Nowadays, computers and laptops are being equipped with high capacity hard drives, thus letting you accumulate vast amount of data on your computer or laptop. But at the very same time, you cannot carry your computer or laptop everywhere and therefore lose access to your data once you are away from your machine. You can solve this problem by using memory stick or portable external drive. But these solutions are half-baked at best since you can access only those files which you transferred to your memory stick or external drive. However, You can solve this problem by using following methods:
Online Backup Methods: You can use online backup methods for remotely accessing your data. These methods are easy to use and provide dual benefit. This method not only lets you access your data from anywhere but also keeps a back up on the service providers’ servers. In case of your disk failure or computer failure, you can retrieve your data from the server. The major applications which provide this service are Carbonite, SkyDrive and SugarSync. Some of these providers also have mobile optimized websites. This way you can access your data on your mobile handset as well. You can read more about online backup methods here. These methods are generally available for a variety of operating system platforms.
Desktop Sharing Software: This is yet another way of accessing your files remotely. Online backup methods have one shortcoming that these programs may take a long time uploading or downloading your data. The time is dependent on your internet speed, however, there is another way of bypassing this requirement and to access your files directly without any lag. This method involves using desktop sharing software. LogMeIn is one of the most widely used desktop sharing software. This software is available in both fee and paid versions.
Other good desktop sharing software are UltraVNC and CrossLoop. If you are using a computer based on the Windows platform then you can use an in-built feature of Windows “Remote Desktop Connection”.
You also have the option of Windows Live Sync. You can download this software from sync.live.com and install it on your computer. You can use this software for remotely accessing your hard drive.
The main advantage of using desktop sharing software is that you do not need to wait for the upload or download of your files. However, its downside is that the computer you want to access should be turned on. The other disadvantage is that most of these programs are not optimized for the mobile phone use and therefore you can use them only with a desktop or laptop.
All these methods are easy to use and easy to master. You can try them and choose the one which fits your requirements in a better way.
