• Microsoft Vista Home Networking Setup and Options
The most daunting part of upgrading to Windows Vista may be trying to figure out where in the layers of menus the networking and file-sharing options are hidden.
• Tips for Securing Your Home Router
Seemingly minor and easily overlooked settings can still have profound security implications. Here are some steps you can take to make sure your wired or wireless home router — and by extension, your network — is as secure as possible.
Most Popular Reviews
• Microsoft Windows Home Server
If you have a home network, you'll welcome the easy file sharing, remote access and the image-based backup features of Windows Home Server.
• Iomega StorCenter Network Hard Drive
Iomega's fourth generation StorCenter Network Hard Drive brings many of the features found in higher-end storage devices down to an attractive price.
• MikroTik's The Dude
This free tool delivers many of the same capabilities that you'd find in pricey network monitoring tools. As long as you don't mind tinkering, The Dude is a decent network utility that should be worth the download.
Online Storage sites are an interesting option and have more applications than you might first realize. The concept is fairly simple.
You have a username-and-password-protected place on the Internet for
file storage. Most of the services let you work with the
online storage area just as you would with a local hard drive,
dragging and dropping files and folders. The "online
drive" can be accessed by only you, or you can
give others access to the files to share them. Most of these sites give individuals a small amount of storage space for free, say
25-50MB, and have payment plans for larger storage requirements and businesses. Some of these sites offer true group collaborative
functions as well.
The biggest benefit of these sites is the flexibility you have in accessing your data from any computer with
Internet access and a
browser. For instance, if you are a college student and use a PC at home but then need to use different PC’s in the computer labs
on campus, transporting large files from PC to PC can be a pain. But with online storage sites, you can jump from PC to PC and get
your data with a browser. Maybe you want to share digital pictures of the kids with relatives in an easy-to-access
way but don’t
want to post them on a web site for the whole world to see. An online storage site will work nicely. Some of these sites also offer
stand-alone applications to make using their products even easier and more seamless.
Depending on what your use is, the disadvantages range from fairly minor to unacceptable. Remember, the space is limited for the
free sites, the computer must have a connection to the internet, and the service must be available when you need to access your
data. If the storage site or the Internet connection goes down when Grandma wants to view pictures of the grandkids, it’s
inconvenient. If it goes down five minutes before your big presentation to the board,
well...you get the idea. Also check the Privacy and Terms of
Use on any service that you are considering signing up with.
You may be also signing up for more junk mail, too!
Here are some online storage sites to check out:
NOTE: As of mid-2001 many of these
companies are no longer free!
MySpace.com is having a promotion at the time of this writing and is offering 300MB of free space if you participate in their
survey. The normal free size is 25MB. MySpace.com also handles collaboration and has unique features such as offering
CD Burning for content you upload and a “WebClipper” for storing web site info while you surf.
Punch Networks offers storage and collaboration features. In addition to storage, this site can send automatic updates and
notification of updates when another group member has modified a file. They also offer document management, file version
tracking, audit trails, and access controls.
X-Drive.com is offering up to
100MB of free space to individuals. X-Drive even allows access to the data from Palm VII
handhelds and WAP enabled
phones.
NOTE: As of mid-2001 many of these
companies are no longer free!
