Originally this was done using a Pogoplug device which acted as a file server and connected a USB drive to the internet via your router. Plug in a drive, plug it into the router, plug it into the wall - it was that simple. For a one time cost of about $100, you had universal access to your stuff from anywhere in the universe.
Now Pogoplug has kicked this up a notch. You don't even have to buy the box now! They have implemented the whole thing in software. Download the Pogoplug app and install it on your Windows, Mac or Linux computer. Set up an account at Pogoplug if you haven't already, tell the Pogoplug app which drives and folders you want accessible and now you can get to your stuff from anywhere where you have a connected web browser. Access your data, upload files to your PC at home, share files with others, let them upload stuff to your drives. If you want to.
Your data stays on your computer. Pogoplug essentially acts as a traffic cop to tell the remote system where to go to get to your data. Access is password protected and the connection is made over SSL (i.e. https://) so its probably as secure as about anything else on the Internet. About the only time they'll see any of your data is if you do a file preview from the web application.
Oh, did I mention that all of this so far is FREE!
If you pay Pogoplug a nominal one time fee of $29, you get the premium version of this goodness. With that you can stream audio and video from a Pogoplug enabled drive to a remote machine. So now you can listen to all 90 Gigabytes of your music collection or watch any of the videos and movies you have on your computer. Anywhere. And if you have an iPhone or Android phone, there's an app for that. No longer worry about running out of memory trying to get your music collection on board.
This also opens up the possibility of sending your music collection to any room in the house. If you have a spare laptop - doesn't have to be a fancy high powered machine - simply set it up with some speakers in a second room and access your music collection residing on your main machine over your household wifi network. Plus, you can listen to one set of tunes while the other person can listen to their favorites on the other machine in the other room. And if both computers are on the same local network, you can even do this with the free version of the software.
Pogoplug has really been a lifesaver to me as I work on different computers in different locations all the time and often need to access files residing on my home machine. Instead of trying to anticipate the files I might need and copying them off to a flash drive, I can access what I need from just about anywhere. Pogoplug's service is first rate - real people on the other end of customer support that respond quickly and with the right answer. In other words, this whole thing just works.
Not an employee, investor or stockholder - just a very satisfied customer.
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