Just ordered my pogoplug. Cloud technology is hitting the market in a big kind of way. Gone are the days of copying things over to a USB key and using the “sneaker” network (walking your files over from one computer to the next) to get your files to a new location. Most people have smart phones or a laptop and a desktop or a computer at home and one at the office, and it has always been difficult to get files and media back and forth from multiple devices. I use two services that are quite handy for sharing files. Dropbox, is a must for anyone with an iPhone or Android smartphone. You get 2 gigs for free or upgrade to one of their premium packages for a fee. You can seamlessly take files from your Mac or PC and save them to a dropbox folder in Finder or Windows Explorer, they will magically appear on your smartphone. The reverse is also possible. Take a photo on your phone and upload it to dropbox, et voila. The other one I use is WeTransfer. Again, you get the defacto 2gigs for free. This service is best for transferring files between people. If you have a 500mb powerpoint presentation that you need to share, go to WeTransfer, upload the file and send your partner a link to the download.
PogoPlug on the other hand allows you to plug in any USB hard drive and create your own cloud. Now, as I mentioned above, I haven’t tried it yet, I just ordered it, but I like the concept of being in full control of my files and not having my data stored on someone else’s server. We’ll see how it integrates with the OS, hopefully as well as Dropbox does. Here’s what the site has to say about security.
Security
At Pogoplug, we use best practices from the industry to ensure the security of our users’ data. None of your personal data is stored in our servers other than your email address. All of the data on your drives attached to your Pogoplug remain only on your Pogoplug in your house. While it is being accessed, the data may be forwarded through our servers, but no copies are retained during this process. Removing any or all of the content from access is as simple as unplugging the Pogoplug, the drive, or deleting the file off the drive.
Pogoplug offers fully encrypted access to your files through the HTTPS protocol. This protocol is the same encryption security that your online banking system uses to protect your account access. A link to the secure website is available on the login page if you access my.pogoplug.com from a non-encrypted access, or can be accessed directly by entering https://my.pogoplug.com/ in your browser’s address bar.
I’m not sure if this is a pro or a con, but I like being able to stream my media to my smartphone from anywhere. Why this might be a con is in the fact that you may be uploading from your home network which could cost you if you break your upload limit so keep an eye on your capacity. I’ll report back once I get my hands on my pogoplug. Has anyone out there tried one?
