New Storage Options Let You Stash Data Anywhere

It’s not enough anymore to have plenty of storage at your small business disposal. No, now with everyone on the move, you need to be able to store your data and retrieve it at the office, on site with a client or on the road. Fortunately, with innovative, affordable products, it’s not that difficult. Here are just a few ways to keep your data close at hand.

Buffalo Web Access
Buffalo Technology, makers of high-capacity networked attached storage (NAS) drives, has just announced that it’s adding a Web Access feature to its line of TeraStation Live Multimedia Storage Server NAS devices. The drives, available in 1TB, 2TB and 3TB capacities, are suitable for SMBs and consumers that need to stream media — such as video and music – across a network.

The Web Access feature now allows you to tap into the video, music, client presentations or other data your company stores on the TeraStation through any Web browser at any time from anywhere in the world. According to Buffalo, you access your drive in one of two ways: either log on to www.buffaloNAS.com, enter your user name for access to your files or go to www.buffaloNAS.com/yourusernamehere.

The company says Web Access uses Universal Plug and Play and does not need any firewall configuration, and you don’t need to download any software.

The TeraStation supports DNLA (Digital Living Network Alliance), which allows for connection and communication with any DNLA-enabled consumer electronic or mobile device. The NAS box offers four different RAID configurations, including 0, 1, 10 and 5. The 1T model sells for $699, 2T for $1,299 and 3T for $1,699.

Windows Live SkyDrive
Microsoft’s free, online storage service (formerly known as Windows Live Folders) is out of private testing with a brand-new name – SkyDrive – though it’s still a beta product.

SkyDrive offers 500 MB of space for you to store your stuff, in Personal, Shared or Public folders. Microsoft says it uses SSL encryption and password protection to keep data safe. You control who accesses your Shared folders and whether they can simply read your files or add and delete information.

You access folders by signing on with a Windows Live ID. Your Personal folders are password protected, while people you authorize can access Shared folders by signing on using their own Live ID and password. Anyone on the Internet can view your Public folders if you send them an invitation to do so. Send a folder link to the colleagues or clients you want to have view files in a Public folder.

SkyDrive features include thumbnails of image files and drag-and-drop capability. Microsoft also says you can embed your files and folders anywhere you can post html – blogs, Web site and so on.

The Kingston Mobility Kit lets you use one size storage card across a range of mobile devices.

Kingston Mobility Kit
Got lots of digital devices with different memory cards? Kingston’s Mobility Kit is a single, 1GB microSD card with an adapter and a USB reader that’s designed to let you use one storage card across all SD- and USB-compatible mobile devices. It’s designed to let you accomplish the following:

• Use the removable microSD storage card for music, games, ring tones, photos, movies and other applications on mobile phones.
  
• Place the microSD card into the miniSD adapter and transform it into a miniSD storage card for personal media players, smartphones or MP3 players.
  
• Place the microSD card into the full-size SD adapter to grab photos from your digital camera then view images with SD-enabled readers or USB drives, digital photo frames or on your TV’s SD slot.
  
• Place the microSD card into the full-size SD adapter and save files on a notebook computer with a full-size SD slot.

The kit, which sells for $27, also includes a keyloop so that you can hang it from your cell phone.

Lauren Simonds is the managing editor of SmallBusinessComputing.com