Dropbox and cloud computing

Having been reluctant to try cloud storage, I would have to say that I’m quite impressed with the services offered by Dropbox. In the past I would have saved documents to my gmail account as a draft attachment. Seeing how I have 10GB’s worth of storage on gmail I thought at the time it would be a handy way to utilise the space. The drawbacks of this would be:

• Slow upload speeds
• Poor visual interface
• Limited file control options

My knowledge of cloud computing was fairly basic prior to Dropbox. I had known that many office environment s had used virtualisation to enable their employees to take the company’s desktop space with them to upload and share emails and documents out of the office. This was a slow process as it was a virtualised environment and it depended on the user’s computer hardware to enable a smooth workflow not to mention if the user had a slow internet connection it would affect the workflow.  Virtualisation is ideal for the intranet.

Using RMIT’s VPN (virtual private network) to store all my assignments and course notes looked promising. As there was no way to upload files from my workstation to a VPN it a little redundant unless I was working exclusively off the VPN. I had already setup a list of folders in hierarchical order on my desktop:

To download the same batch of files from RMIT’s blackboard to RMIT’s MyDesktop seemed like double the work. Also RMIT’s MyDesktop is prone to connection timeouts.

Enter Dropbox.

Dropbox allowed for synchronisation of folders and files across all machines with the application installed. It automatically synchronises your files once you’ve modified it and allows for sharing with online contacts. My group setup a sharing folder and we uploaded images to it. The accessibility and easy visual interface of Dropbox is very impressive and easy to use. In no time we were able to share and view each other's images:

I have noticed some drawbacks though:

• 2GB’s worth of storage for free users
• Dependency on an internet connection to access your documents
• Slow for synchronising files above 10MB’s

Another handy draw card for Dropbox is as an RMIT student based primarily in the business building (which requires students to provide their own mobile devices 90% of the time.)  Dropbox helps students synchronise their tutorial files on the fly if they have a laptop and a desktop at home. I find this setup quite handy working on my laptop at University and being able to access my updated files from my desktop at home.  Dropbox on Windows XP doesn’t share the same visual qualities as the application on OS-X , however the functionality remains the same.  I would suggest purchasing a second-hand monitor and wireless keyboard and mouse for your laptop if you are a RMIT student based primarily in the business building, as this can be handy when working off the mobile device at home.