techtip: USE THE CLOUD

USE THE CLOUD

Most of us have created files on computers. We usually store them on the computer’s internal hard drive or on a removable drive, such as a thumb or flash drive. But colleges are moving away from allowing students to store data on their student accounts, so moving from computer to computer when you are working can present a problem. Also, if you don’t have the latest word processing or presentation software on your own computer, it might be difficult to use files for your classes that were created in these software programs.

Cloud computing allows you to use the Internet as a storage device. Some sites even have pared-down versions of word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software that you can use for free.

Another great advantage of cloud computing is the ability to share your files or folders with others. You can create a personal digital library and decide who gets to check out what file. It also tracks the changes that you and others have made to a file and keeps you from having multiple different versions if you are sharing the file with a group.
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The Problem

You store your class files on a drive or laptop that you don’t always have with you. How can you access your files anytime you need?

The Fix

Save your files to the cloud and have access to them from any Internet-connected device.

How to Do It

Sign up for a free account from a cloud storage site. These sites allow you to save files to an online location. You’ll have your own private, password-protected storage space. Cloud storage is great for collaboration because you can choose to share all or some of your files with your classmates and friends. Here are four sites with free storage.

  1. Dropbox (dropbox.com) is probably the best known cloud storage site. Users get 2 GB of free storage. You can upgrade to up to 500 GB for a monthly fee, or earn more storage space by referring others to the site. Dropbox has both a Web interface that you can access from any computer and a downloadable client that you can save to your computer. (A client is a piece of hardware or software that accesses a service made available by a server.) This client makes Dropbox look like any other folder on your computer, but when you add files to it, Dropbox actually adds them to your online folder. Dropbox is available as a stand-alone app on iPhone, iPad, and Android devices, and it works with other document-editing apps for mobile devices.
  1. Google Drive (drive.google.com) allows users to store and share documents up to 5 GB. A great feature of Google Drive is that you can edit documents in real time with others. If you’re writing a group paper, all your coauthors can view and edit the same document simultaneously. There is even a chat window so you can talk to each other while editing. Like Dropbox, Google Drive is available as a stand-alone app, and it integrates well with iPhone, iPad, and Android apps. If you have a Gmail account, you already have an account for Google Drive.
  2. MediaFire (mediafire.com) lets you work collaboratively and access your files using stand-alone apps on iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. Its key feature is 50 GB of free storage space.
  3. Microsoft OneDrive uses the Microsoft Office Suite and allows you to create, store, and share files. It comes with 15 GB of free space, but you can expand that space for a fee. It also has a free, stand-alone app for smart phones or tablets. If you have a Hotmail account, you can access OneDrive.