Onlinestorage is the future, ask anyone. Journalists everywhere are talkingabout the G-drive, the X-drive, the Skydrive the Live Mesh, TheElephant…the list is endless. So, why aren’t we all storing our filesonline yet? The answer is simple…nobody has made it work properly.
Thekey to online storage is synchronisation technology. Why? Because, goodidea as it might seem, the Internet just isn’t fast enough to accessall your files in the Cloud directly. Plus, most people have softwarethey like to use on their computers and don’t want to limit themselvesto online applications.
What’sneeded is software that you can install on each device that keeps thatdevice in synch with your storage in the Cloud. That’s what Livedriveis all about. With Livedrive, all your files are stored safely andsecurely in our data vault in the Cloud. They can be accessed fromanywhere, anytime on any device. And we have software on each devicethat works in the background so you can work have you always have done.
Thesoftware keeps a local, ‘working copy’ of files you are using andsynchs them with our server ‘master copy’. This is the model thatGoogle has been on about for years with their rumored ‘Gdrive’ product.Gdrive isn’t here yet but Livedrive is.
Mostonline storage services only have a web interface. That’s fine if youjust want to backup a load of files or have a special reason to put acertain file online, such as sharing it with someone or accessing it onthe road. But it isn’t fine if you want to use itas your main storage. For example, if you keep all your photos on yourcomputer, you don’t want to have to log into a website and upload themevery time you add new ones. And you certainly don’t want to save anOffice document to your PC and then have the bother of uploading it tothe web.
Someof the more advanced players do have desktop software. The trouble is,they tend to be based around web-dav technology which was neverdesigned for this purpose, they are slow, don’t work properly and havenever taken off for that reason. Take AOL X-Drive as a prime example –lots of people tried it, nobody kept it. It was painfully slow – up to100 times slower than a USB drive! Why? Because they didn’t have anysynching or caching technology on the client.
Livedrive,on the other hand, doesn’t use web-dav – it uses its own custom writtendriver technology. We present a drive to your computer – the L: drive –which cleverly works in the background. It keeps your Livedriveperfectly in synch and caches files as needed on your computer. You canconfigure what files are cached on your computer and when. So forexample, you might have a folder containing 100gb of videos you don’tuse that often and elect not to keep a local copy on your computer.They still show up on your Livedrive but access to them will be sloweras its coming over the web.
Livedriveis designed to be used as your main drive. Simply signup for youraccount, install the software and put everything – your photos, yourdocuments, your movie collection – straight onto your Livedrive, justlike any USB stick or external disk drive. Then, all your files will beaccessible from anywhere via the web and your mobile, they’ll be lookedafter forever, you can install the software on another PC and see thesame files and if you lose your PC you won’t lose your files.
I’mAndrew Michael and welcome to my blog. I have a long history in thetechnology industry, having previously founded Fasthosts(www.fasthosts.co.uk) . Fasthosts was the first company to make it easyfor small businesses to get a website up and running. When I sold thebusiness in 2006 for $120 million we ruled to roost – we were thelargest player in the UK, we had the best products in the market andthe best team in the business.
Whyam I telling you this? Well, since then I’ve been working on Livedrive.I have a simple vision: in the future, all files – that is photos,videos, work documents etc., will be stored online rather than onindividual computers. I’m not the only person to have this vision,which probably means it’s a sensible idea! There’s a cottage industryout there of small companies offering to look after your data. However,none of them do a very good job and as a result none of them have donevery well. Today, people put files online for all sorts of reasons,mainly if they want to backup or share. However, using online storageas your main storage requires a product and technology that nobody hasgot right yet.
That’swhy I assembled the best people in the business and set about workingtwo years ago on Livedrive. The criteria was simple – it has to be aproduct I’d be happy to put all my files on and use daily.
With Livedrive, you get all the normal features: backup, sharing, mobile access and a web portal to manage and upload your files.
Inaddition, you’ll get an L: drive on your computer so you can accessyour online storage directly without having to use the web. This meansyou can just drag files onto your Livedrive like any normal USB drive.The best part though is that its fast…stupidly fast. As it has to be,because you aren’t going to use it otherwise.
Livedriveis currently available in beta form, free of charge. We’d love to knowwhat you think. If you sign up for a beta account now, you’ll be ableto keep your account when we go live in early 2009.
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