save your data - before the hard drive crashes

Hard drive just died? Lost your Flash disk? Laptop got stolen?

We need online banks to secure our virtual possession -- data!

Here are some ways to avoid the natural disaster in the virtual world:

1. Online hard disk (online storage).

After you finish your work, upload the files to an online hard disk, same like you put your money in the bank for the safety. When the 10 Gigabit Ethernet is popular, the online hard disk will play the similar role of bank in virtual world.

Recommend some good online storage service:

name	Price / service	pro	con	Summary	Rate
Skydirve.live.com	5 GB of free online storage, with a max file size of 50MB.	Use personal, group sharing or publishing. Supporting secure Socket Layers (SSL). Cooperating with live.com.	Works well with Firefox 1.5 or higher, or Internet Explorer 6 or higher.	Reliable and fast.	9
Box.net	Free for up to 1GB storage,	drag-and-drop uploading; subfolders are preserved when downloaded in zip form; good sharing capabilities with blog integration	Rendering Errors in Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox; Sharing files requires recipient to register.	Affordable online storage service with a easy interface and powerful sharing features.	8
dropboks.com	Free 1GB storage, with a max file size of 50MB.	simple	No subfolders; no drag and drop	Simple and clean.	7
omnidrive.com	Free for 1GB of storage	Unlimited file size. online editing tools from Zoho Office	a few bugs		7

2. Google doc – online office

For those who experienced the hard disk crash/stolen will appreciate this online office tool as a replacement of hard disk. It cannot replace the office’s advanced functions, but it’s powerful for text editing and spreadsheets, in both collaborative group work as well as personal use.

Here is the official help document: http://docs.google.com/support/?hl=en

For the visual and auditory learner, the video tutorial maybe more helpful:

http://www.youtube.com/profile_play_list?user=GoogleDocsCommunity

3. Email yourself after finish the work (yahoo mail and Gmail have a good feature with organizing and searching emails).

Since I print at the library, I use my email as the transferring station. (Flash disk can transfer files, as well as virus.)

Here is a snapshot of a well-used Gmail account. If you are using gmail, please try the “label” and “filter”.

It helps with organizing and searching your email.

4. Buy an extra hard drive and flash disk.

But the whole point is – security. We never know when the disk will be crashed or stolen, maybe tomorrow, or next minute. That’s the reason I recommend the online service. The service company will help back up our data every day and minimize the loss in case of the disaster.

Good luck with your online storage journey.