really need a lot more space, I will probably go with SkyDrive and just use the extra space for pictures anyway. Also, SkyDrive had the best pricing the last time I compared services.

Sync into the clouds

Posted by Wujie of Dasheshire on

During the time I left my flashdrive in the computer lab and was not able to pick it up for a week, I decided to look for a good way to backup my files. Long story short: Skydrive – doesn’t sync >> Live Mesh –  syncs but hidden sync status >> Dropbox – much better! I’ve been using it for several days now. It is great. I really like having the little status icon on each file showing its sync status. It also saves old versions of all files which Live Mesh does not do. And if files were changed on different computers before syncing then it appears to create a separate file with an extended name showing the computer of origin.

The only advantage for Live Mesh that I can see so far (apart from having extra cloud space if you run out of Dropbox space) is that you can sync any folder. Dropbox creates a single folder where you throw everything you want synced into.

Right now, I’m using Live Mesh to sync the .spyder2 configuration folder with no problem so far. This might possibly be problematic if the configuration file is made for the particular computer it is on. I wanted to keep my template and workspace configurations the same on all three computers that I use for programming.  I use Dropbox for all my programs and everything else.

Live Mesh – sync any folder you can’t conveniently move to the Dropbox.

  • Program folders with configuration files (possibly may cause problems)
  • Sync any folder you want

Dropbox – sync all files you frequently work with on multiple computers.

  • Sync programming code and frequently used data
  • Quickly confirm sync status with file icon (or badge)
  • Stores old versions of all files for recovery