Most business owners need a safe place to store and easily access vital data, and many also need to share documents ‑ or collaborate on their creations ‑ with remote colleagues, customers or suppliers. If that's true for you, the solution could be in the cloud. 数据挖掘研究院
That’s cloud, singular – geek lingo for the part of a network that you’re connected to and that provides essential services, but isn’t directly under your control. Web 2.0-style “cloud services” or SaaS, including online backup and collaboration, may be the solution to any number of storage challenges small businesses face.
Companies such as Hewlett-Packard's Upline, Egnyte Inc. and Box.net offer very inexpensive and easy-to-use pay-by-the-month (or year) solutions that combine data storage, document collaboration and, in the case of Upline and Egnyte, automated online backup. In effect, they give you a virtual online file server. 数据挖掘研究院
Benefits
For as little as five dollars a month for unlimited storage capacity (Upline), you can use Web-based software that lets you securely upload files to the service provider’s computers and then make them available to other people over the Web. No more e-mailing documents back and forth. No more transporting backup tapes to a safe offsite location. 数据挖掘研究院
With some services, collaborators with the right permissions can edit documents and re-store them on the online file server. Some keep track of and automatically preserve earlier versions and even notify you of changes as they’re made.
Your files are always available, from anywhere you or authorized collaborators have access to the Internet, anytime of the day. If your office is flooded, burns down, you can't get to the office because of snow, or if your computer crashes and dies and you have to replace it, your data is still available.
