[OT] Files in the 'cloud'?

[R D S]

I'm working more from home these days, much of what I do is cloud based, banking/bookeeping etc but I will occasionally need a document on my work PC. In this case I'll end up sticking it on a pendrive or email it to myself, which is fine until I find it necessary/more convenient to be at work and want to pick up from where I left off.

I used to have a virtual drive with a webhost so i'll look into that with my current one, or I could make more use of Google Sheets but i'd be interested in other ideas too?

[Pancho]

If you're not a computer geek:

GoogleDrive or Dropbox

Gives you a shared folder, synced between different computers, use like you'd use a normal folder.

[SH]

If you use Office at all.....

Office 365 is 7 quid a month, gives you both the desktop and webbased word, excel & powerpoint apps and 1TB of cloud space.

So you'd be able to access office over a web browser as well as the file sin cloud storage.

[Andy Burns]

Be wary of ...

generating links that allow sharing files or folders with anyone else, if possible use links that expire

automatically remembering your login on computers that might be shared with anyone else

[charles]

!PCloud from Elesar allows access from RISC OS, Windows and iPhone. I find it very useful.

[R D S]

As it turns out and if it helps anyone else....

I can connect to my Google Drive account in Ubuntu and use it in the file manager.

[Chris Green]

Syncthing, synchronise the files you need to share between systems and don't use the cloud (for storage) at all. I'm running syncthing on a mix of Linux and Android systems and it works on MS Windows too.

[Chris Bacon]

It might be worth asking at work, if it's not your work, just in case they take a dim view of what is after all storing work data on someone else's computer systems.

[R D S]

It is my work...

I see that you read and don't filter out OT posts?

[The Natural Philosopher]

1/. set up your own virtual private server as a personal 'cloud' by paying someone for a slice of a machine on the public internet.. 2/. Do the same but on a machine at home that is left permanently on, with a firewall rule to allow limited access to it that you can switch on and off when you leave home.

[R D S]

I recall I (or very nearly) managed this a couple of years ago, I was impressed with my efforts but got distracted and never made use.

Might take another look....

[Pancho]

Yeah, I use Syncthing too. While I'm very happy with it, it is more tricky to set up.

[Pancho]

A Raspberry Pi is excellent for this.

[SH]

[SH]

3/. and if rolling your own personal cloud, and run a VPN too, easily done on a raspberry pi so the syncing done over the open internet can be encrypted

I user Wiregaurd.

4./ Or you could simply buy a NAS that will offer cloud services from your house

[R D S]

Again, I got one a few years ago and have done next to nothing with it. I could do with a project.....

[The Natural Philosopher]

I am fortunate to have a fixed IP address so pointing a public web server URL at it is no big deal, and punching and HTTPS and SSH sized hole through it is no big deal either.

And once you have ssh, sftp works as a by product and you can mount filesystems remotely.

Fast it aint, even with a 10Mbps uplink, but that was luxury on coax cable back in the day...

[The Natural Philosopher]

An old XP class 64 bit machine is even better as it cost me nothing, and can take 8TB of internal hard disks, and run TVheadend, Minidlna and a few web servers without blinking.

And keeps the office warm in winter...

Being able to watch my videos and read my ebooks in a ward in a hospital is a luxury.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Just use https and ssh/sftp and forget the VPN. You will be encrypted

Its the other stuff you need a VPN for.

[Chris Bacon]

Ah. You mentioned book-keeping and banking and I wondered whether you did this for anyone else. OK.

I read some OT posts. I visually filter the rest out and mostly mark them "ignore". If the title is of interest, I may read them.

This stops me from having to read swathes of posts that look as though they're legitimate DIY ones (or whathever the group's to do with) and finding that they are both OT and of no interest. The "Brass securuity screws" thread is a good example.