Home access, file back-up and client folder sharing solution

[kevin.doran]

Afternoon all.

Before I begin, as anyone who has spoken to me privately will know, i'm not particularly tech savvy! So please do forgive my ignorance here... :redface:

I work for myself as a bookkeeper, one-man-office. I don't run a server of any sort, everything is simply stored on my local PC. I currently do regular back-ups to an external hard drive (time consuming) and I share various folders with clients through Dropbox as well as having a few in there I find handy whilst working from home on the laptop).

Ideally, i'd like to have an all-in-one solution where:

a) everything was backed-up automatically
b) everything was visible from wherever I want to log-in from (home lapop predominantly)
c) I can share various folders with clients (mobile app required here)

Now, for me (being non-tech-savvy remember), Dropbox itself seems the ideal solution. However, I note many report security issues whilst a couple of my software providers (BTC and VT) advise against using it because of file corruption and locking issues.

Any suggestions? :|

 

[Cybertaff]

I use Dropbox for my own systems and also my clients and it works really well. I have had no issues with security over the last 3 years and all my clients are very happy with it (small businesses with 1-15 employees). I can access my files from my Blackberry Smartphone, Blackberry Playbook tablet or even over the internet which comes in really handy. If you didnt want to go down the Dropbox route you could always try either SkyDrive (Microsoft) or Google Drive (just read the terms and conditions for Google Drive first).

 

[kevin.doran]

I love Dropbox too, as do my clients, it's perfect for what I THINK i'm after.

However, this was the response from BTC when I queried them on it recently:

"We do not recommend the use of DropBox as either a sharing or backup utility. Synchronisation is not widely recommended for sharing or backing up database files due to corruption and locking issues, and this includes programs like Dropbox, Skydrive or even Microsoft's own OS system for Offline file sharing.

There are a number of ways to share a database and, per the terms of the license agreement, only one database is allowed to exist per license. The software is installed onto local machines, each connecting to the same central database which is stored on a server. Dropbox would probably end up creating multiple databases so this is not really an option.

We have a paragraph dedicated to backups on our FAQ's utilising Mozy as a recommended and easily configurable solution - http://www.btcsoftware.co.uk/faq.aspx - under How do I backup my PM/SA Solution database."

I don't really think Mozy is the one-size-fits-all solution I was hoping for though.

 

[Laurenpears]

For business i seriously suggest you look at Box.com - Dropbox is great for a personal tool however openly admits this.
Box is a business ready solution which is used by 97% of the fortune 5000

 

[Cybertaff]

Platform have you asked BTC what they would recommend? Also completely forgot about Box as yes they have a higher level of encryption than Dropbox (if that is what you need).

 

[Cybertaff]

Sorry Platform I just saw the FAQ's so please disreguard my question. You could install a file server (Linux or Windows) and install either Box, Dropbox, Google Drive etc onto that and have your laptop back up to that everyday. This way you aren't getting the duplicated database that BTC are worried about while still getting offsite backups. File servers are very easy (and fairly cheap) to setup.

 

[kevin.doran]

Sorry Platform I just saw the FAQ's so please disreguard my question. You could install a file server (Linux or Windows) and install either Box, Dropbox, Google Drive etc onto that and have your laptop back up to that everyday. This way you aren't getting the duplicated database that BTC are worried about while still getting offsite backups. File servers are very easy (and fairly cheap) to setup.

Hmmm....did something just blatantly fly over my head.... :|

 

[ITsoldUK]

Afternoon all.

Before I begin, as anyone who has spoken to me privately will know, i'm not particularly tech savvy! So please do forgive my ignorance here... :redface:

I work for myself as a bookkeeper, one-man-office. I don't run a server of any sort, everything is simply stored on my local PC. I currently do regular back-ups to an external hard drive (time consuming) and I share various folders with clients through Dropbox as well as having a few in there I find handy whilst working from home on the laptop).

Ideally, i'd like to have an all-in-one solution where:

a) everything was backed-up automatically
b) everything was visible from wherever I want to log-in from (home lapop predominantly)
c) I can share various folders with clients (mobile app required here)

Now, for me (being non-tech-savvy remember), Dropbox itself seems the ideal solution. However, I note many report security issues whilst a couple of my software providers (BTC and VT) advise against using it because of file corruption and locking issues.

Any suggestions? :|

Yup...

quite a few.

Chat soon mate.

Daren