 As the market for remote backup solutions continues to expand, I thought I'd take a test drive of two of the most popular solutions: XDrive and Box.net. Sadly, neither service worked for me, and both appear to be buggy and severely lacking in several important areas. Here, I take a quick look at what's wrong with XDrive (www.XDrive.com) and Box.net (www.Box.net).
XDrive promises to mount a virtual drive to your PC, allowing you to copy and paste files to that drive just like any other storage device. Once files are copied to the virtual XDrive, a behind-the-scenes engine promises to upload the files to a remote server. At least that's how it happens in theory.
In reality, XDrive often failed to mount at all when I used it. Even when it did mount, the behind-the-scenes file upload engine would often leap to 98% CPU usage, hogging nearly all system resources, and refuse to go away until I hit CTRL-ALT-DEL and chose "End Process" to shut down the XdrSmb.exe application. In terms of software applications, XDrive is what I call a "misbehaved system hog." And I know what I'm talking about with software, as I own a software company that's been in business for thirteen years.
Even when XDrive happens to start uploading properly, it sometimes mysteriously halts the upload for no apparent reason, even when other processes (like FTP from a different application) are working just fine. I could not find any apparent way to restart a failed upload with XDrive.
On its website, XDrive claims to offer "24/7 support." But it isn't support, it's just a user guide and a forum. That's not 24/7 support. To get actual support, you have to call their offices during business hours.
You also have to call to cancel your account, apparently, because I could find no way in the account management area to actually cancel your account. The only option available is to upgrade your account or pay for a full year. So they can take more of your money with ease, right there in the account management area, but they won't let you cancel until you call. I also tried emailing to cancel my account, and I haven't heard back yet. This may end up being one of those times when I'll have to dispute the charge with American Express.
The bottom line on XDrive? Steer clear of this one. In my opinion, it's a system crash waiting to happen. And besides, it rarely worked right, at least on my PC. It's no surprise this service is owned by AOL (which is also famous for making it difficult for people to cancel their accounts).
Box.net
I also tried Box.net, a competing service that appears to have a much nicer user interface. Box.net was also quick about cancelling my service after I decided it didn't work. The problem with Box.net? You have to choose files one at a time to upload them for remote backup. You can't just select a group of files and drag or copy them to a destination folder. And that makes remote backup impossibly tedious, unless of course you only want to back up a couple of files.
Box.net claims that with the right Java, you can drag and drop files to be magically uploaded. I did not find this to be true. Even after upgrading to the latest version of Java, rebooting, and re-launching the Box.net service, every time I dragged and dropped files into the Box.net destination folder, my web browser got confused and thought I was trying to download those files. If I accepted the download, then my own files were copied from their original location to my download folder, which of course, is something I can do all by myself without Box.net. And it does nothing to accomplish the goal of remote backup. But it does make Box.net the most expensive and inefficient local file copy utility ever.
Thus, both XDrive and Box.net failed to work for me. Neither seems ready for prime time. Perhaps a new remote backup solution will appear in time, and I'll be glad to give it a whirl, but so far, I haven't found a remote backup solution that really works.
For now, your best bet is probably to buy an external hard drive, copy your files to it, and mail it to a friend who can keep it in a safe place. It's reliable, easy to figure out, and there's no monthly fee involved.
Boost this article on YahooBuzz! Click "BuzzUp!"
About the author: Mike Adams is a holistic nutritionist with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a maker of super bright LED light bulbs that are 1000% more energy efficient than incandescent lights. He also launched an online retailer of environmentally-friendly products (BetterLifeGoods.com) and uses a portion of its profits to help fund non-profit endeavors. He's also a noted technology pioneer and founded a software company in 1993 that developed the HTML email newsletter software currently powering the NaturalNews subscriptions. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and pursues hobbies such as Pilates, Capoeira, nature macrophotography and organic gardening. He's also author of numerous health books published by Truth Publishing and is the creator of several consumer-oriented grassroots campaigns, including the Spam. Don't Buy It! campaign, and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. He also created the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the ending of corporate control over medicines, genes and seeds. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org
The Health Ranger recommends and personally uses Aquasana water filters:
NaturalNews Exclusive: FREE decanter with *any* purchase from Aquasansa. Click here to claim:
 |
Related Articles:
|
Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com
 Email this article to a friend
 Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us
Permalink to this article: http://www.NaturalNews.com/019435.html
Reprinting this article: Non-commercial OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link.
Embed article link: (copy HTML code below):
|
 |
 |
Receive our Natural Health Newsletter for FREE
 Subscribe now to receive a summary of each day's most important natural health stories, plus get full, free access to the entire archives of books on HealthBookSummaries.
You'll also get access to 20+ free downloadable reports and exclusive interviews here on NaturalNews.com. Join over 1.2 million monthly readers. Unsubscribe anytime. Your email privacy is protected. We absolutely do not sell or share email addresses with anyone!
- Receive breaking news alerts on natural health solutions, renewable energy, the environment, global warming and more.
- Get instant access to over 20 downloadable health reports and exclusive interviews.
- Get full access to the entire archives of downloadable book summaries from HealthBookSummaries.com.
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Printable Version
