I use a web service (DropBox – http://www.dropbox.com) to keep data shared across the multiple computers I have. While I have been extremely happy with this service so far, I am still somewhat paranoid about security of the data in my folders. See my upcoming post about PogoPlug for another (not apples-to-apples though) solution.
First, a dropbox-for-dummies intro. You setup an account on DropBox.com and install a small application on all your computers where the data is desired to be shared. You login (only once) to your dropbox account in this application. This creates a DropBox folder on the computer. Now any file/folder you copy into DropBox will be downloaded automatically on all the other computers which have the dropbox app signed up to the same dropbox account.
So, what are the pros. You end up with the files locally residing on every computer of yours that has the dropbox client installed. This means you are not accessing files over the internet or the browser, which as we all know can never be as fast as accessing them locally from your disk. The dropbox sync algorithm is pretty quick and smart; and works silently in the background. Once installed, you almost forget about it; only to be reminded of its power when you are able to access the data on another computer. Finally, a pro which I do not really find much use of (as I do not have a web enabled phone or tablet), the ability to access your files using just a browser.
Cons: Well, while the power to delete file on one computer and have it deleted everywhere is very powerful; as with any power comes responsibility. If you have a dropbox enabled computer and you delete data in a dropbox folder, they will be gone from all the dropbox computers on the next sync. No – not moved to “Trash”; but gone. I have one computer connected to an external hard drive, and I periodically backup my dropbox folder to this external drive. Another con is that the entire dropbox folder resides on the servers at dropbox.com. While I have gone through their security policies and browsed through the forums to see if the data is secure; and it seems like they are taking all the right measures to ensure this; I am still paranoid on saving my very important files on Dropbox. For the ones I have in there, I zip+password protect them.
Given these pros and cons, I have searched for an alternatives for dropbox and I have implemented some; like using my own server and syncback (see one of my earlier blogs listing the applications I use); but at the end of the day, I find DropBox to the most ideal solution and I would recommend it to anybody looking for an ideal way to share documents across their multiple computers – seamlessly.