NOMADESK KEEPS YOUR DATA SAFE, ACCESSIBLE, ANYWHERE

The word "Cloud" with all its derivations can mean many things. These days, it has become a popular technology concept. Cloud computing lets you store and access your information somewhere on the Internet. Typically you don't know nor do you need to know where the actual physical networks and equipment are located. You just save your stuff there and you reliably get it back. The idea is that your data is protected in case your computer is damaged, lost or stolen. Depending on your situation, you may want to keep your data exclusively in the cloud or use the cloud as a backup to what you have stored on your computer's hard drive. Nomadesk is a service product that lets you choose and control exactly how and when you want to use the cloud to your best interest.

After a simple download and installation, Nomadesk lets you create one or more virtual hard drives that look just like your computer's hard drive icon. You name each drive and assign it a drive letter. Technically, Nomadesk is a virtual fileserver. Normally when you drag a file or folder to your computer's hard drive, that data is copied to it. With the Nomadesk hard drive icon, any information dragged to it is first encrypted and then copied out to the cloud via your Internet connection. In fact, you use the Nomadesk hard drive as you would use any local hard drive which makes using Nomadesk about as simple as it gets. If you know how to use your computer's hard drive, you already know how to use the hard drives you create with Nomadesk because they work the same way.

You control Nomadesk by using its Dashboard interface. This is a window that lets you visually monitor all of the virtual drives you create. You can add more, rename, delete and perform a host of other maintenance and housekeeping functions to the Nomadesk environment. Having everything in one location makes it really easy to control. For example, one of Nomadesk's most important features is its ability to synchronize the data on your computer's drive to the Nomadesk virtual drive. Let's say you add an address to your address book and save it. Using the Dashboard, you can set things up so that Nomadesk automatically copies that address to the corresponding virtual drive. This synchronization process insures that the content of both the local and virtual drives are identical. And Nomadesk doesn't waste time copying the entire address book. Thanks to their DeltaSync technology, only the portions of the address book file that was changed since the last synchronization gets copied. When your drives are in sync, you can access everything whether you are online or offline.

Another very important thing about Nomadesk is the size of your cloud. Some cloud services limit how much data you can backup. Nomadesk offers unlimited backup to insure you can get everything safely secured.

The other impressive feature offered is their TheftGuard service. If your computer is stolen, you can issue special instructions that literally shreds your data when the thieves try and access your information. This is done via a unique serial number within the Nomadesk dashboard. Add to that the ability to actually track the stolen computer's location on Google Maps.
Nomadesk displays the map along with location information you can use when notifying the authorities.

Nomadesk is available in two versions. The Personal Fileserver is ideal for individuals who want to backup and synchronize their computer. You also have the ability to synchronize your PC's data with up to 5 different computers. Team Fileserver offers all that plus the ability to synchronize with an unlimited number of computers. Other features let you share your virtual drive with others, invite guests for a limited time of sharing and add files to your virtual drive using email. Check the Nomadesk website for a full range and description of these features.

The Personal Fileserver is $50 for a year of service. Team Fileserver is $15 a month. Both versions offer a free, full-feature 30 day trial. Nomadesk works with both Windows and Macintosh computers.

There are a number of offsite backup services being offered these days with more on the way. But given Nomadesk's abilities, you should take the time to check them out as they currently seem to offer a more robust feature set at a competitive price.

www.nomadesk.com

Jump to:
[ Index of Craig's Columns | Main Columns Page | Computer America Home Page ]