Online Sync Options Overview

Backing up is VERY important. If your computer broke right now - completely - where would it leave you? Some users would have lost every file they have ever created. They would no longer have their email contacts, documents, photos and music. Just think of all those holiday snaps and memories gone because you failed to backup. Well I don't think this should ever be an issue for webusers again because there are loads of services out there that allow you to store you personal files on the internet in a safe password protected area of a server.

Unfortunately for users these services are a little complicated to compare. They typically provide multiple services which make each seem unique, however they are all essentially the same. They are online storage for you to store information. The main differences are:

• The applications/methods used to move your data to and from these services.
• The encouraged use of the storage in terms of data type (i.e. photos / contacts etc).
• Collaboration and sharing options.
• Price.

Well Web Warp Blog is here to help enlighten you as to whats available out there and few pros and cons for your consideration. There are so many services that this post is limited to only a few examples as I would probably online trust well establishes companies to look after my data which I share with their servers. And after all, I'm trying to be concise!

In previous analysis of these services Web Warp Blog looked at them for their life organising skills which synchronising web bookmarks (favorites to IE users), contacts, calendars etc. To have a quick read: Google Sync vs Apple's MobileMe.

So a quick summary of the services of note are:

• Windows Live Sync - Allows syncing of files across computers on the same network.
• MobileMe - Focused on syncing personal data such as contacts & calendars.
• Google - Focuses on online editing of office type documents.
• Flickr - Purely based on Photo uploads and public sharing.
• Dropbox - Allows syncing of files and version backup.
• Box - Focused on business customers and large storage amounts.
• Humyo - Emphasises trust. 

So Web Warp Blog will look some of these services in more detail in a series of blog posts.