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    Cloud Computing Tricks and Tips - September 2020

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    149 views82 pages

    Cloud Computing Tricks and Tips - September 2020

    Uploaded by

    Warnet DALNET
    Cloud Computing Tricks and Tips - September 2020

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    Cloud Computing Tricks and Tips Rediscover Discover more of our guides... uci Android | Mac UGS SEMU SSE | Tricksand Tips | Tricks and Tips Black & White Photography Tricks and Tips Cloud Computing Tricks and Tips ee nT FRITZ!Box + SICEUT AE ee | Tricks and Tips Sis a Landscape Photograph Tricks endT . iPhone Tricks and Tips Instagram Tricks and Tips Cloud Computing Tricks and Tips Weel d eee eee te Rel aca ele el ey (elie eae (eee aR aa EL AV UEeh Orie ily Clete al an ie eee Lael Agua ag Eve Te ae ea Re eee ek eu tacud a cu oar eer ese Ea Rc at ON aL eke mele ARB y ole iy Aes ean eA Eee ele Cae ae Steel ear cM EU eo POEM e enue ann €-1 Bale Wre Et vacte mace WRU cay cael Ng Een A Relea eee nM UL UO R oem understanding of technology and gain the skills to take you froma eee nam Ck UE (net Ogu se tg Mecano a RCE PE aT Rk US MEU Loe aces en Uc — Cola cekt Drain a} 8 How to Use Dropbox Storage 40__ Why Would You Consider a Do It Yourself Cloud? 10 How to Use Dropbox Sharing Setting Up Your Own Cloud 12 _ How to Use Dropbox Paper Virtualisation for the Consumer 14 How to Use Dropbox Photos Virtualisation for SMB/SME Users ovens Using a NAS Drive as a Cloud Server 7 Gn GRIetEs ‘52 _NAS Drives for Home Users Group Review 53 Home NAS Comparison Seas 18 Cloud Services for SMBs 54 Synology DS216Play 20 _ Team Collaboration Cloud Examples 56 Buffalo LinkStation 520 22 _ Cloud eCommerce Examples 58 QNAPTS-251+ 24 Cloud Accounting Examples 60 Howto Set Up a Cloud Using a Home NAS 26 _ Data Management Cloud Examples (62 _ NAS Drives for SMB Users Group Review 28 Email Providers for SMBs SMB NAS Comparison 30 Green Cloud Providers Synology DS716+I1 32__ Public Cloud Benefits Buffalo TeraStation 3210DN 34 Private Cloud Benefits 36 Hybrid Cloud Benefits QNAP TVS-682T How to Set Up a Cloud Solution Using a Business NAS 72 Cloud Security 74 _ Where Next for the Cloud? seags 76 Glossary of Cloud Terms Cloud Services cae Creed Serres Persea Contents eas regardless of whether you're storing files and folders, streaming media, creating RRC ae ec eee sharing your holiday snaps with your relations..” Published bP in Dita aenbaton Beer cant 8 @bdmpubs BDM Publications [)) www.bdmpublicationscom ~ Dropbox Cloud Services Dropbox Cloud Sis) avers Dropbox is one of the go-to cloud storage Sa Ce Re iT ee easy to use, easy to manage and lets you UWE CR UAE ROE PO a aac Beat munca ne Tr Cuan eer Mea OR meu Dropbox Cloud Services How to Use Dropbox Storage USING DROPBOX Getting up and running with Dropbox's Basic Plan doesn't require much computing legwork. Allyou need to dois sign-in to www.dropboxcom. You can sign up with Dropbox ether asa Once you've uploaded files, images or separate account or through your existing documents for example, you can click them to Google account. It doesrit matter which you view the contents You wil also be able to share opt fo, as ary alerts, notifications and soon are automatically any ofthe folders and individual les with others by clicking on emailed to the account you use the content in question followed by the Share button. 2. eT Came Dropbox works the way you do ofthe interface From there you!l be able to generate lnk have an automatic email sent and change the user permissions. ‘The shared user wil receive an emailin their inbox detailing the name ofthe shared files or folders. All they will need to dois click on the Go To Folder, or View button to have their browser redirect them to the newly created share, cay Review shared » photo with you! Once connected the other users with access tothe shared files can then make notes and ‘comment on the documents that are currently present. You can highlight select areas of text to comment or you can create a document-vide comment, using the symbol ‘to mention individuals by name. Sra) {Ifyou ind yourself running low on space, head ‘over to wwcropbaxcongetspace. Tis page wil detail the amount of storage space you have ‘and how you can earn more. Earning extra space doesnt always ‘mean signing up and paying forthe business account. There cad are some bonuses you can eam. ‘Get more space How to Use Dropbox Storage Gl By completing seven simple steps, youre ‘able to eam an extra 250MB of space. Follow Dropbox on Twitter and give the company some feedback and you can earn another 250MB Finally refer a friend to Dropbox and for each new member signed up thanks. toyou, Dropbox gives you SOOMB, ‘The Dropbox desktop app works in much the ‘same way as Google Drive and Microsofts OneDrive. I creates afolder on your system, putting the shortcut in Windows Explorer, adding an conin the taskbar and even a right-click cantext menu. ‘The Dropbox con in the taskbar i able to display ary notifications, the files within your STEP 10 area or shared folders andi can take you directly tothe local Dropbox flder or the web-based portal You can even upgrade and create links to individual les from within it o86 6 ‘Copy Link | Notifications Recent Fes Jet Set Wiy3J06 You added 7 weeks ago Martiansis:2106 You added 7 weeks ago Ful throttle PS You added 7 weeks ago Dropbox Cloud Services ) How to Use Dropbox Sharing TEAM CLOUDS Using Dropbox Sharing is remarkably easy. It's. ‘powerful when used with other members. To get started with Dropbox Sharing, locate and click onthe Sharing link in the Dropbox interface sidebar. This wil launch the currently shared files and folders set up page with some brief but handy feature information. . oe ‘to set up, simple to understand and implement and yet can be Youll need to name the new folder to begin with. Remember to give ita logicalname, as others who you share with wll be able to identify it when the email comes through teling them that theyre now a part ofa shared folder group Lets startby creating anew folder that will EIST) be shared with others. Click the blue button to the right ofthe screen labelled Create Shared Folder. This will pen a pop-up box offering two option, Create and share anew folder’ and'Share an existing folder’ For now, ‘make sure the fst options highlighted and select Next baptism $F you want you can enter a message in the lower section ofthe folder creation window, itsnot necessary but courteous to those youre inviting to share it with When youre done. clck the Share ‘button to create the folder and automatically let Dropbox send off the email invitations cay ‘Members that you've chosen tobe apartof the BUSA ID shared folder wil now receive their invitation email It wil tate who created the share andits ‘name and add a button for them to click tobe redirected in a ‘new browser tab tothe shared folder location. 7 (How to Use Dropbox Sharing Gl ‘you have any existing files or folders in your Dropbor store. you can tick the boxes net to ‘them followed by the Copy link to the right. ‘Then highlight the newly created shared folder and the Copy button to transfer the selected content to the shared folder. Siar} Obviously the great beneht of sharing files ‘and foldersis that you and your colleagues are able to collaborate onthe content. For example, lick on te files youve copied into your new shared folder. To the right you can enter Comments for sections of words, or ‘even on images. Now everyone has access you can begin to populate the new folder. You can drag and drop, ‘ruse the Upload files option tothe ight of the screen to add content. Likewise the ather members ofthe shared folder can do the same, although not those who have only been selected with View access levels. cad ugmicgunmaneeteentey, newagros z= Dropbox Cloud Services How to Use Dropbox Paper Launched in 2016, Dropbox Paper is the company's first foray into cloud-based document ee aa ac Oke uae Tce Cy collaboration and sharing of that content. QUALITY PAPER Dropbox Paper offers a lot more than just creat able to achieve some interesting results. You can find the link to Paper ited inthe ELE oropbox sidebar betwen Files and Sharing icking wl ake yout the Paper launch page, where youre abe to choose a New Document or one of the predefined templates. Recents ‘base document to share with others. Thanks to its design, you're ‘Moving back to the main Paper launch page, ELEGEDD clckon the Create New Doc button located on the far right ofthe page. The fist task when creating anew Paper document i to give tattle, you can do soin the labelled text box provided. terion eames discoverable with other users anduse any collaborations youve plus sign. Ths will stretch outa ist of available content icons: setup, ‘mage, Dropbox. Table and so on = on 8-Bit Adventurers ( How to Use Dropbox Paper Gl ‘cking onthe rst ico, Image allows you to With Paper you can also embed video nt the ELSE oload animage from your computer or device, USED) document youre working on For example,to The second option, Insert from Dropboxis a add new content locate a YouTube vdeo. Then, litle mae interesting Witht youre abl to pullout ary of your next tothe pus sign right-click and select Copy Video URL; ater Dropbox contetinto the newly created Paper document. _backin Paper pase te nknext tothe plus sign. The videos now embedded into the Paper document = : om you create animpressive document, filed with text from Word documents images and even video footage. The content placeholders can be edited to drop the items into better positions simply by clicking and reardering them, ‘at present you're notable to save a Paper document o Team Folders; but you can download and reupload to a Team Folder. 8-Bit Adventurers 8-8 Adventurers = Dropbox Cloud Services How to Use Dropbox Photos Dee eee OCU eo cea cy currently store in your Dropbox cloud. It may lack some of the more advanced features that Google offers but it's still worth using if you have numerous images to browse through. CLOUD PICTURES Whatever it lacks in complexity, Dropbox Photos makes up for with its simplistic interface and ease of use. Asa basic service, it works realy well. You can find the Photos link to the Dropbox Individual photos can be clicked expand Ursidebar just under Recents When clicked ‘them into a fullscreen view. Ths view wil it takes you to the main Photos page and display the time and date the photo was providing youhave conten, images abviousl,in your Dropbox created: you can also move the mouse pointer aver the top store the Photos page willbe populated right ofthe photo and tic’ it to add it tothe process bar located along the top ofthe screen, ER Ra eas ae et = image or photo was created, not when twas uploaded, currently selected photos via the process bar too ( How to Use Dropbox Photos youtcan click on the Share button to create a share ink or enter Further albums can be viewed and created by clicking on the ‘anemailaddress for someone youwanttoshare the photo with Albums linkin the sidebar. The icon with the three small ccs, next tothe You cana photos to aeady created FEED Fescocticonin he process bar wi expand Abunsin the same aya before by opening Stew more options wen cdked The ops up the Pats Tene ondsleingte aaiablehere aon youto athe selected photostoan images Instead stm cick on the ther than ging Sibum,dovmload them to your computer or device delete _treugh the mages Tis wl ing youbacko the Timeline them trom Dropbar ‘whereyoucan bows he photos wl sledding them tthe recess at SERS rom" title fora Dropbox Photos album. Click on the amount of photos you selected You can then choose the album button when youve fnished naming your album, youive created to copy the photos into, Individual alums can ‘then, naturally, be shared with thers. * Cloud for Business) Cloud for BUCA VNTR rE Ol Rarer DTU ED) aa Uncle Para a meet BS Ucon nto COUN LeU nC Ciena ew OAM Ceo TMC Uy lala em eee (040 SU aol ROM LUMA odo being the major cause for lack of technology adoption. Thankfully the cloud has a lot to Cire slave e ete ar te) your business and it can be relatively itouch R Con Te CULT CoLes vembimibetoscom Cloud for Business Cloud Services for SMBs GOOD FOR BUSINESS Cloud based tools and services that are best suited to SMBs are quite varied, depending on the type of business you run, Here are ten examples of what's on offer. and social media engagement customersis a great benefit when it comes are an important part of the modern business. Youre ne longer to gaining new business. Tales of companies going under due limited to word of mouth within the town you operatein; with toalackof security within their customer database are al too cloud communication services you're part of the global market. familar. Cloud services can greatly enhance your security and ‘that of your customers. hake {tneeds tobe flexible enough to work and customers all around the world, for you and what youre selling. Cloud computing senvces that to connect tothe services that your business offers. No matter cater for eCommerce solutions are idealin helping youwin_what time tis and where in the world a customer or emplayee ‘more custom and gain ground in an ever competitive market. is they are able to access what they neec: giving you time to focus on the core business (_ Cloud Services for SMBs Gl Small businesses are increasingly ROE EIED turing to cloud-based accounting and financial solationinstead of the traitonal desktop accountng software Coud francial services offer secure access tthe campary’ financial records are cheaper o establish and allow youto gett your records from any Internet connected devie ‘The biggest draw tousing a cloud service isundoubtedly secure and reliable data storage. Many SMBs opt for a complete loud-storage solution keeping al their data online to avoid data disasters, and allowing 24/7 acces ta it. Mast though, tend to lean toward a hybrid solution, where both on-site and cloud storage solutions work best. \" CLOUD STORAGE Collaboration inthe cloud can havea huge impact now you and your business works with others, Remote or mobile users can work asf theyre in the office and cross company projects can be managed easily It’s asmarter way of working together and thanks to cloud technologies also allot easier. COMET) Colleges training centres TE TENS OTED and academies can all beneft from the vast range of clouc-based e-Learning services, Whether its learning a new language, training fr work-based qualifications of even creating your own learning content, there are cloud solutions auailabe to help create what you need Setting up building and maintaining your awn email server ist too difficult butit does take @ high level of expertise and maintenance to do it right, and that’ often quite expensive. Using cloud-based email isa cheaper and hassle-free solution thatthe SMB should really consider adopting. Zz Cloud for Business Team Collaboration Cloud Examples Reece eeu C cae ae uct Cnr communications technology was originally designed for; consider John McCarthy's concepts from the 50s. Finding the right tool for the right job though requires some research WORKING TOGETHER ‘There are countless cloud collaboration services available which can be quite bewildering, Here are ten proven, business solutions, to help you fine-tune your choice of provider. One ofthe more popular Hudal offers a secure cloud collaboration Psy cloud collaborations services UM YESD service for customers such as the available for businessesis Department for Work and Pensions, NHS and from Dropbox With companies such as National Geographic, _the US. Department of Homeland Security Fle, tasks and University of Cambridge, ASand more, the services designed team communications ae all handled easlyand can deliver tascale and grow as your cllaboration with others does. ‘exceptional results for your business. Te Goumoone huddle Gitrichasa long history of Aside from offering ee TBE working with collaboration Ee R® a complete cloud services The company's solution for the newest cloud-based resource’ Sharefile and it provides a home user, Google's apps also cater for the business user. The simple, secure way to collaborate with teams all around. callaboration tools are the same as what's on affer for free, the world, however a business can demand mare content, space and. ‘unique customisations. = ShareFile Google Apps for Business »y CITRIX of 20 Team Collaboration Cloud Examples Gl The business side Box prides itself on offering a simple. centralised CEES OILED of Office 365 service where you tears en manageannd offers considerably collaborate on projects more effectively The ‘more than the home user gets For areasonable monthy cost workflow can be managed easily anda lot ofthe setting up you get all the usual Office 365 apps alongside MS Teams, processes arehandied automaticaly. Sharepoint and OneDrive for business al of which makes for anexcellent suite of collaboration tools. 1 Office 365 The newly redesigned Socialeast offers Yammer is apartof the Office 365 business re ERED 2 complete collaboration service to RTE suite that focuses on social networking and help your busines work better Users team collaborations Isa concise and easy can share collaborate andfocus on whats needed to bring __touse service that works seamlessly wth Office and fosters together the project or customers. Its astreamlined service great callabrationsacrass the workforce. offered here, one that theikes of 3M, Philip and Siemens use. & Y= yammer* contort erecting reel Neen clove B7redlg- & Meneehers Cloud for Business : Cloud eCommerce Examples The ability to lower costs, respond quickly to any market opportu ss and accelerate sales is why many businesses are turning to cloud-based eCommerce applications. There are ee ene ee ere ete meee ore ce ‘CLOUD SALES Businesses need to consider alot of aspects when it comes to choosing the eCommerce platform that best suits their needs. Out of the many, here are ten excellent examples to research, Hailed as one ofthe best eCommerce cloud EEURLAMD sericesavlale Shopty covers almost ever aspect of sales for your business 1s easy to use, has avast range of services and can be customised for your company, (A shopify Another ofthe top names in BENE e-Commerce cloud computing is BigCommerce, a compary that prides itsef on handing huge valumes ane more web taf. With an average uptime oF 9899 percent BigCommerce isan ideal solution fr those businesses who can predict significant gronth in their sector. {se COMMERCE Usir Teg iahoo asan ‘eCommerce platform may not be every company’ fst choice However, Yahoo Aabaco Small Business is one ofthe leading services in this held. Tt offers a stable secure and scalable platform, as well as bes in class SEO and. e-shopping integrations. YAHOO! Aabaco Small Business Here is another ofthe heavyweight RSC ID emes when tcomestoe Commerce and online shopping With ityou can create your online store quickly and easily building the e-Commerce front end with numerous themes, and al ata reasonable monthly cost. Woolusion Cloud eCommerce Examples 1ShoppingCartis an allin-one ‘Although not as wellknawm as some of ea Tle TD solution that offers a range of ED EAGLE the other e-Commerce solutions inthis list, packages covering all aspects of 3adcartis by no means small fryin the online getting your online store up and running There's ahigh degree shopping ocean With competitive SMB price plans and plenty of flexibility for your business as well as forthe products youre of technology available forthe business to grow and expand. selling andits easy to manage and update too, into, 3dcarts an excellent choice. TshoppingCart’ =) adcart Surprising Wk the fee west bude aso Etsy isan iterestng ation to this it in that BED stirsanecconmerce sevice irae agroning — GEM itsrotas much of aheanweght eCommerce tutti smal business and you vant ahasse- platform as most ofthe companies hee butt fre,cheap ecommerce seliton thenWaxmaywellbe worth _canoffr the SMB user exactly what hee loking fx With ieokinginto Whe twont be abletcompete wth thetig_nomonthyfes (just isting tacaction and payment ramets afantaste resource to consider procesingt py for and great election ota valable fanideal start O° Zz Cloud for Business Cloud Accounting Examples ‘Small business owners no longer need to purchase expensive and time consuming accounting software, thanks to cloud accounting services. The benefits of accounting in the cloud are well documented: better security, disaster recovery, accessible data etc. What's Preacreretaet nd ‘CLOUD FINANCIALS Atypical cloud accounting service will offer invoicing, banking, purchasing, expenses and tax management, with the ability to integrate add-ons such as PayPal. earBooksis a get start when Aconing io FreshBooks you can LD ‘eearcingcioutaccouringtor — EMSS sev 392 hours yeasty sing ts your business Wh you can ces sofware Hadas neo the easest customisable nics setautomaticpayenteninders and touse and implement coud accounting sere Fess schedule recurring imoices. I also excellent for keeping up _can manage every aspect of your small business accounting with your tax returns and managing your banking, needs together with being able to integrate numerous apps. (fj ClearBooks FRECHBOOKS cloud accounting reconciliation. It can handle multiple currencies, small business user I offers good has ahigh level of security and customisable reporting. value for money. is easy touse and cavers everything youll In short its considered one ofthe best online accounting need from fnancial software, including an easy to use tax solutions availble. return feature, D COMPLIANCE Cloud for Business Hybrid Cloud Benefits THE HYBRID CLOUD ‘An ideal hybrid cloud setup will allow a business to move its workloads between in-house, private and public clouds seamlessly. This gives the business a host of extra benefits. Without doubt the The hybrid cloud WORKLOAD FLEXIBILITY JPenteueres ABSOLUTE CUSTOMISATION RUTRSURT) hybrid setup offers, fensures that a isthe Rexbiltyof having an in-house server setup whilst business has its technology customised to near perfection sill being able to move into private and public cloud setups. _Use of inhouse and private cloud setups can be personalised Information, according toits sensitivity fr example,canbe tothe company as awhole or for each individual employee if arranged between the three models ensuring greater security. necessary: and pushing information tothe public cloud enables ease of access forthe workforce. CID 2. EEE boc... voluminous amounts of data to be mined imhouse and private for information can use a hybrid cloud approach to store the cloud access. hybrid cloud setup utilises all the security vast data collection locally while running cloud based analytics benefits of every cloud service layer, as well as locked down, within the cloud, on-premises security ( Hybrid Cloud Benefits Alot of te time a A hybrid cloud setup IN-HOUSE DEVELOPMENT JBSSsBeeetetscgmm GREATER ACCESSIBILITY JC aeees company's unique of the company’s software and apps development in oder to access all the ‘technology: in-house private and public clouds A remote cloud service layers. Tis in turn can lead to an in-house worker therefore is able to get to any layer of the technology, or development team, programming bespoke applications for the _tojust ane aspect oft should they need to. Increased firewall company workforce. access also bolsters security. Ifacompany Although a hybrid cloud EXPANSION AND GROWTH RTRNGTTy LUA AAA setup can be quite costly, then a hybrid setup there's usually afar better caneasiy cater for the company’s needs anddemands; as the disaster recovery plan factored into that initial expenditure. technology isin place and ready tobe utilised However, that Your in-house servers canbe backed upto the private cloud ‘analsa have a costly negative effect should the companys and nor-sensitive data can be present inthe public cloud, growth decline, ensuring that your datais always recoverable should it need ‘Asa companys using Having your apps and USSR oth cloudmodelsas § ACER RU GAD data in-house means wellasan in-house youre able t call approach it's able to make some cost savings by not having to them up faster than when they'e stored ina cloud. hybrid update its hardware as frequerty You can utilise the power setup usually has better network support and uses faster, cof a private cloud and the storage ofa public cloud whilst stil higher performing hardware to get the most from th in-house keeping your legacy hardware nse. and cloud layers. sembdmabctscon Advanced Cloud Uses Advanced @Let oR OLy=15 PRE Ue ue nec PEC Ca CUS CNUs Be ye lcm UCU RLM LL Soma nC ee Surprisingly, making your own cloud isn't as Clliier leech oR La MLC are plenty of options available and thanks to modern storage devices, implementing a home or business cloud from your desktop can be done with very few steps. vembimbctscom Zz Advanced Cloud Uses Why Would You Consider a Do It Yourself Cloud? Whilst using one of the many services available is perfectly fine, a small business or home user may want a little more than the service is offering, That little extra could come in the form of far more space without monthly payments or complete control over furkeet Cece YOUR VERY OWN CLOUD Insuch circumstances, having your own cloud is preferable to that of using one ofthe current solutions. For ‘example, as an individual, you can set up your own cloud with the computer hardware you already own; making it available to friends and family to access, or simply just for your own private use. Likewise if you own a business, you can opt for your own cloud, again using already available computer hardware connected to the company's router and providing as much storage as is needed for home workers or those on the road. Taking a few points into consideration here, let's see what advantages and disadvantages a DIY cloud can offer both the home and SMB user: toe enone crises teat nernigcneetecnt Tolink the security aspect of the cloud, a Once youve setup your DIY coud TED thereveryttienceded keep ‘trunning However beyond the core loud software you use. the computers set upon wil inevitably require operating system updates andthe ‘occasional reboot; as wel some TLC from time t time, a mast computers often seem to crave Updates canhave the habit of treaking'some feature further down the ine which canbe a costly pan when that feature has something to dowith your DIY cloud setup. ‘though most flks these days are more cnet seen en “The initial cost of setting up your own DIY cloud. may be afactor worth considering If youve any computer hardware going spare Such as _amotherboard, processor, memary, hard drives, case and so ‘on youre able to use them to build your own cloud server, something well look at very shortly Ifyou don'thave the kit to hand, then youl need to buy themin.It needn' be particularly ‘expensive and refurbished computers will workjust as well as, ‘nes that cst thousands; incidentally youre able to create @ Raspberry Pi cloud wit the right components. cf One thing youneed to be DISSENTED especialy avare ofis that using your own DIY cloud lminates te disaster recovery protection you get through an average cloud service. IF something goes wrong with acloud service provider, generally your fles ae stil safe within the ‘compary/s backups Should your house or business ever fal foul cof something disastrous lets hope not, then lsing your DIY cloud wil effectively lose all your cloud data, Youtherefore need to factor in another level af backup and disaster protection ( Why Would You Consider a Do It Yourself Cloud? IS IT DIFFICULT TO SETUP? Itsall ne and well talking about the benefits of a DIY cloud setup but in real world terms is ita mammoth project that requires intricate IT skill levels? short, simple answer to the above question: no. Yes youwill Weil look at how you can set one up over the next four pages, need some IT skills that much goes without saying Knowledge utilising both existing hardware and abrief shopping list of ‘of how to install an operating system and any third party components should you not have anything to hand, Essentially, software is certainly advantageous. However you needritbe a you can set up a DIY cloud wth a standard computer, ori Computing guruto set up a DIY cloud serie; its not {youre interested in stretching your project skills ou can use a something that will take up too much time either. Within an Raspberry P. We wont go inta RPI detail here but its certainly hour you can be up and running and hosting your awn cloud. worth considering fr a future endeavour. GD ADIY cloud needn't be an ultra-powerful spec PC. Cobble your left-over hardware together and see what you can make Advanced Cloud Uses ) Setting Up Your Own Cloud - Part 1 If you're interested in setting up your own cloud server, you're going to need to get hold of a few items to begin with. It's not too difficult to get up and running but you may need to eee eran ip cae INGREDIENTS FOR A CLOUD Let's begin by looking at what hardware you need to get your own cloud server up and running. Your own cloud dost need tobe an utr Dari forge include a keyboard mouse and BLEED pevertiec it youhaveamatherboard EEERED ontorinthe setup though natrecessary processor and memory al preety whi a tre the servers up and ruming syoucan case, manufactured dung thelast ve yarsorsa thenyau remote desktop ait fom anather PC youneed them to set alreadyhavea great hardware base on which to build your loud, everything up to begin with SOFTWARE FOR YOUR CLOUD (Setting Up Your Own Cloud Gl The hardware is just one element of the setup, for everything to work correctly you'll need to install an operating, system and the software needed to set up the cloud side of things. You've got three choices of operating system: Windows, Mac and Linux. Windows and Mac ‘operating systems cost, so you need to factor in the extra expense of ane or the other. Linux on the ather hand, is freely avalable but it carries with ta steeper learning curve than the more familiar Windows or Mac options £64 STARTING YOUR CLOUD BUILD Sian We're assuming you have the hardware in place and that you have at least an Youre also spoiled for choice when it comes. to cloud software. Although there are plenty ‘of programs that offer simple, online and accessible ile sharing, better developed cloud server software will ofer the user the ability to access ther cloud via mobile _apps and other operating system cients, etc ing as to which OS and cloud software you want to use. For this particular example, we're going to use Linux and OwnCloud. ‘A good option to consider, if you want to save cost, isto use Ubuntu and GwnCloud. The best version of Ubuntu to go for is version 16.10 it's remarkably stable and performs very well on both madem and older hardware, Italo freely available from htp://releases Uubuntucom/1610/. You need to download the Ubuntu-16.10- desktop-amd64iso fil, at 1568, Sian Getting Ubuntu installed on your cloud harciware i surprisingly simple, There are many guides available but forthe sake of keeping you inone location look to wrmubuntuconvdownload/desktop/ bburn-a-dvd-or-ubuntu for a guide on how t transfer the downloaded Ubuntu to a DVD, or wubuntucom/download/ desktop/create-ausb-stck-on-ubuntu fr transferring the image toa USB stick ‘Once youve downloaded the Ubuntu image and transferred ito either a DVD or a USB stick youneed to instal tonto the cloud server's main system hard drive. Again, the process isa litle too long to feature here but look up wwubuntucom/download/ desktop/install-ubuntu-desktop fora guide on how to install Ubuntu 16.0. With Ubuntu installed, make sure youre upto date by clicking onthe Dash, the icon inthe top left of the screen and typing in Terminal. When the commandline Terminal opens enter the following: sudo apt get update and press enter. Type in your Ubuntu password and when the process is complete, enter sudo apt-get upgrade ‘and press enter again, Say Advanced Cloud Uses Setting Up Your Own Cloud - Part 2 YOUR OWNCLOUD Youneed to download and install the OwnCloud setup files. It's an easy process and all handled from the command line. So, click the Dash and open a Terminal session. donritoad.owncloud.org/download/ prompt. You can minimise the Terminal fr now. repositories/stable/Vbuntu_16. 10/Release. key Open up Firefox from the sidebar Launcher and in the address =O Release. key. This will download the accesskey tothe _bar enter: wwwlocalhost/owncloud This wil direct youto the (wnCioud repository Once that’ done ada the key with: sudo! neuly installed OwnCloud portal Enter anew Administrator ‘apt-key add - < Release. key. username and password and click Finish Setup. apt/sources. List.d/owncloud. List” Then youneed to users, open the Terminal again and enter: ifconfig, Update the system with the new information: sudo apt-get Update. Now you can install OwnCloud with: sudo apt-get ‘instal onncloud. Press Y to instal, ( Setting Up Your Own Cloud Gl \With ifconfig youre locking forthe IP address ofthe cloud server is found after the ‘net’ entry inthe list ours inthe Step 4 screenshot, is 1921681192, Open anew tb in Firefox and enter: http//192.1681.192/owncloud, replacing the 192.168.1192 part with your PCs IP address Click onthe Add x2.xx as ‘rusted domain button, followed by Yes. The lat step added the network address ofthe OunCloud server as atrusted source. To create users, onthe OwnCloud Admin page, click on the pulldown Admin linkin the top right of the screen and select Users. Click Add Group and create anew user access ‘group; click the Plus sign to enter the group. STEP 6 Folders within OwnCloud can be created or deleted by clicking the Plus symbol atthe top of the screen Folders and files can be shared with ather users by licking on the Share symbal or the three ful stops You can change between file and media views by clicking nthe four boxes in the top right of the screen, Thisnest step is tricky To gain access to ‘OwnCloud from outside your network you need to open ahole in your routers firewall Every routers slightly different, making it difficult to say what todo exacty, However, lank fo Port Forwarding and allaw port 80 ‘access to the OwnCloud server. oe ‘tthe top ofthe screen you can see the Admin and Password boxes, Use these to enter a new username, their password and the new Group you ust created Click the Create button when you're done. On another computer, open a browser and navigate to:http//192.1681,192/owncloud and enter the new user's dltalls Repeat these steps with all your users, Younced EOD your Broadband IP Address as displayed on your router connection status page. Use this to connect tothe OwmCloud server as vwowbroad bandipaddress/ awmcloud, With port 80 allowed through the router tothe OwnCloud server you should be able to access the sever from any Internet connected device It's basic compared to Google Drive but itworks 45 Advanced Cloud Uses ) Virtualisation for the Consumer DESKTOP ANYWHERE What are the advantages of setting up or using a cloud-based virtual desktop? As it happens, here are ten examples of where a VDI will help you out. (ne of the main virtual desktop is RUN LEGACY PROGRAMS BVyennete eC MELD what's known as a running a virtual sandbox environment. desktop inthe loud isthe ability to execute old programs and Thismeans ts avrtual space where new, untested or apps inthe operating system environment they were designed untrusted software and coding can be executed without fear of for. For example running a DOS 622 of Windows 95 virtual _itdamaging the host PC You're also able to browse securely as desktop inthe coud wil allow you play all those DOS classic your personal data sit on the VDL games and programs in for the Consumer Using a common scenario: wile REALE on rt you scent needs do some work Using virtual desktop inthe cloud wil give you acces to a uly working computer and you can complete what youneed towhile sharngit with others Oddly enough if youve access toa PETAL UAD cloud-based virtual desktop. then youre able to set up your ovm cloud server within the already cloud hosted virtual environment. This way you can create secure tunneling for the users to access the cloud and have everything hosted remotely. Having a secure backup is always a good TED ses eentoratome we ttsings cloud-based virtual desktop is certainly ‘one way to achieve that goal You can, with some examples and services, create an exact copy of your locally installed operating system in the cloud; so it's always backed up and ready for a quick restore. Tr youhave need to access rltple desktops, the intial costs in tems of hardware, software CUTTING COSTS licensing and time to set everything up, not counting a backup routine or anti-virus support, can be high Alternatively, you can opt fora hosted virtual desktop platform with multiple desktops available fr as litle as €25 per month. e te eU NU As youte accessing a virtual machine online there's ltle need to fork cut for a £2000 computer. While you prabably wort be able to run complex 3D imaging or the latest graphically demanding ‘game on a cloud:-based virtual machine, you can use it for everyday work without needing to buy a new computer Advanced Cloud Uses) Virtualisation for SMB/SME Users DESKTOP AS ASERVICE ‘Many of the benefits of virtualisation in the cloud for the business user cross over with that of the home user but for ‘a business those benefits can yield great advantages over the competition, and you can reduce software and hardware costs. Aide from to full PCs.A Thin Clients able to access the remate desktop the cost savings your workers can access their desktops from and work as anormal computer but with an estimated £60 per anywhere in the world annum per machine saving in electricity me CARBON Trust = — Using a virtual desktop hasting Further to last ESET service vill ensure that you PAE OLD entry using Thin receive the highest possible Clients to replace support 24/7, without the need tohave an extensive in-house PC and accessing a virtual desktop serice.will see a CO2 IT team, Any issues with the virtual desktop setups can be reduction af 20,956KG per year anda total energy saving quickly resolved and broken images easily replaced with a costof 40,300 Ki; based on 100 NetVoyager Thin Clients former snapshot. replacing PCs See wmmnetwoyagercouk/generaV/energysave. himl for more details, Traditional Integrated = : ro CSEmT aon Tanga — — \ = < < Virtualisation for SMB/SME Users Avirus hitting an individual, Ws often PT CESECOD home wseris bed enough MULTIPLE OPERATING SYSTEMS Promina ‘but when one gets loose in business ‘a company ican be disastrous Using avirtual desktop service tomerge alits departments and users operating system will greatly reduce the chance ofa vrus spreading through the needs. Marketing and design wil require Macs office staff PCs, ‘company network and other PCs. developers may want Linux, PCs, Macs or even mobile operating systems, With a virtual desktop service you can specify and use allthe availabe operating ystems across your entire business. Workers sing a virtual As with mst clu service eferings, ARMS esto can quickly Eo yout abl to easly scale up oF rece om ay disaster own your virtual desktop numbers byrestoringarecent snapshot oftheir deskip The domme asyourbusiness demands ineeas or reduce New wakes ee therfore ora broke wrtual deskp isminimal comparedto qu added and allocated vial desktop whe fermer thatof standard ivhouse desktop estore Motes or corvactrscan be removed tosave bandwidth and Support costs a= = ~~ > Abusinss that uses virtual desktop Aswit the home user a business is BESTS EADD sericesis ao etter placed tosecurethe [PEORSRLUGUED abletouse a virtualized older desktop desktops its offering Youle abe to fine operating system to keep supporting tune the security settings so warkerscarttaccess unnecessary _itapps and software, Ifyoulve already paid for apiece of websites, or run illegal copes of software. Thisis ll possible on software and anew operating system wont support then «a traitiona in-house setup too but much easier forthe virtual using a legacy system within a cloud virtual desktop setup wll desktop service to set up and utilise keep youup and running, Advanced Cloud Uses Using a NAS Drive as a Cloud Server NAS BENEFITS NAS technology has come a long way in the last few years. No longer are NAS drives monolithic boxes dominating the room they occupy, infact they're quite discreet, media-type installations that can easily be hidden away in the corner ofa living room or in the corner of the office. They are remarkably powerful these days too. With specifications. Th terms of service and software many modem NAS units una that better that of atop ofthe range PC from nats longaga,a customised version of Linux which serves as the backbone to rmadern NAS isa far more capable computer than some ofthe ther file and media sharing capabilites. There’ also arange of -C foundon desks. This improved processing power allows more installable apps available, that can further improve the scalabilty services to be run simultaneously and with support for more users. and use of a NAS, such as cloud server software, for example, capable, NAS units ean be around the hundred pound mark. The only expense isthe actual hard drives you buy to install within the NAS unit, Depending on what capacty harddrive you want, and how ‘many, you could be looking at anything from £40 up to £400, ANAS drive, PERFORMANCE ia mean the entire unit andthe hard drives within, has a reasonable set of specifications Youcan easly expect to see dual or quad core processors, gigabytes of memory, high performance read and write speeds and gigabit Ethemet ports In general a [NAS wil outperform a similar speciied PC atthe same le serving duties due toits law memory use operating system and the limited numberof processes the hardware is required to run. Ths frees up alt of resources for its sharing duties. Using a NAS Drive as a Cloud Server GD susineses who mantle scalability an oto enterprise level NAS solutions with 24 drive bays possible We've already looked at the PETE SEO ID benefits of virtualisation for home and business users. If finding avrtual desktop hosting solution isnt working for you, then a NAS drive may be a good alternative, Some NAS drive ‘manufacturers have implemented a virtualisation app that canbe downloaded and installed to the NAS; and when set Up correctly wil serve the user base with a variety of virtual desktop images Naturally using a NAS asa cloud serverisa great solution You can utilise the huge capacities ofthe installed hard drives, up to 107, whilst offering the users an easy to connect and use cloud solution, Most of the NAS dives, also offer a simple management setup allowing even non one PIC} technical users the chance to get up and running with their ‘nn cloud within a matter of minutes; and often without the security hassle of opening up ahole in the router NAS drives aren't useful for simply sharing your media With the right setup, ll your desktop computers, regardless of whether ‘yulre an individual ara business can he backed up toa NAS, Youcan even store multiple backups across days, weeks or ‘months if you have enough storage available, yo ANAS isan excellent one stop solution fr ay type of user. An individual can house their media collection. family photos and data backups on NAS whilst using a cloud ‘app to hast phatos and music toother family members. business user can use ‘multiple NAS units to backup provide cloud server access and itualisation tothe workforce, and all from aninexpensive and easily ‘manageable box, Dual bay, or more, NAS drives offer the user a set of RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) options with the installed drives ARAID setup simply offers diferent kinds of configurations or levels. Each ofthese levels can implement. fferent typeof redundancy For example. RAID offers data mirroring, so any data written to one drveis mirrored bythe second. Tis way should one drive fll you can replace it and rebuild the data from the other one. Depending, an the RAID level. you ether lose some or use all f the drive(s) capacity installed. Two 10TB disks at RAID 1 will only allow you touse 10TB, as the other drive is being used as the miro. Cy ad GD Mostly though, an SMB willbe more than satisfied with just as powerful NAS, drives, offering more than ample capacity. ———— CH Advanced Cloud Uses ) NAS Drives for Home Users Group Review With the wealth of NAS drives available for the consumer, it can be a tad challenging finding one to suit your needs, and that still offers good value for money. Most of the NAS drives you'll come across are of excellent quality but some offer a little something more than the Beceaurel THREE NAS GROUP REVIEW We units and suitable for the home or even the small office. The role ofthe NAS has changed in recent years, thanks in part to the cansumer push fr more storage and better waysin which to stream content to our various smart devices. As a result most NAS Units are dedicated media servers, offering streaming ofthe ‘mecia stored onthe drives via. a number of protocols DLNA ‘SHOUTcast, iTunes and countless more Beyond the media serving capabilities, ahome NAS can act asa surveilance station connecting to security cameras and recording the feeds. You can use ane as webserver hosting your Wordpress blog or a content management sytem, There are «apps to connect to Dropbox and other cloud services to keep your backup files in smc with eachother Youcan even use a NAS a Virtual Private Network server taking over the role form your router and providing your intemal Intemet connected devices a private and secure connection tothe outside wold. ‘Te numberof apps available fora particular NAS uit depends greatly onthe manufacturer of the unit and how they go about Creating apps that can be integrated int its operating system. = e got three different NAS drives in for review, from Synology, QNAP and Buffalo. Al are considered consumer For the most part, there isa wealth of available apps from mst of the big namesin the NAS industry, especialy with the three uits| we have for testing here ‘Inter ofthe operating system on aNAS,you can usualy ind a heavily customised version of Linux. Ths ensures the NAS s operating without consuming too mary of ts own resources, hist offering a secure and easy to use interface with which to interact. ‘The Cloud duties on such units are just as impressive. Chat le sharing calendar sharing, collaboration across folders and fles with anything up to 2048 individual users ona single NAS. The beauty of using a NAS drive asa cloud servers thats ‘marvellously scalable for the individual Youcan expend its storage by buying bigger capacity hard drives and nstaling them, most have multiple USB pots that allow you to fit further storage You can download diferent modules to enhance or enable other NAS cloud features and you can assign groups and create users with limited or whale access to certain flders stored with the lester, ( NAS Drives for Home Users Group Reviews Gl Home NAS Comparison The three NAS drives we used for the home reviews are all excellent in their own unique ways. As with most technology, it's what the user wants from the system that dictates which model they eventually buy. COMPARISON CHART Here's a quick summary to help you compare some of the features and specifications of each of the NAS drives. Remember though, the better spec model isn't always the best choice, SYNOLOGY DS216PLAY BUFFALO LINKSTATION 520 JM QNAPTS-251+ £145 £220 £250 15GHz Dual Core STM STIH412 _1GHz Realtek RTDI195N Quad-Core Intel® Celeron® 2.0GHz AEODORS (ual Core) (burst up to 24262) Teaco 256MB DDR Tp 2éte26 2ce0onaL ra ue aal NoUSB 20 Ports Tisiad 15-251+-86: GB DDR3L RAM No HDMI (24GB) 165100 «2255 mm EHOW Expandable upto BGB (088K (without drives) Six 126 5 co 2xUSB20 WiebAccess ae 2xUSB30 DLNAM Media Server Ss HOM NovaBACKUP Buffalo Edition Ne eet 169102 x219 mm Bitorrent™ NovaBACKUP Buffalo Edition oe Apple Time Machine® Eis ert§ Wiebaccess Apple Time Machine® Anu Medusa NovaBACKUP Buffalo Edition BitTorrent Apple Time Machine® Fy NAS units for the home have improved immensely over the years, thanks in part to the technology used in business server rooms and superb manufacturers such as Synology. ‘Synology has just about perfected the NAS solution for small, renee eee ee co considered to be one ofthe best examples of NAS units available in particular the DS216Play. Thisis atwo-bay NAS drive complete with an STM STIH412 dual er eg re Screener Ty builtin 4K hardware video transcoding system with support for Ponce me ed Oe eee Eee cE) Pee a ieee ae ey een reir ene eee Peeters Dene ep eee oy Reet enn ane ens eee sro ee eee ee eter et eg Cee eee eta coon noise levels were below that and barely audible all. ‘The DS216Play is actually quitea stylish looking unit The matt Pee ec ree nthe sides, is complimented by the piano-black polished trim Poteet ir eraa tan Behind the hardware though s the real star of the show, the DiskStation Manager operating system. Now on version 6 C Synology DS216Play this Linux based 05 boasts a much improved security enhancement by utilising AppArmor to block any unauthorised acess to the system resources through malicious programs. DSM 6.1 also offers a Build Your Own Cloud feature, where you can remately access and share files over the Internet or sync cere eat cee ones ries Cloua Station Server on the DS216Play and the Cloud Station Senate urea ecrcrnenss acess the NAS easily from outside your hame network Ce Coe ey that cover nearly every aspect of the home user and small Deer any eet partin thanks to Synology making sure that the ne od are developed correctly as wel asthe adequate hardware Cee eet ee sae ere tere cen Cee mu ee een cies ca ‘There are lots of possibilities with the Synology DS216Play. Soret Meo oe etsy eee an oun eee een he potential to add external drives via the USB 30 por. Coes ere eae Peete asking p eee er aa. wo hard drives as well. Overall though its an excellent power NAS for the home; certainly one ofthe best models from one ofthe top ny PCa tee Features at a glance: CPU Model CPU Architecture CPU Frequency Hardware Transcoding Engine 32-bit ‘System Memory Drive Bays ‘Maximum Internal Raw Capacity USB 2.0 Port 1 USB 3.0 Port 1 Size (Height x Width x Depth) Weight Maximum Local User Accounts ‘Maximum Local Groups 256 ‘Maximum Shared Folder 256 ‘Maximum Shared Folder Sync Tasks. 4 ‘Maximum Concurrent 256 (CIFS/AFP/FTP Connections ‘Maximum Concurrent File Transfers 088KG 2048 256 STM STN412 Dual Core 15 GHz 1.265 (HEVC), MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-2,VC- 2078 (10 TBHDD x2) (Capacity may vary by RAID types) 165 mmx 100mm x2255 mm. CeCe Tuc Rn mEch citer euecan tcanc eents OCC CU Ee Our UC CUCU RSC UC Ur re Un tC OSTEO ASO The Buffalo LinkStation 500-series offers single dual and four bay solutions tothe home and SMB user. The LinkStation 520, ee auc eto oan Thisis two drive device with supported capacity options of Boone sete ren en RTDLI9SN dual core 1GH2 CPU and 256MB of DDR3 memory that helps power the unit along nicely Connectivity consist ofa single USB 30 port along with one ce eae eran eee rg Cee ee ace net oe See ere eed ea ee eer ore ier Peete eon en Cee peste een te is Ue eo oe ‘opposed to a swing door option revealing the two drive bay slots ited with a couple of hot-swap drive bays, Removal of the drives is as simple as pulling on the handle and you can custom fit any SATA 3Gby/ drives up to a maximum capacity of ces ‘There are a number of storage options when you fst setup the Peo meu performance but with no redundancy should anything go eae ee eet ecto Dace een Cage rea See eee Perec te nei aa Setting up was incredibly easy through the combination of the Buffalo NAS Navigator app and the Linuxlike web portal ofthe Ce usenet ea 0 on you afre presented with a desktop where you can gain, access to all the LinkStation’ functions and shared folders, along with the maintenance and setup ofthe device. FE) wwwhdnteercon Features at a glance: cPUType cPUSpeed Performance System Memory Number of Drive Bays Total Capacity USB 3.0 Port Dimension Weight WebAccess DLNA™ Media Server NovaBACKUP Buffalo Edition BitTorrent™ ‘Apple Time Machine? Realtek RTDLIOSN (Dual Core) GHz 10MB/s 256MB DDR3 2 Enclosure, 2TB, 478, 678, 818 1 87x126x 205mm 25K6 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (0 LinkStation 520 Advanced Cloud Uses ) QNAP TS-251+ emcee emir oy QNAP is a company that has = produced some excellent el) SES muy s EYES Use cr es pod ane Fy (QNAP TS-251+ The modern home NAS solution has evolved over the last s into something rather extraordinary, No are they simply networked boxes housing a hard ror eae ne tes pore demands from their networked storage solution eee ere een ett NAP has therefore pulled out all the stops and is now Pe ee a aces Sera ee acre eect Peer eee eT ee eee ae eae? Inside this two bay NAS you can find a quad core Intel ore eee area ee epee) eee coe ey ues Can ean Oot Cs eC eee cradles that lide into the unit and lock into position, Se ae eee ee a Cee ne ery Lenn eee pre er USB 3.0 spec; there's also a power input and a pin-hole eset, The front contains a further single USB 30 port, the Peto ty trip of LED Seer eet oe Cree eee reser Caer ee eam system called QTS 42.3, whereby you can configure the cess bode offers you the and set up the RAID levels for the inserted drives Soins Tomtom particular specification or to delve deeper into its inner workings for a more advanced level of configuration, ee eee a on facility include the usual DLNA server but with the added ability to hardware transcode video in real time up to five different devices simultaneously. The myQNAPcloud service will allow you to access your NAS contents nee seen nee ses Poe ener ene nics will test the connection between your route Preecenice ro eee ecm server, network based surveillance station and server, and many more services via the QNAP App Centre. The y good, Virtualisation Station is particu con access to network wide virtual ope The installation ofthe TS-251+ is quick and easy to. Everything is taken care of via the QTS interface and walks you through the process without ary incoherent technical Peoeer ne ren eens Peer icat ue sta one) the cost Features at a glance: cru Quad-Core Intel® Celeron® 2.0GHz (burst up to 242GH2) ‘System Memory TS-251+-26: 2GB DDR3L RAM (1x26) Expandable up to 8GB Drive Bays USB 2.0 Port USB 3.0 Port 2 169x102 x219 mm Dimensions Weight 128K6 WebAccess Yes DLNA™ Media Server Yes NovaBACKUP Buffalo Edition Yes BitTorrent™ Yes ‘Apple Time Machine® Yes Ae) Advanced Cloud Uses How to Set Up a Cloud Using a Home NAS Creating your own NAS-based cloud server is remarkably easy, thanks to the modern operating systems and apps available for a NAS drive. In this example we're going to use the Synology DS216play NAS fitted with a pair of 6TB Seagate IronWolf hard drives. CREATING YOUR CLOUD We've pre-ftted the two IronWolf drives and run through the initial set up process; this involves creating an admin user account and installing the latest version of DSM OS. Fst we need to instal the Cloud Station Serer With QuickConnect enabled, and once youve BSE ID ‘101 the Package Centre, located on the DSM SUSERD confirmed the new account with Synology (via desktop Inthe Package Centr, you can find anemail sent to you), cick the Apply button in the Cloud Station Server app inthe Busines section Click the Control Panel Scroll up alittle way inthe Contrl Panel unt on Install and Agree to allow the new apptoinstallon your __yourcome toUser and click ot. The right-hand pane ofthis Synology NAS. Section wil detail the current acounts with acces tothe NAS. groan Sees to QuickConnect. Click the QuickConnect link, Email and Password. You can tick the boxes to sigoergsttronmnsciteeme tase zodoe cnn enone How to Set Up a Cloud Using a Home NAS ‘Administrators to just yourself Click Next when youre ready the next screen you're able to assign permissions to the new individual users. The builtin shared folders within the NAS With an example user and shared folder SUED are: Homes, Music, Photo and Video. On the SUSI) created, we can now attach tothe cloud server next page youre abe to select the type of using the QuckConnect app. For outside users permission the new user willhave to each of those folders. to gain access tothe NAS you need to inform them af the Don't wory too much about the shared files as youcan create QuickConnect address, wich s listed onthe QuickConnect app ‘one ina moment. Click Next when youre ready to continue. _ page. Itwll be htp//QuickConnectto/NAMEOFNAS, where [NAMEOFNAS isthe QuickConnect name you et up. ———— a ——— a since teen tec sesame ton smote eT an cnet een rporateaae rem irerieme | gues tStaceearenere assigned apps, clckthe Apply bution tocreate the new user. dawnload, view and share any content they have permission to Gy z= Advanced Cloud Uses) NAS Drives for SMB Users Group Review BUC Pee Seen ct De Gt oe Y CCR reer Tee eee ena tet etme eee neue gary sheer choice. As before we have three to review, all from the SMB lines of the manufacturers. THREE BUSINESS CLASS NAS REVIEW To aid with consistency, we've selected three business class NAS drives from the same manufactures as the home, consumer models: Synology, QNAP and Buffalo; it willbe interesting to see how they compare nextto their home 1 the role ofthe consumer NAS has changed significantly in recent years, you'd think the business led NAS would have stayed somewhat stati; afterall the role of a business NAS is simply to provide a backup and fle server roe, isi? ‘There's more ta a modern business NAS though than you would first imagine First it generally needs tobe a more powerful ‘computer than the consumer versions; its usual thatthe business NAS' processors are more powerful faster and have {64-bit architecture aver the home-based 32-bit models, Furthermore, there's mare memory available to cape and drive the faster processor. This elevated performance int thereto simply drive the business focused apps and other installed hardware. Consider that business NAS is designed to serve the needs of multiple users simultaneously both nthe office and those working ‘externally. Therefore that performance impacts there to ensure your business doesri suffer from slow access, poor performance and downtime. Alot of business NAS dives tend to offer more drive bays as standard. Whilst two bays are often the norm, you can easily expect to see four six eight, twelve and considerably more the further up the enterprise scale you go. Thishigh degree of scalability i the key fora successful business NAS, Not only can you populate with numerous drives tut in mast cases youre also able to connect a NAS with other model NAS drives from the same company; thus creating vast 1007 plus clusters of storage. for example. Ths is the extreme tend of the business scale but it signifies the operational benefits of adopting such a technology into your own compary. ‘There are usualy other aspects that cover business use, such as multiple Ethernet ports, more internally installed fans hot-swap drive capabilities and encryption engines builtin to the NAS, ‘Surprisingly you also find that alt of business NAS drives share the media capabilites ofthe consumer madels. The likes of 4K transcoding, media streaming and so on are ll apart of the modern day business NAS. NAS Drives for SMB Users Group Reviews Gl SMB NAS Comparison As with the three NAS drives for home use, the three example models reviewed for the SMB all offer superb performance, excellent features and plenty of expansion potential. The NAS you choose as an SMB user, will depend greatly on the type of business you run. COMPARISON CHART Here's a summary of some of the features the three b from each company, so abit of research and shopping around is advised. 13s model NAS drives offer. There's plenty more on offer £390 Intel Celeron N3160 224GH2 268 DDR3 3xUSB20 DxeSATA 2xGigabit Ethernet 2xDrive Bays No HOME 157x1035x232mm ‘L75KG (without drives) Cloud Server: WebAccess DLNA™ Media Server Backup Apps. BitTorrent™ ‘Apple Time Machine® Belg retasts BUFFALO TERASTATION 3210DN J QNAP TVS-682T approx. £600 Annapurna Labs AL212 Dual-Core 1.4 GHz 168 0DR3 NoUSB 20 Ports 2 USB 30 2x Gigabit Ethernet 2xDrive Bays No HDMI 170x170x230mm 48K Cloud Server WebAccess DLNA™ Media Server NovaBACKUP Buffalo Edition BitTorrent™ Apple Time Machine® approx. £1,000+ Intel® Core™ i3-6100 37 GHz dual-core processor Total DIMM slots: 4 ‘system memory: 8 G8 DDR4 RAM Memory modules preinstalled 4GBx2 Maximum memory: 64 GB (26 6824) No USB 20 Ports 5xUSB30 2x 10GBase-, 4x Gigabit Ethernet 6+eem2 3x HOME 231x225 x320mm 7.7KG (without drives) Cloud Server: WebAccess DLNAM Media Server Backup Apps. BitTorrent™ ‘Apple Time Machine ==> The business NAS offers some slight differences to that of the home, consumer model, as we've already outlined. This is especially apparent in RUS STA Roe OR RU RO ENN CU Uo drives in the Plus Series. Pee ee anes Pee ey ee re ee Cae! Pg er eee ead Drees ar maar Se ee eee SATA3/2 hard or sold state drives toa maximum of 20TB (a The lus Series NAS drives range rom wo-bay units suchas _ pair of 10TB drives), formatted with EXT4 and in an assortment CSc eek et eee Cn a ee ee enn ent Seren sree a ete ce ee ee Coe ae oe something here for ll ypes of business user. ee What you get for your money is aunit with a quad core eee cece Cee Pevensie een ety the separately purchased Synology DX513 Expansion Unit to hhardware encryption 2GB of DDR3 memory three USB30 _the DS716+II's eSATA port. The DX513 can house five hard CED) wwwhdnteercon Synology DS716+II Gl The eer aL aet! release clips at the front that allow youto slide the drive bay coer ‘ut and ito replace the hard drives It’ a good design that ea! cen eee ee TPR eet O asec ee et eee oc) ores et cet certy ser o ere peers pees code up to 4K Sree ee ees tee Nt Peete ese Col es erect! ree Sree see ret ee a ee eT Eee ei tat acer oett roc meee tact COT a Th Sore! eee eee eet ae ete eee ee eT Peete sce cena ed ee Features at a glance: CPU Model Intel Celeron N3160 2.24GHz System Memory 2.GBDDR3 ize (Height x Width x Depth) 157 mmx 103.5 mm x232 mm Weight 175 kg Hardware Transcoding Engine 11.264 (AVC), H265 (HEVC), MPEG-2 and VC-1; ‘maximum resolution: 4k (4096 x 2160); ‘maximum frame rate per second (FPS): 30 Disk Encryption Hardware Encryption Engine (AES-ND) Drive Bay(s) 2 Maximum Drive Bays 7 with Expansion Unit Maximum Internal Raw Capacity 20 TB (10 TB HDD x2) (Capacity may vary by RAID types) Maximum Raw Capacity 70 TB (10 TB HDD x7) (Capacity may vary by RAID types) with Expansion Units USB 3.0 Port 3 eSATAPort 1 Maximum Local User Accounts Maximum Local Groups Maximum Shared Folder Maximum Shared Folder Sync Tasks Maximum Concurrent CIFS/AFP/FTP Connections Advanced Cloud Uses Buffalo TeraStation 3210DN Buffalo TeraStation 3210DN os az) Features at a glance: Processors Installed RAM Installed Max Supported Capa Dimensions Weight Drive Bays Performance Ethernet Port USB 3.0 Port WebAccess DLNA™ Media Server NovaBACKUP Buffalo Edition BitTorrent™ ‘Apple Time Machine? ‘Annapurna Labs AL212 Dual-Core 1.4 GHz 168 DDR3 818 170x170x230mm akg 2 ‘LoemBis 2 2 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Advanced Cloud Uses QNAP TVS-682T — QNAP TVS-682T Features at a glance: cpu Intel® Core™ i3-6100 37 GHz dual-core processor System Memory Total DIMM slots: 4 ‘System memory: 8 GB DOR4 RAM ‘Memory modules preinstalled: 4 GB x2 ‘Maximum memory: 64 GB (16 GB x4) Drive Bays +2xM2 USB Port 1xUSB 30 port (Front) ‘4 xUSB 30 port (Rear) HDMI Port 3 Dimensions 231x225 x320mm Weight 77Kg Cloud Station Yes Tunes Yes ‘Time Machine Support Yes Virtualisation Yes Web Server Yes Mail Server Yes Advanced Cloud Uses How to Set Up a Cloud Solution Using a Business NAS CREATING YOUR CLOUD The Buffalo TeraStation 3210DN has been updated to the latest firmware and has cycled through the initial admin account set up process. WebAccess Permissions Click the pull-down Login to the Buffalo TeraStation admin page. ED ‘Scroll further down and you can see aheading When loaded, click on the Fle Sharing ink inthe left-hand sidebar, followed bythe link boxand select Allow all groups and users from button to the fr right ofthe Web Access entry. Enable HTTPS/ thelist (you'e stopping anonymous sources from entering the ‘SSL Encryption enable Access via BuffaloNAScom, click the cloud folder), lick the OK button when you're done. Generate Random Key button and add a name for the cloud sever inthe BuffaloNAScom Name box (Once you've named the cloud server, click OK Close the Shared Folder List window and click and the details willbe saved Stilin the Fle the link button next to Users.In the User List Sharing ection, click on the Folder Setup link window click the Create User button, Enter button located atthe top of the screen. Inthe Shared Folder a name for one of your users, and a password. Youcan seta List window click Create Folder and when the Shared Folder unique User ID f you wish and any storage quotas. Click the OK Settings window appears enter a name forthe folder and button when you're dane. tick WebAccess How to Set Up a Cloud Using a Bu: e | Click the Close button to ext from the User By List Open a new browser tab, or do so on a separate computer, and enter the adress vwowvbuffalonascom, When it’ loaded, you may need to add an ‘exception to your browser to acces enter the name ofthe cloud server you created inthe box provided, Click Connect wen ready To begin wth you have a blank interface, without any folders or ies Click an the Log In ‘button in the top right and enter the username and password ofthe user you've just ereated Click the Log In ‘button when youve entered the detail of the user. cay ‘You can rightclick the main pane to view the ELE possible actions your user can camy outwith the privleges they have For example rightclick and choose Upload from the menus Clckthe Browse button and selet some files to upload to the cloud server, then click the Upload button when ready. ‘Once the upload s complete cick the OK button. The interface will refresh displaying, the folder contents You can right-click each of the individual fles and select Share to create alinkto send to ‘user. You can also create and share folders wit other users, ‘download files, copy and move. nce lagged inthe interface will change to dlspay the folders available tothe user. This view wll depend on what folders youve given them access to, either from the user level or the group level Double-click onthe folder you created earlier in the main pane ofthe cloud interface. cad Benes stnpecescs arp tneen cottage ) Advanced Cloud Uses ) Cloud Security SAFE CLOUDS The approach with Cyber security is often to ensure that you have multiple layers of security in place. Here then are ten golden rules for cloud security. ‘Aways use a cloud sevice that offers fll Toute going touse aloud service to store ETSI encryption for your data. Ideally the cloud AUR your data then its best to fully read and cigest service willoffer 256 bit AES military grade the Terms of Service of the claud provider encryption across als commurications and storage This way, Youllbe able to see where they store your data what actions it's going to be exceedingly difficult for ahacker to gainentry they perform to ensue its safety and what they can doin the through brute frce alone. event of abreach or data disaster Encrypting your data before uploading ttoa 1 possible try not store ay sense and clodsersce sahighyenterpsngides. RUE) extreme personal data onthe cout and Proving youtakes steps to ensure the Youd then make sure as been encrypted encyptonkeysare safe then ayer da wb 2 before being uploaed to the oud Bark details names jhmbledmesscf chaactersshouldsomeone evr gantry adresses creat cadnurbers areal wrth thet wegtin toyour accu {toe hacter also dot store ary et les containing passwords on the cloud, ( Cloud Security Gl Make sue that the password you use to access your cloud services strong and doesn't contain Anything relating to you, such as your surname, street name and soon, The amount of people who still use ‘password! as their passwordis unbelievable. Try instead to insert numbers capital letters and symbols Tf acloud service offers a two-step verification process, then t's best to use it. A two-step process involves you entering a password that’s been sent to you via SMS and often includes an email informing you of when and where the laginhas taken place. This way youre doubling up on the security access layer. ‘tempts to access your data inthe cloud donit always come from some hacker infront of ‘multi-monitor setup, We're all familar with social engineering being used to obtain personal information, with callers claiming tobe from top organisations wanting to ‘gain access to your computer. Dont fal frit Be careful when it comes to sharing files and folders from the cloud. While it’ the ideal solution for collaboration, giving someone the wrong level of acces, or access to something they should be viewing can have disastrous consequences for an individual or busines, Advanced Cloud Uses RISE OF THE MACHINES Big Data, AI, Machine Learning, cavernous datacentres and quantum computing are all terms bandied about when it comes to discussing the future of the cloud. In truth, noone relly knows which direction cloud tasks, as consumers. Equate to physical technology technologies wil take over the next five to ten years, the point in the early 80s when the However its generally agreed thatthe aforementioned home computer became possible and popular. terms wil play a big role in defning what the future of the cloud wll ioak like Whilst it’s alte disconcerting ur trust into a technology th Commodore 64, it do ret forty year think that were putting 3 equivalent level ofa thatthe future, consider the ing tobe quite spectacular. chnologies are stillin their infancy least We've only ust started tous . e aie Seip (Where Next for the Cloud? Off the back of NENT AEZ UOT the Biz Data surge comes ever impressive leaps in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Preparing hundreds of terabytes of Big Data for analysis takes up considerable time for those rvolved, so having a powerful computer do the preparation for you will certainly make sifting through that data easier. OF course Machine Learning can be expanded on that, helping to create the cloud:-based apps ofthe future thatthe consumer will access via their mobile devices. Despite the Hollywood negativity ofA, it’ the future of cloud computing Looking through a midsized datacentre is something you dont forget in ahurry, ust imagine what itwillbe lke looking thraugh the datacentre ofthe future These impressive structures with ther labyrinthine coridors of ‘monolithic servers will dominate the cloud future. It’ already ben stressed that although power hungry.a datacentre using carbon neutral energy sourcesis far more ecological and economical than act full oF server rooms in every company. DYN Ney ‘A popular buzz word at the moment, ig EL LUAD datas set to transform the way cloud comping wil work nthe future With the tignames in cloud computing all vying to support bigger and bette ig Data its obvious that beng able to analyse huge volumes of data wll be second naturein the next fe years How ths wl vckle down to the consumer level sit clear at presentbutthe pundts have their bets on alms unlimited Storage avaiable for personal cloud use Although till quite exoticin nature, quantum computing is quickly becoming areal thing. Even now, you can access {quantum processors and experiment with thei builtin semi mythical tunneling entanglement and Q-Bit architectures As the future wllno doubt tll, quantum computing will improve and finally leave behind traditional computing models. When this happens expect to see a new generation ofA evolution and near instantaneous accessing of cloud data, eee Icy Zz Advanced Cloud Uses Glossary of Cloud Terms There are a number of confusing and bewildering terms used in technology and since the cloud became a real thing, those terms have expanded to encompass everything we do CNM Ae ea Es ap lta CLEAR SKIES: Here's a qu ist of some of the terms you'e likely to come across as you explore cloud technologies further. Needless to say, the industry loves its terminology, so expect many more as you delve deeper. Refers tothe faster implementation of IT within a company specifically cloud implementation. An open source cloud platform that's targeted at businesses in the thinking stages of adopting a private cloud service model EITC ay cad Another form of online mass storage, where a company can effectively backup its entire systems data to the cloud. This service is of interest to audits as offsite backups are secure and safe from accidental damage. CoReIy-TKaa Being able to back up your data to a cloud storage service Used by both consumer and businesses alike. Offers support for ‘multiple platforms and operating systems, from computers to ‘mobile devices and even games consoles Cem ec ‘Acompany that iaises between several cloud service providers nd clients to help find the best provision ary og [Ahyprid cloud deployment feature, whereby a private cloud is ‘able to use public cloud resources when demand for computing tasks spikes CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE ‘The physical hardware, software and connectivity that makes up a

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