Thursday, February 12, 2009

Live Mesh from Microsoft

I have been looking around for a online storage for my frequent and important files which will also allow me to sync the files between my different computers. I use two laptops, a work laptop and a personal laptop. And I end up carrying my work laptop home because I sometimes have to work from home during a night, or just in case of an emergency.

I was thinking if there was a way where I could just work in my office laptop, save the files, come home and resume where I left off, on my home computer, wouldn't that be great? Also, it will provide a backup for all my files, in my home computer as well as some where secure on the Internet, so I don't have to worry about computer crashes and virus infections wiping out my data?

Sounds like wishful thinking? But isn't that what we all want?

I think I stumbled upon something that comes pretty close. Of course there are a few shortcomings, but those can be circumvented.

I just created an account at mesh.com (rather signed up with my LiveID) and also installed the client software on my Vista laptop. All the folders I created appear as folders on my desktop and all i have to do is to setup the synchronization settings on the folders and copy the files I needed to be synced to those folders. And the client software automatically syncs them with the Live Desktop (i.e. the online folder). And it will sync the files automatically if I install the software on another computer. That's what I am going to try next.

UPDATE: I found a better way of adding files to the mesh. After installing Live Mesh (beta) on your computer, you can right click on any folder and select 'Add Folder to Live Mesh' and set the sync settings. This uploads the folder to the Live Desktop! Great! This is just what I wanted.

Is this perfect or what? Well the answer is Almost! The only thing is it currently offer 5GB of storage space. But there is no mention of how you can get additional storage space, even at a price.

There are a few competing (or are they complementing) product offerings from MS it self. They have the Live Sky Drive, which is kind of a GDrive (well GDrive is still a mystery, SkyDrive is here). I think this is mainly targeted for online file sharing. Live Mesh can also do online file sharing. And then there is Live Sync, which can sync files between two computers. A little bit confusing if you ask me. I think what MS can do is actually integrate all of them under one service, Live Mesh seems like the natural way, and maybe offer more storage space to the users! Now that MS's service is out of the door before Google, maybe they should consolidate on this space and lock users in! More storage is definitely the way to go!

2 comments:

ftack said...

Hi Sampath,

I work for www.nomadesk.com, which offers easy and secure file sharing, wherever you are. I read your post on Google's GDrive and Live Mesh with great interest and just wanted to add NomaDesk to the mix.

NomaDesk, trusted by mobile (“nomadic”) businesses for several years now both in Europe and the U.S., has similar features such as the ones you mention. We are convinced that the more data gets synchronized, the more likely it gets compromised. Therefore, NomaDesk includes an encrypted virtual drive that keeps your files securely available off-line and remote file shredding and IP-tracking with TheftGuard. Of course, we impose no limits on storage and bandwidth.A Mac version is on its way.

NomaDesk works with a local client and allows access to your files from anywhere on the web. We have very good reasons to work with a local client, next to the already "traditional" web interface (e.g., box.net, the late Xdrive, etc.):

(1) 100% availability of the data, regardless of network quality
(2) 100% performance when editing files, using any type of program
(3) 100% simplicity; just drag-n-drop files to synchronize and share them
(4) 100% security on the PC also: the virtual drives that NomaDesk creates on the PC are encrypted and can be shred remotely via our online TheftGuard service.

The bulk of our users, which are SOHO and SMB teams, appreciate the straightforward and secure file sharing they get through using the NomaDesk client software. You should know that in most cases NomaDesk replaces the traditional file server, FTP and VPN - with success!

Please let me know your thoughts.

Kind regards,
F.

Rick Campbell said...

great blog must admit! thanks. I'm using virtual server for a long time already - since 2009 as far as I remember. Also I use ideals VDR - a cloud technology for data share, store and online business deals.