How Are You Sharing Data Between Computers?
Chances are you probably have a lot of information stored on the hard drive of your local computer. Many times you may also be using several computers, maybe because you use them at work, or own more than one at home. The one challenge of using more than one computer is sharing data between them.
With the amount of information that we manage, it can be tedious to keep transferring data between computers, especially if we need to transfer a lot of data. Many times people may upload files to a web site, and then synchronize the data on that web site with files on another system. Internet bookmarks are popular for this type of syncing.
Many people may not trust the Internet for their data, so they prefer traditional, hardware methods of data transfer. There are several offline methods that you can choose to transfer data.
- External hard drive. This is a popular choice, not only for backing up your data, but also for sharing files. You can easily disconnect an external hard drive from one system, and plug it into another and have full access to the files.
- Optical discs. One of the older methods of data transfer is to simply burn the files to an optical disc (CD or DVD) and then use that disc in another computer.
- Flash drive. The newer, and probably easiest to use, is that of a flash drive. These are small, so they are easy to carry, and can contain a large amount of storage space. These have quickly become of the favoured methods of transferring data.
- Local Network. Many people are connected to a network at work, and many also have one at home. Simply connecting computers to a local network, and creating shares, allows the transfer of data very easily.
- NAS device. Network attached storage devices are connected to a network and provide a single location where data can be stored and shared. They are easy to connect to a home network and act as a home storage server.
As you can see there are many methods of transferring your data offline. Each one has it’s advantages and disadvantages and it depends on how comfortable you are with use them.