There are so many things I need to learn that even my What I Want to Learn list takes a sideroad.
- That’s what happened when I wrote my Cloud Computing post
- It’s how I ended up with the following guest post
Being the smart person I am, I jumped at Sharon Hurley Hall’s offer to write a guest post about how she uses cloud computing.
Sharon is one of the most gifted, generous writers I know. She is another of my treasured social media friends.
While I’m off walking 60 miles to stomp out breast cancer, please welcome my friend, Sharon, and enjoy her excellent guest post.
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Working in the Cloud: A Case Study
by Sharon Hurley Hall
When I read Cathy’s recent post on the pros and cons of working in the cloud, it made me think about how much my life as a writer has changed in a few short years, because I couldn’t operate effectively now without the cloud.
Before I explain my setup, let me say that I don’t just work in the cloud. In fact, I have a physical desktop PC where I do most of my work when I’m at home and a laptop for use when I’m on the road.
For me, the cloud is useful in three main situations.
1. As a backup
Is anyone old enough to have worked in an office where you had to run a backup machine to tape every night?
Blog Owner’s Note: Good thing I’m not around or I would have to answer that question.
In the old days, backing up your writing was pretty much like that, if you substituted a range of media for the DAT drive.
I’ve backed up to –
- Floppies
- CDs
- DVDs
Each time it was a pain in the rear, because it was one more task to add to my day. Enter the cloud and that hassle is a thing of the past.
Here’s how it works.
- Download a cloud backup desktop application – I have used Syncplicity and am now using SugarSync – both are good
- Select the folders you want to backup – I include my client folder as a priority
- Backup – set it and forget it – Every time you change a file the updated version will upload automatically
A Question of Trust
People always wonder about data security and whether it really works.
Being a paranoid sort when it comes to data (a crashed laptop is what led me to my current cloud backup situation), I periodically check to make sure it is working by navigating to the web interface and looking at what’s in the desktop section.
I use my desktop as a temporary holding pen so if those files are uploaded I know the cloud backup is ok.
That said, anything can fail, so I also backup my backup with a weekly backup to a portable hard disk. Again, I’ve made it easy by using a Clickfree cable.
And in terms of security, here’s what I do:
- I make sure that my cloud backup has a unique password, generated by a program (I use LastPass)
- That means it will be hard for anyone to guess – and I couldn’t reveal it even under duress
That’s it.
In five years of using online backup, no-one has ever accessed my data.
I like those odds. 🙂
2. When moving computer
Sometimes you have to change computers because of a hard disk failure or an upgrade. I discovered that using cloud backup makes it easy to move all your files over.
I haven’t tested this with SugarSync, but I have tested it on two computers with Syncplicity – and it works.
- Set up your new computer
- Install the backup software
- Login and it will restore all your files to the right place (in the background while you work)
Never has changing computers been so hassle-free.
3. For working on the road
When you work on one main computer and travel with another, there’s always the chance you will forget a file you need. With cloud backup, it’s always available.
I put this to the test recently – with my mother, of all people.
She had gone abroad to deliver a presentation. She took a typed copy with her but then wanted to make some changes.
- We logged into her Syncplicity account
- Located the file
- Made the changes and reuploaded it
When she returned home, the changed file was on her desktop.
I have done this many times with my own client files – as long as the file has been backed up, it always works.
4. Other cloud applications
So far, I’ve talked a lot about backup, because for me that’s the major priority. When it comes to working on documents in the cloud, I mix and match.
Here are some of the ways I operate:
- At the start of each year I start a new business spreadsheet. I usually set it up on the desktop (because some of the things I want to do I find easier to manage in Excel) and then upload it to my Google Docs account.
- For the rest of the year, I access it there. That’s because it’s a file I always need access to, and working in the cloud keeps it accessible. Once every so often, I download a copy so it can become part of the backup process. Redundant backups are the name of the game. 🙂
- Sometimes clients share documents with me. I work on those in the cloud to keep collaboration simple. Google Docs is robust enough for most tasks, though there are features I need in Word (such as the ability to switch among US, Canadian and UK English depending on the client).
- Sometimes I need to share documents with a colleague. In that case, I also work in the cloud.
Do I do everything in the cloud? No.
I haven’t yet made the switch to sharing all my files via Dropbox, though I am using it for some ebooks and PDFs.
I don’t run my music in the cloud (probably because I find it distracting when I work, so there’s no reason for it.)
But I think that more and more the cloud will become a bigger part of my working life.
When I started writing, there was no such thing as cloud computing and I managed fine, but today my office has less paper (kinder to the environment) and I’m never in any danger of losing access to a file I need.
And that’s the best bit of working in the cloud for me.
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Sharon Hurley Hall has almost 25 years of experience writing professionally – as a journalist, an academic writer, a blogger, a ghost writer and an online copy writer.
She is the author of a Kindle ebook titled Getting Started in Blogging and has been running Get Paid To Write Online since 2005 to help other writers improve and build sustainable and successful writing careers.
First, Sharon, thank you so much for the fabulous guest post.
I had to share this. I have a call today with a client (an interview for a case study). I put several files on a flash drive. When I opened it yesterday, for whatever reason, they were not on the flash drive.
I just signed up for Carbonite as a backup system, but I was able to use it to retrieve my document for today’s call. I said in my original post, I could see cloud computing being most helpful while traveling, and the first trip I take in months, I have to use it. 🙂
Thank goodness I signed up.
Happy to be here, Cathy.
It’s situations like the one you describe that make you see how useful these tools can be. I’m so glad Carbonite saved your bacon. 🙂
Me, too, Sharon! 🙂
Sharon-
I am just curious- how are you certain no one has accessed your files? I am not saying they were, but what tests have you done? I mention that because we have stored files on the cloud and have found they have been accessed.
We do store some files on the cloud. But, as an example, I have just shy of 200 gigs of data on my computers. The fees for such storage are fairly steep. The time to backup and restore is fairly steep. When we tried to backup a laptop (not even a desktop), the process lasted 50 hours. Restoration stopped due to data integrity problems after about 40 hours.
Our choice is as follows: We run dynamic backups on each of our computers. All data is on our local computers and our server. Backup is no different, I’m guess, than yours.
We also backup our data to a network storage device. This device requires two passwords- one to access the drive and another to access the directories. All directories are shared (with the exception of our tax-related directories) with all staff, but we use Sharepoint to control access, so that we know which file is where and when.
I also have a portable hard drive backup on my files that have been accessed over the past 30 days. (I hardly use it- but it backs everything up 10 times a day.)
Finally, each hard drive is cloned, so that should anything fail, we have a bona-fide method of restoring our access in the fastest way possible. The clone also contains a copy of the operating system disk, so that should the hardware be changed as a result of failure, repairs/upgrades can be accommodated.
Other than my portable hard drive, the total costs for this system are theoretically zero dollars. In actuality, the server hard drive cost is under $ 150, the network attached storage costed some $250 bucks five years ago, and the verification costs (we check the integrity of the files weekly) is about 2 hours.
Super post, Sharon. I need to do more “cloud” stuff. I have things stored everywhere, but I’m not working directly on the cloud, which has huge advantages should I ever upgrade the laptop and go mobile.
Nice save, Cathy!
Good point, Roy. Only a couple of people have access to everything; for everyone else, it’s just the stuff they actually need. I suppose it would be more accurate to say that I am not aware of any unauthorized access to my data. I have not had any viruses and none of the files has turned up anywhere they are not supposed to be so as far as I’m concerned it works. Your system sounds pretty robust, though.
Lori, I think my system works well if you have to be (or want to be mobile). If not, then it is probably not strictly necessary. However, Cathy’s example illustrates one reason why it works as a backup to your other systems.
Hey, Lori-thanks for coming by. Turns out, it was a very nice save. My client was supposed to send the interview questions to their client and had not done that. So, good thing I had my copy. 🙂
Great post, Sharon. I started relying on cloud-based applications when my business went mobile as I split time between two states earlier this years while caring for my father. I’ve suffered through a laptop crash and burn and working in the cloud literally saved me. I’ll have to check out some of the applications you mentioned.
Yours is the perfect situation for it, Kimberly. I’ll be following up with some of my other tips and tools at Living Better at 50+ soon. In the meantime you can always DM me on Twitter if I can help with recommendations.
My system is sort of like yours Sharon, but you’ve thought it through much more than I have. I use carbonite for backup, google docs for a few things and suspect lots goes at least through the cloud.
Sounds like it’s time for me to do more with google docs.
I’m finding more and more clients requesting the use of Google Docs to share information, Anne, so I’m likely to use it more too.