Personal Cloud Servers

Dropbox has had a few problems lately with upsetting users with a couple terms of service changes and then they had that problem with allowing people access without a password. These problems have made a lot of Dropbox users to start looking at alternatives to using Dropbox. Another option that many people are looking at is making their own personal cloud servers.

 

This post is a little off the normal topics I write about here because a personal cloud server, is really nothing more than providing secure access to your desktop or laptop computer from a remote location. There are a few advantages to using software and services that allow you to access your own files remotely. You don’t have to worry about uploading your data to some third party server somewhere. All the data is stored directly on your desktop or laptop computer.

If you are looking at turning your desktop computer or laptop in your own personal cloud server here are a few options for you that I have been trying out lately.

HomePipe – This software and service is free but is limited in function. The free version only gets you so many accesses per month. By upgrading you get unlimited access. It is not very expensive, only $23.99 per year and they have mobile apps for Apple iPhone, iPad, iPad2, iPod, Google Android and Windows Phone 7 so you can access and download your files from your smartphone or tablet. It is a pretty nice service actually. You also have web access and you can access and stream files using your web browser. Software is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

PogoPlug – They offer a hardware device that turns your computer into your own personal cloud as well as a software solution that you can install on Windows, Mac and Linux computers. The software is free but does have some limits. For example the free version will not stream music and videos to your mobile. The cost to upgrade to PogoPlug Premium is only $29.00 and it is a one time purchase at this time, not a subscription. Not terrible expensive. PogoPlug works well when I tried it and I was able to access all of the files on the computer I installed it on. They offer mobile apps for iPhone, iPad and Android similar to HomePipe.

Tonido – Tonido is a freeware solution and is pretty impressive so far. It is available for Windows, Mac and Linux and offers mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry. You get web access and can manage and download your files over the web using another computer or using one of the mobile apps. Using the Android app I was able to stream music and download files. Overall if is a great way to create your own personal cloud server. The fact that it offers many of the same features as HomePipe and PogoPlug without the limits of a paid version make it more attractive.

There are a couple of downsides to running your own personal cloud software to access your files. You do need to keep your computer running all the time to access your files. If you turn off your computer your files will no longer be available for remote access. There is also to problem of your computer crashing or needing to be restarted. If your computer goes down for what ever reason your files will not be available. Bandwidth can also be a problem. Most home high speed Internet connections are fast downloading but not extremely fast uploading so access away from your home network will be limited by how fast your home upload speed is.

If you are going to run your own personal cloud server to access your files it is even more important that you have a good backup plan. For just backup there are some excellent services like Backblaze and Crashplan. Both offer unlimited backup plans and focus on just backup. By running your own personal cloud server you do not have to worry about your backup provider having mobile apps for access to your files.

If you are running your own personal cloud server what is your favorite software?


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