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The advantages of storing data centrally

It can lead to tension if you’re looking for files that were stored on the laptop that someone has just taken to a friend’s place.

But there are solutions. The simplest is to use an online synchronisation service like Dropbox or Microsoft’s Live Mesh. After signing up with the service, users download a programme called a client onto their computers. After that, it’s a matter of identifying which files or folders need to be kept current.

Configuration keeps all such documents up to date and accessible online. If a text file gets changed on one PC, updated versions are sent to all registered computers.

Such systems usually function without any real problem, reported German computer magazine c’t recently. Even internet service disruptions didn’t harm performance.

There’s also no shortage of services that simply allow users to store files remotely. Such services offer encryption as a standard service, but a lot of users are still nervous about storing their data on a corporate computer. Nonetheless, it’s still a simpler option than storing data on one’s own computer and creating a system that allows remote access.

For example, today’s routers can access a hard drive and turn it into a network drive. That’s a snap with a home network. But making that network accessible from the road takes a little more work, partially because the DSL provider can assign the router a new IP address for every session. It helps to get a set host name, which can be gotten for free at www.dyndns.org.

“Private users prefer a central storage location with access from the net,” says Urban Bastert of AVM, a Berlin-based manufacturer of routers. It’s Fritz!Box routers allow access via FTP or VPN. FTP is relatively unsecure, making VPN the safer, but more complicated, option.

Once remote access is enabled, synchronisation can be undertaken with programmes like easy2sync. Adding other devices to the home network is possible “if you want to synchronise with an FTP server, one that, for example, is accessible via an internet connection,” says Thomas Holz, who offers IT services in Germany.

A Windows Home Server (WHS) is another easy option for storing data centrally and accessing it from afar. The operating system gathers data in households with multiple computers. Users can then use a WHS website, provided by the system, but do not need a unique IP address or a host name. The one disadvantage is that the router in question always needs to be on to make this option work, which can be a big drain on power.