Dropbox

A few days ago, I blogged about losing my internet and mused about how dependent I had become on being able to use the web when ever I wanted. Well, my minor tech nightmare continued. I knew the internet issue could be laid at the feet of either the router or modem. But when I tried to isolate the culprit, they kept pointing fingers at the other. I took the router off the system and hooked the PC up directly and the DSL light was back! But when I re-connected the router, the modem power light went out. So, I replaced both of them.
Actually the replacement went well and took less time than the trip to the store to buy the modem/router combination. Actually, it went well until I discovered that I couldn't print to the network printer. After several hours of my time, I broke down and called the printer tech support. It wasn't a hard problem but it wasn't one that I could be talked through. But it meant that I couldn't print most of Monday.
That is where Dropbox came in so handy. When I needed to print something, I put the document into my Dropbox folder. Then I could print it from the MacBook's printer. If I had to make changes to the doc before printing, the new version was updated to my PC automatically.
I find that I am using Dropbox more and more. I have a crazy network of computers. There is a PC, the MacBook, the virtual Windows on the Mac, and the iPad that travels between the office and home. Dropbox means that I don't have to have copies of documents on all the computers and worry about keeping them synced.
Dropbox starts with a secure, backed up web interface. Once you sign up, you get 2GB free. If you need more space, you can buy more. The next step is to download the desktop client for your computers and start adding your documents. I find it especially handy for manuals and reading materials that I might want to access from any computer I am at.
There is a lot more to Dropbox and you can check out their website at www.dropbox.com. But I do know that it made a downed printer a workable situation and keeps reference and support info available wherever I am.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Comments

[pat]

Trish -

Long time reader - really enjoy the blog.

I would caution you with Dropbox - the way their solution works, they're moving the data (albeit securely) across the Internet. You need to trust that they're not saving / archiving copies of your data on their servers (where they could be broken into or leaked). I use Dropbox regularly, but I don't send sensitive information through it.

You might be better served by hanging an external USB drive off of your router so that drive would be accessible from all office PCs (just Google for "NAS" - Network Attached Storage) or, for the specific situation you're describing, attaching the printer directly to a PC and sharing it from there temporarily.

Just .02 for thought...

Keep up the good work on the blog!

[Trish]

Thanks Pat for the reminder about security.