Small Business Tech

I recently wrote about Backupify. One feature disabled was backing up Gmail. They have posted on their blog about why it was disabled.

Labels: Backupify, Cloud Computing

Google Apps is going to the spotlight as the Los Angeles, CA city commission has decided to move their email system to the cloud-based collaboration software. Microsoft and Google were battling to provide services to the 30,000 city employees. You can read more.

I have compared both services and chosen Google for many users. I even attended a workshop by Microsoft where they pitched the product. The problems were that Microsoft was selling vaporware. Vaporware means that the products did not even exist, yet. The other problem was that Microsoft only offered 1 gigabyte of storage for $10 to $12 per month. Google Apps offered 25 gigabytes of storage for just under $5 per month. It has been an easy decision so far.

Labels: Cloud Computing, Google Apps, Microsoft

As more of us use online software applications such as Yahoo mail or Google mail or Google Docs the questions and concerns about safety come up. This is a common discussion among not only IT people, but also among business and even casual users. Peter Nulty of Wells Fargo recently had an discussion about the subject and his first question was about security. There are three main concerns that come to mind.

1. Accessibility - Will we always be able to access our data when we need it?
2. Security - Will our data be protected from prying eyes?
3. Exit Strategy - What if the provider goes out of business?

Accessibility is usually stated in the service level agreement. Keep in mind that often quoted 99.9% up time does not mean all the time. If you do the math that level of service could equal up to some serious downtown:

Number of Minutes For Given Period
Day Week Month Year
1.44 10.08 43.2 525.6

This level of service could result in up to 8.76 hours of downtime per year. You could lose slightly more than a workday of service. On the plus side it is statistically impossible that your downtime would happen on a business day and encompass the entire time from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Security is more important than ever. Security of data and even data stored online is the responsibility of two parties. It is your providers and your responsibility. The provider should store your data in a hardened data center with around the clock monitored physical security. The stream of data should also be encrypted. Most studies of big name application and storage providers have demonstrated security measures that far outweigh the security found at even the largest enterprises.

Your responsibility falls in the areas of strong access controls, good password policy, and using secure networks. Be sure that each user as a separate login and password. This way you can more easily track data changes and more easily make personnel changes. You might also be able to set access rights based on each users identity. Also do not fall short in choosing passwords. Choose random strings of letters, numbers, and symbols that are at least eight characters long. Always consider the network that you are using to access your data. Try not to access sensitive data on public non-encrypted networks such as those found in coffee shops and etc.

In this economy it is more important than ever to have an exit strategy. It has been discussed that like many other types of businesses that not all online application providers will survive this economic downturn. You should be aware during the evaluation stage what mechanisms are in place to migrate your data to a different provider or even your own premises if necessary. Nothing would be chilling than the thought of going to the provider web site one day to find an apology about their recent closure.

Labels: Cloud Computing, Google Docs, Remember The Milk, SaaS, thin client, zoho

Rackspace which is a large provider of rented servers and hosting has acquired Jungle Disk. Jungle Disk is a software program that we have referenced in the past for performing low-cost data backups online to Amazon's data storage solution.

Jungle Dave indicates that his reasons for entering the agreement was to continue to innovate and grow in a more challenging economy. The acquisition allows Rackspace to grow usage of their cloud computing initiative.

Dave is going to stay with the Jungle Disk product as it moves into the Rackspace domain. I hope that the product remains to be innovative and affordable.

For information see Dave's blog...

Labels: Cloud Computing, Jungle Disk

A reader left this comment about SMEStorage...

Labels: Amazon, Cloud Computing, SMEStorage.com

So you have just finished a PowerPoint presentation for a colleague on the other side of the world. He needs it now, and he could use the new product video demonstration. Overnight shipping is out of the question and the files are too large for email. This is where Drop.io comes to the rescue. Drop.io is an easy to use web site for sharing files.

• Go to the site in your browser
• Create a web site extension or take the drop.io recommendation
• Choose your files to upload
• Make decisions regarding access rights
• Send your custom web site address and password to your users
  

You can choose to have the site only available via password. As an administrator you can choose a separate password and if other users will be able to download only or also upload files. Understand that this interface is not intended for sensitive data. This would not be a place to store critical financial or other proprietary data.

Drop.io initially gives users 100 megabytes of storage space. You can purchase more space in 1 gigabyte blocks for one year at a time for just $10.00. The purchase process is quick and easy with a credit card.

Just like Bucket Explorer and Jungledisk, Drop.io is utilizing the flexible and powerful storage capabilities of Amazon S3. This large company connection will ensure your file availability.

There are various methods for users to track new file additions and changes to the site. The methods include Twitter, RSS, and email alerts. You can also create a gadget to install on your web site for users to upload files.

Labels: Amazon, Bucket Explorer, Cloud Computing, drop.io, Jungle Disk

In response to my post about Bucket Explorer, an anonymous reader left this comment...

SMEStorage.com offer a front end rich Web Interface to Amazon S3 also, as well as Iphone, Mobile, Google and Facebook access - been using it for 3 months now since it launched and its excellent.

I am going to investigate this service, and tell you more soon.

Labels: Amazon, Bucket Explorer, Cloud Computing, Jungle Disk, SMEStorage.com

We have referred to Amazon's S3 storage infrastructure in past reviews of Jungledisk. If you are searching for a more direct method of using Amazon S3 for file storage and retrieval then you should try Bucket Explorer.

Bucket Explorer is exactly what the name implies. The explorer means that you will be able to upload, download, and perform common file operations on an Amazon S3 bucket. The operations are somewhat similar to Windows Explorer except much more powerful and intuitive. By the way, a bucket on S3 is simply a folder. For some reason Amazon decided it was up to them to change the vernacular. They could have just stuck with share or something a bit more universal. Amazon does not have a trademark on the word "Bucket" They could possibly do so though. LOUIS VUITTON of France tried to trademark the word in relation to a purse. The application died on July 30th, 2008.

You can download the software for a free, 30-day trial. After the trial, you will need to purchase a copy for $49.95 per user. This includes versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux. There are not any volume discounts. You will also need an Amazon S3 account of course to utilize the software, because Amazon does charge for the storage based on the amount stored as well as upload and download.

The Bucket Explorer web site does have some great demonstration videos on not only how to use the software, but also how to use S3 as a web site host. They walk you through how to create a URL to your Amazon hosted files, sharing to users, and even how to enable bucket logging so you can count visitors.

Another feature of Bucket Explorer is the ease to setup shared buckets. This would allow you to share files with another S3 user that you choose. Great application for large collaborative projects such as large print files or such. Just remember that the party sets up the shared bucket will also be responsible for any upload, download, or storage fees associated with the bucket. Your friend will also need an Amazon account. You will use their Amazon identity email to share the bucket. This is a lot like having a server share without all of the upfront costs, setup hassles, and electric bill for a constant running server.

Jungledisk now also offers ostensibly what is supposed to be a similar service called Jungledisk Workgroups. I have not tested it, but I hope to do so soon.

Labels: Amazon, Cloud Computing, Jungle Disk

I have embraced cloud computing fully. I manage most of documents online using Google Docs and all of my finances are managed online using a couple of services. Google has been making the most noise in the cloud-computing space with their suite including word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software. Other well-known players include Remember The Milk and the suite available from 37signals.

One company that has been quietly building a stunning collection of applications is Zoho. They now offer an impressive array of software including office applications, invoicing, project management, and customer relationship management, database, and more. They have formed world-wide alliance partnerships around the globe to assist small business with using their products. They seem much more serious than others about developing a cloud computing business beyond the geek crowd.

The latest addition to Zoho is the ability to sign-in using your Google or Yahoo credentials, so you will have one less user name and password to remember.

In the coming weeks, we are going to dig more deeply into each of the Zoho applications and compare functionality with other online-based products.

Labels: Cloud Computing, Google Docs, Remember The Milk, zoho