Monthly Archives: December 2012

Comparing Cloud Computing Options – Public vs. Private vs. Hybrid

When choosing a Cloud computing option, it’s important you understand that there are a few different types of clouds you can choose from. Understanding their capabilities is important to finding the right cloud service for your needs. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the differences between the three different cloud computing options: public, private, and hybrid.

Public Clouds

For a public cloud, the service and infrastructure of the cloud is hosted off-site over the Internet. A public cloud is great for collaborating online with multiple peers. However, many IT professionals are concerned over the security of these clouds as the service is hosted off-site (giving them less control), and cloud security breaches are becoming more and more common.

Private Clouds

With a private cloud, the services and infrastructure are maintained on a (usually on-site) private network. A private cloud is more expensive than a public cloud. However, it gives your IT department much more control over who accesses the cloud and how. A private cloud is perfect for larger companies that must adhere to strict security and data privacy regulations.

Hybrid Clouds

A hybrid cloud allows you to choose which aspects of the cloud are public and which are private by picking and choosing services from different providers. This is a good option for companies who are interested in using the cloud with clients, as it allows you to make some data public to those clients, while keeping the rest of the data you have in the cloud private.

No matter which cloud you choose, make sure that you are consistently monitoring the security of your data and accessing that data with secure tools and apps. To learn more about accessing data from whichever cloud you saved it in, check out our 30 day free trial of TappIn Pro.

History of Remote File Sharing

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The history of file sharing is unique in that it is a history that is steeped with controversies that have forced people to consider the legality of file sharing as a practice. One could argue that the history of file sharing stretches all the way back to the history of sharing, before digital file sharing technologies were available, and before the Internet.

However, for the sake of this blog post, we’ll be exploring the history of file sharing starting just before the birth of the Internet.

The Birth of File Sharing

During the Internet’s infancy, before it was named the “Internet” it was referred to as ARPANET, and file sharing was a practice reserved only for the most tech savvy of computer users. File sharing was also really considered more file transferring, as it usually consisted of manually transferring files with a technological medium like a floppy disc.

In 1962, a conference was held in Ann Arbor, Michigan to bring ARPA researchers together and begin to create the structure for the ARPANET. In 1972, email was born, allowing computer users for the first time to send files to one another via the Internet. It wasn’t until 1978, when smaller personal computers were introduced and software to connect to the Internet was created, that the Internet was made available to the general public.

Napster Introduces the World to (Illegal) File Sharing

Though it wasn’t around long, Napster was one of the first major file sharing services that was not only available to the public, but easy for everyday (non-tech-savvy) people to understand and use. Napster was a file sharing application that used a central server to organize file swapping between users.

The Napster platform was different from file sharing via email in that it served more as a gathering place for people to share music files with people/sources from around the world. Though Napster no longer exists, it had a huge impact on not only the way in which people share files, but it also had an effect on how the public views file sharing as a practice.

The Clouds Roll In

In 2002, the concept of “the Cloud” was introduced. However, it wasn’t until 2007 when Google Docs was launched that remote file sharing and file storage started to gain some momentum amongst Internet users. 2007 also saw the beginning of mobile file sharing capabilities with new and popular mobile technologies like the iPhone, and other mobile devices.

The Future of File Sharing

It will be interesting to see how remote file sharing as a practice evolves in the future. Taking a look at the cloud security trends of 2012, one can assume that file sharing will only continue to grow in popularity and evolve into a more secure practice (as more and more people use these services and demand that their data stay secure).

Generation bYod [Infographic]

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We’ve crafted this Infographic to illustrate the concerns many IT professionals are currently having about the first generation of BYOD, ‘Generation Y.’ Learn all about BYOD by looking at employees’ attitudes towards it, who exactly are these BYOD’ers, and why BYOD is here to stay.

Generation bYod infographic

How to Stream Music on Your Home Computer from Your Mobile Device

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How music is produced and distributed has changed drastically over the past two decades. With the birth of digital music samplings, being able to listen to music you’ve purchased has changed from playing your records on a record player to finding a device able to access and stream music no matter where it is saved. The convenience and popularity of being able to listen to hundreds of tracks with one small, hand-held device has led the way for technologies like the iPod and MP3 players.

However, being able to stream music no matter where you have it saved is becoming far more sought-after than purchasing a device to house all of that music – as storage solutions for those devices are getting more and more expensive.

With TappIn, you don’t need to buy a device just for storing and streaming your music. Instead you can use your current mobile devices (phones, tablets, etc.) to access and stream your music no matter where it is stored. Here’s how.

Step 1: Open the TappIn mobile app, and select the computer or cloud you’d like to access

Step 2: Select your music folder.

TappIn music folder

Step 3: Select the library you’d like to access.

TappIn music library folder

Step 4: Select the track you’d like to listen to and well, listen!

And that’s it. With just a few taps you can stream music files from anywhere. Even if you have separate libraries for your iTunes, MP3 files and any other music accounts, with TappIn you can access all of your libraries from one place. No more choosing between which libraries to take with you, with TappIn all of your music is with you.

To learn more about the advantages of using TappIn and to access and stream music no matter where it is saved, check out a FREE 30-day trial of TappIn Pro.

Using Free File Sharing Websites – Why the Risks Outweigh the Rewards

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If you search Google for ‘free file sharing websites,’ you’ll find thousands of results for a wide range of different file sharing sites and services. And while we’ve been trained to associate the word “free” with something positive and beneficial, when it comes to free file sharing websites, the term ‘free’ can be misleading. Let me explain.

The perceived “rewards” of using free file sharing websites:

1. They’re FREE.
2. They’re usually relatively easy to use.
3. THEY’RE FREE! (since this is the biggest, perhaps only, reward, I had to mention it twice).

The risks of using these free file sharing services:

1. Security – protecting and knowing who can access your data on these file sharing websites is much more difficult than if you were to share your file privately.

2. Ownership – terms of service agreements are often long and saturated with legalese and more technical language, making it harder for users to understand them completely. Most free file sharing and online storage sites retain rights to at least some control over your data.

3. Once it’s out there, it’s out there – there is no assurance of deletion in most free file sharing websites’ terms of service agreements. So, if you decide to take your data off the site, that doesn’t mean the site has deleted it entirely (potentially extremely risky for corporate data).

What you can do

If you decide you still want to risk it and use free file sharing websites, then it’s important that you do your research first. Make sure you are comfortable with the site’s terms of service agreements, and keep track of your sensitive data once you post it online. Or, you can avoid using free file sharing websites altogether and look into other ways of accessing and sharing files online.

To learn more about how you can get the same benefits of remote file sharing websites without using risky free file sharing websites, check out TappIn Pro.

Top 4 Cloud Security Trends of 2012 – Keeping Our Eyes on the Clouds

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Cloud security trends 2012 The end of the year is almost here, and there are quite a few cloud security trends we’ve noticed taking shape over the past eleven months that we wanted to share with you. In this blog post, we’ve listed the top four trends in cloud security for 2012.

Cloud Security Trend #1: Breaches are becoming inevitable

It seems each week we hear about a new security breach in the cloud. Dropbox’s security breach earlier this year reminded us all that our data is only as safe as the cloud vendor we use and no vendor has yet been able to claim that they are unbreachable. And because these breaches are now considered unavoidable, instead of ramping up more security to try and prevent breaches from happening altogether, businesses are investing in tools that will help them quickly and effectively detect and combat security breaches when occur.

Cloud Security Trend #2: Increasing malware directed at mobile devices

Malware attacks on mobile devices in the past have largely been considered to be not very serious (as people are more likely to keep their more personal/financial information on their computers than their phones), however, with so many people now using their mobile devices to access the Cloud and the Internet, cyber threats to mobile devices have increased as well.

Cloud Security Trend #3: Cloud security expands to include privacy, compliance and governance

As industries like the healthcare industry (with industry and governmental requirements) are starting to use cloud services, cloud security has been evolving to include compliance and governance capabilities so that those industries can legally start to use their storage solutions. Ramping up privacy, compliance and governance in cloud security is actually beneficial to everyone (not just specific industries).

Cloud Security Trend #4: Management looking at the security of large volumes of data

The idea here is that the more data you store in the Cloud, the more flexibility you provide for those who need to access that data. Companies are now looking for tools or services that will easily and securely allow them to access large amounts of data from multiple sources.

Hopefully, recognizing and understanding this year’s cloud security trends will help you to figure out how cloud security will evolve throughout 2013 and plan accordingly. Cloud storage will always come with risks, and so you really have to decide for yourself if using cloud security is worth taking on those inherent risks. To avoid cloud security issues altogether, check out TappIn Pro, a tool that allows you to securely access and share files no matter where they are saved (in the Cloud or on your computer).

SaaS, PaaS, & IaaS Cloud Computing Segments – Explained

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SaaS PaaS IaaS We’ve written quite a bit about how to use cloud storage, as well as what risks are associated with cloud computing. However, there are several different segments of cloud computing that we have yet to identify or explain. In this blog post, we’ve identified three important segments of cloud computing as well as what purposes they best serve:

1. SaaS

Software as a Service (SaaS) also known as “software on demand” is when you rent software from a vendor who hosts that software on centralized network servers making it available to users over the Internet. Currently this is the most popular cloud computing segment as it allows users to access data from anywhere, in turn giving them more freedom and agility. The most common SaaS applications include services like Google Docs and most customer relationship management (CRM) applications.

2. PaaS

Platform as a Service (PaaS) offers a development platform for developers meaning that users write their own code, and the PaaS vendor uploads the code and displays it online. Facebook is an example of one type of a PaaS “social application platform,” in that end-users can write new applications that are made available to other end-users.

3. IaaS

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), sometimes referred to as Hardware as a Service (HaaS), manages hosting and develops online environments for users. A good example of IaaS would be Amazon.com. Users utilize the Amazon infrastructure to sell their products, and in doing so avoid the costs associated with running an online platform like that.

Understanding the differences between these types of cloud computing services should ultimately help you understand if: a. cloud computing is right for your business at all, and b. if it is, which type of cloud computing is right for your business. No matter which segment best fits your needs, consider using remote access tools like TappIn Pro, which allow you to safely and securely conduct cloud computing, from anywhere on any device.

Monthly Archives: December 2012

Comparing Cloud Computing Options – Public vs. Private vs. Hybrid

Public Clouds

Private Clouds

Hybrid Clouds

Generation bYod [Infographic]

How to Stream Music on Your Home Computer from Your Mobile Device

Product

Resources

Community

Company

Legal

Public Clouds

Private Clouds

Hybrid Clouds

The Birth of File Sharing

Napster Introduces the World to (Illegal) File Sharing

The Clouds Roll In

The Future of File Sharing

Here’s what you do:

The perceived “rewards” of using free file sharing websites:

The risks of using these free file sharing services:

What you can do

Cloud Security Trend #1: Breaches are becoming inevitable

Cloud Security Trend #2: Increasing malware directed at mobile devices

Cloud Security Trend #3: Cloud security expands to include privacy, compliance and governance

Cloud Security Trend #4: Management looking at the security of large volumes of data

1. SaaS

2. PaaS

3. IaaS

Product

Resources

Community

Company

Legal