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Hi All, Anyone using Mega 50 GB free Cloud storage? Just signed up to test.

Hi, I'm a PGCE student teacher (*avoids rotten fruit*) and I am wondering if a hardware encrypted USB stick is the best thing for my needs at the moment and if it works how I think it does - if so, I'm open to suggestions! Basically, I use four main computers - my personal laptop, my desktop at my desk in the staff room, my desktop on my classroom desk, and a multitude of desktop computers on the two days I am at university rather than on teaching practice. I have a lot of files, and work on them a lot. It has got to the point where managing them/managing access to them is becoming a hassle. At home, I use Dropbox installed on my personal laptop - this works fine at home, but the client is not installed on any of the computers at university or at my placement college - instead I have to manually download the files from the web interface, make any changes, save them and then reupload using the web interface. This is too much faffing about - it works fine for simply viewing files made elsewhere, but the web interface isn't great when actively working on them, and I quite often open them from a work PC using the web interface and make any changes on the computer there, click save, and then forget to re-upload it to Dropbox after saving - d'oh - meaning I have a 'stranded' copy left on a work or uni PC that I can't get to, and a separate one in my Dropbox folder. So, Dropbox is out. Google Drive is out for the same reason. And OneDrive is also out. (None of the work or uni PCs have Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive clients installed, meaning I have to use the web interface on those computers - see above for issues associated with that!). I asked both my uni and my placement college IT Services about remote access to filestorage there, thinking I could just set it up so I can access my work storage via a mapped drive from my laptop, easy right? Except neither of them have anything set up to do this - and instead I was told by my college to use a USB stick instead. I don't like USB sticks for obvious reasons - 1) them getting lost/forgotten 2) them breaking 3) security issues. So what I was thinking is continue using Dropbox as my primary storage (in case I lose or break the USB stick) and buy a USB stick for my "work in progress" files (a second copy of them I mean, they will also be backed up locally), so I can save everything I'm actively editing on to the USB stick and access and work on them from any PC, then just copy the final version(s) to Dropbox and my work storage areas once I'm finished. Sounds good... But there's still the security issues associated with USB sticks, which got me looking at encryption. Software based encryption won't work as I can't install software on work or uni PCs, only my own laptop. I found out there is something called hardware encrypted USB sticks and was wondering if this was a possible solution? How do they work - do they need any software installing or running? I'm not sure if I'll be able to run software from off the USB stick, even if it doesn't need installing on the PC, due to Group Policy restrictions So I am hoping there is a magic hardware encrypted USB stick out there that works with any PC and does not require running OR installing software?!?! Am I dreaming? If one exists, please offer suggestions - it needs to be 16gb or above to match my current USB stick! If one doesn't exist... please help... I will not be using an insecure USB stick, but I am also hating my current method which seems to take ages trying to work out which file is current etc!

Hi folks, Leon from IAM Cloud (forum sponsor). Just a quick update: We released a new Cloud Drive Mapper feature a few months back which automatically (based on permissions) maps all a users' SharePoint Online doc libraries into a single drive letter. I'd say it's CDM's most successful feature yet, so I made a quick video tutorial showing how it works As you'll see, it's easy to set-up, hardly anything to manage, and removes a lot of the challenges with adopting SharePoint Online. All the feedback we've been getting lately about Cloud Drive Mapper, even from customers who've been with us for 4-5 years, have been saying it's the best it's ever been - so if you're interested in taking a look we've got a free trial available for you to check it out yourselves: https://www.iamcloud.com/cloud-drive-mapper-trial-signup/ Cheers, Leon

You may have already seen this, but the Department for Education have issued this document around the use of cloud services in schools and the Data Protection Act. It also includes links to the Google and Microsoft's self-certification checklist and statements allowing schools to make a fully informed decision over the use and security of data within each of the respective cloud services. http://irte.eu/pQ (pdf)

Hi, Currently using a combination of DPM 2012 R2 (Windows 2008 R2 Storage Server) for short-term backups and to (ageing) Dell LTO4 TL2000 Tape Library for long-term backups (D2D2T); and I need to review/upgrade this solution; both due to warranty implications and additional storage is required (more so for DPM2012 R2 on a Dell NX31000 appliance). A potential (D2D2D) solution being contemplated is to procure 2x DELL DR4100 appliances; each one would replace the current roles of NX3100 (short-term) and the TL2000 (long-term); and we would then build a VM based DPM2012 R2 on Server 2012 R2 platform (so that DeDuplication can also be utilised for greater data storage efficiency) and this would the free up the NX3100 to be reconfigured as additional NAS data/storage space in general. The 2nd DR4100 (long-term) could then be relocated elsewhere in relation to DR. An alternative thought would be to utilise Microsoft Azure (as that works with DPM2012 R2) for long-term backups; and continue to use our NX3100 as the DPM2012 R2 Server; or indeed build a VM based DPM2012 R2 Server and utilise the same disk pool on the NX3100. Ideally, I would like to review (and cost) every option, as like most schools at the moment, our budget has been significantly reduced this year so all the more pressure to ensure that all solutions are covered; along with their potential costs. I am interested in (feedback/advice from) anyone else who has started to use Microsoft Azure/Cloud Based services for their full (off-site / long-term) school backups? and what things we should ensure that it adheres too? (guidelines, policies etc.) as I am thinking that it would be one less bit of physical kit to manage/look after combined with not having to worry about upgrading/replacing the equipment every 3-5 years or so. I've found some Microsoft websites that give some indicative costs; combined with using a PS Script that 'claims' to calculate space required for 30 days of data based on current Protection Groups within DPM2012 R2 but it is still a bit unclear to be honest; especially in how we ensure/calculate that there's enough space for monthly/yearly long-term data retention. Maybe we have to work with a Microsoft OVS-ES reseller? to ensure we get discounted education pricing? Thank you. NB. Currently use RedStor for SIMS backups only; in keeping with our LEA's SIMS Support Team guidance.

Hi all, I've been getting some expressions of concern re: the use of Creative Cloud to store data, particularly student work. They're not one of the suppliers listed on the DfE guidance doc, which was my first port of call. Has anyone else been through this w/ their SLT before as regards Adobe? Did you decide Adobe was a safe provider, and if so what justification did you use to sell it to senior leaders?