Dropbox 
There are a number of solutions emerging into the market, which provide users the ability to store files in the cloud, which provide a number of benefits:
- Ability to share files with others
- Synchronise files with other devices such as smartphones, Ipad, tablets or other PC’s
- Online backup
- Remote file access
Dropbox - What is it?
Dropbox is a program / application which can be installed on your PC, Mac, Ipad, tablet or smartphones to provide you with the ability to synchronise files and folder to share amongst your devices, provide a backup solution or share files with others.
For example some Bookkeepers are using Dropbox to share the accounting files between them and their client.
Dropbox monitors files that are in the cloud and on the device. When changes occur it automatically updates the cloud version of these files with the latest version you have changed locally, this can occur in both directions. In the example above, when the client opens their Accounting file at their office and makes changes, the file is automatically synchronised to the cloud. When you the Bookkeeper are next connected to the Internet with your PC Dropbox will automatically update your local coy of the file.
Important Note: For issue free synchronisation it is important in the above example that you and your client are not updating your local copies at the same times. If this is the case when the file is synchronised there will be a conflict and you will need to determine which file you want to keep.
Note: For smartphones, Ipads and tablets, Dropbox will NOT automatically synchronise files. For these devices it will only update the file when you select them on the device or when you have the file marked as favourite. This is a good setup as it alleviates the possibility of unknowingly exceeding Data plans.
Accessing files remotely
You can access your files from any browser via the Dropbox website www.dropbox.com
Below is the screen of your Dropbox webpage once you have logged in. From this page you have the ability to:
- Open and view your files
- Upload a file
- Download files
- Share files and or folders
- Recover deleted files
Sharing files
Sharing files can be done from you PC or via your Dropbox web page.
Note: Files, which are selected as favourite, will be automatically downloaded to the device
SugarSync 
SugarSync is a similar program to Dropbox with some operational differences.
- Drop box creates a folder called “Dropbox” on your PC. Only folders and files under the “Dropbox” folder are synchronised to the cloud.
- SugarSync does NOT install a folder on your PC. Instead when installing the SugarSync application on your PC it asks you to select the folders you wish to synchronise to the cloud.
Adding files or folders to be synchronised to the cloud with SugarSync
- Right click on the SugarSync icon in the system tray (bottom right)
- Select “Add folders to SugarSync”
- Click on the arrows as seen below to expand your directory structure till you are able to select the folder or file you wish synchronised
- Click OK
Costs
Dropbox
- 1st 2GB free
- 50GB (Pro 50) - $9.99 per month or $99 per year
- 100GB (Pro 100) - $19.99 per month or $199 per year
SugarSync
- 1st 5GB free
- 30GB $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year
- 60 GB $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year
- 100 GB $14.99 per month or $149.99 per year
Security & Backup
Dropbox uses Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3) for storage, which is stored in multiple data centres across the US.
Files are stored using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and AES – 256 bit encryption.
SugarSync uses industry best practices to ensure data is safe and secure. Files are transferred using TLS and are stored in the cloud using 128-bit AES encryption.
Are Dropbox and SugarSync my backup solution.
Both products are essentially a cloud synchronisation service. If you delete a file that is being synchronised on your local PC the file stored in the cloud is also deleted.
Dropbox retains a snapshot of every saved change in your Dropbox folder over the last 30 days. If you have accidently deleted a file you can recover the file from your Dropbox webpage.
Old versions – Dropbox retains versions of each change in the file for 30 days and these can be accessed by right clicking on the file and selecting “View Previous Versions”
SugarSync – When a file or folder is deleted on your local PC your SugarSync synchronised file or folder in the cloud is removed from that folder and moved to the Deleted files area. They remain there until you permanently delete them.
Old versions – SugarSync automatically saves and retains the past 5 versions plus the current of all synchronised files.
The full resource, including detailed instructions on use of both DropBox and SugarSync is available to ICB members here
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