Have you ever thought, what would happen if my computer died, I need to back up my files; so you put “back-up my computer” on your to-do list, but of course you get busy and there are always more pressing issues, not to mention when you finally get free time the last thing you want to do is spend it backing up your computer. Then, the unfortunate happens, your computer dies, or you spill coffee on your laptop, and you think, “OF COURSE!”
Now what, you’ve lost all the information on your computer and your hoping there is a way that some super geek will be able to salvage your computer’s hard drive, after all you have hundreds of pictures of you family, your old dog, trips you’ve been on, not to mention the document you made to store every password for every site you’ve ever created an account to, and now there all gone! It’s a nightmare really, and since you didn’t back up your computer all you’re important and sentimental documents are gone.
This scenario happens to too many of us; even the experts. Lucky for us all, it never has to happen again! You know that inner voice that says “back up your computer,” listen to it! It’s easier now than ever before. With the advent of cloud computing has also come cloud storage, you may already be familiar with sites such as Flicker, and Shutter Fly, and now sites such as Drop Box or Sugar Sync, allow you to backup all your computer files, including pictures, video and music, to a cloud, and these sites are free and easy to setup, so there is no excuse for waiting until later. These sites automatically sync your files to the cloud so you can access them from any Internet-connected devices whenever and wherever you need to.
Not only do these cloud storage sites protect you from losing your data, they also make it easy for you to work on, update, and share your data wherever and whenever you want. So if you’re a busy professional and you’re on your way to a meeting you don’t need to worry about e-mailing yourself a file to be ready on your laptop, it’s already there, and if you had a huge oops and dropped your laptop 10 minutes before walking into the meeting, there’s also no need to worry, you can log into any computer and get access just by signing into your accounts.
Of course you can still backup your files the traditional way, but why, using the cloud is easy, and even better, it’s automatic, you don’t need to go in every week to update your “backup” anytime you add or change something on a file, it automatically updates in the cloud, just think of it as another folder in your computer, you open, you modify, you save, and next time you open it,  from wherever you open it, you’ll be looking at your most recent saved file.
Here are ten Cloud Computing options that can help you get started:
- Just Cloud.com
- SugarSync
- Egnyte Hybrid Cloud
- YouSendIt
- Dropbox
- OpenDrive
- Mozy
- Carbonite
- Box
- ElephantDrive