We all know it’s become a weird digital life both in the burbs and in the big city. You move from location to location but stay in touch with your life digitally. Often you’re confronted with the prospect of your digital information spread out over several PCs, even differing types of communications devices like the Palm Pilot, iPhone or Blackberry. The trouble is getting each of these devices to communicate with one another so information can be shared between them and moved from one device to the other.
It is unlikely that differing communication devices will link to each other in your home or small business environment, so how do you move data from one device to the other?
There are several options and you just have to try them to see which is best suited to your situation. You could use a USB flash device and copy data onto it and use the “sneaker-net” approach. That is, copy to a flash drive then walk over to another device and copy it on to it. Perhaps, you could try emailing the information directly to the computer or device where you want the info.
There is a better way to share data between your competing devices. Create a home server environment and have all your devices send everything to the home server. In this way the home server serves as a clearing house for all your digital info. Input photos, documents, work projects, music and whatever to the home server. As devices connect to the home server you have at your fingertips all the data you need to move. It’s all there, just plug in and copy what you want to a PC or phone device.
Let’s say you have lots of photos, music and documents scattered over several PCs around your home. Let’s say your kids have homework but they play games on their PC and sometimes it crashes. Let us just say you’re human and stuff happens. Well, a home server will protect your stuff.
Just like at the office your files reside on a local server and are backed up, processed and distributed by the server. But unlike the office there is way less complication to making a home server work for you. In fact it could make your life easier.
According to Shel Holtz of Holtz Communications, a Clayton, CA based social networking group, media and PR company he uses the Microsoft Home Server and finds it “ridiculously easy,” to use. He produces a twice weekly pod cast called For Immediate Release the Hobson & Holtz Report. He stores and distributes the media files he’ll be using on the next pod cast, images that his wife Michele collects, videos of interviews and documents. From there he distributes the files to his other PCs. This used to be a real messy process. He uses the server to store and distribute information his information and finds it “drop dead easy” he said. The use of a home server has saved him time and effort by centralizing all the data and then redistributing it to the necessary PC. His program can be found at www.forimmediaterelease.biz.
Various products exist that allow you to communicate with another PC such as GoToMyPC and WebEx which are good for simple communications from one computer to another. However, they can be costly due to their monthly maintenance fees. Home servers allow you to connect your PC remotely anytime without any fee and to as many devices as you like. Establish a connection through the Internet anytime you’re near a wireless Hot Spot, have a wired connection or use a wireless broadband card you can connect to your server for free. I find most people like that “free” thing.
With a home server one can easily set it up to do backups of all your important information. Never again worry about losing those precious photos or be unable to find that library of music that costs hundreds of dollars to assemble. Hey it’s “drag and drop” too. How easy is that?
Reference: For more information about the home servers Google: home server. Or, simply call your local computer expert.
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