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Tech News & Commentary
Moses in Stockbridge, Georgia listens to the podcast and is calling in via the App asked us: “I hear you talking about cloud storage all the time. I ran across an article about something called an unRAID server stating that you could use your old computer as your cloud storage device. What’s the difference between me using this unRAID server and a normal cloud service?”
Moses, unRAID is a lot like FreeNAS if you’ve heard of that, there are some differences, but they’re both Network Attached Storage systems.
And, by the way, if you’re using an old computer and looking for NAS software you should probably also have a look at SnapRAID and FlexRAID, since those run on top of Windows and may allow you to use your old computer as more than just a file server.
The difference between those systems and cloud storage is that, first of all, you have to manage them, meaning that you have to give them internet access, you have to set up port forwarding so you can access them remotely, you have to acquire either a static IP address, or a dynamic DNS service for your variable IP and set it up, you have to choose whatever file system you think will best fit your needs, and you have to back up the drives once you start using them.
With cloud storage it is assumed that you will always be able to access your files, the server should be up all the time, and your files should be accessible all the time. For you to have the same functionality at home, you’d probably need redundant internet connections and some plan to deal with power outages. Cloud services are expected to keep your data backed up, and if you managed your own internet-connected NAS, you’d have to do that. Cloud services are expected to be secure, you’d have to make sure you’re updating and installing security patches to keep your own server secure.
If you want to share data with other users, you’re going to have to handle authentication yourself as well.
On the plus side, buying more storage wouldn’t come with a monthly fee attached, you’d just have to add a drive (which may be easier or harder depending on your setup at home) and it would be a one time cost.
It all depends on the way you’re planning to use your storage. If you want to store a lot of files cheaply, you might as well use what you have (but back up, old computers tend to have old hard drives and hard drives don’t age well), but if you need your files to always be accessible, or you plan to share files regularly, or you have a data cap, or you just don’t feel like dealing with the setup, cloud services may be a good choice.
The big deal about unRAID is that you can combine drives of differing capacities into your “RAID array.” RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives) has always required that the drives making up the RAID volume be the same capacity. You could use a bigger drive as part of the array, but the capacity of any individual drive would be no greater than the smallest individual drive.
In other words, if your RAID array consisted of two 1TB drives and a 2TB drive, the RAID controller would regard it as three 1TB drives, letting half of the space go to waste on the larger drive. The unRAID OS allows you to use drives of any capacity.
Your unRAID server could indeed be connected to the Internet. If you were in a remote location accessing your files back at home, you would then be the cloud storage provider, as opposed to paying someone else. It would not, however, provide the same offsite backup as a cloud storage provider would. If your house burned down and your unRAID server went with it, your data would be lost.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
“This Week in Tech History” Weekly Feature with Chris Graveline
Facebook Participation:
Books, Magazines, Newspapers, Guides…In this tech world we live in do you still read the paper copies? Why or why not? Or do you use the Internet or e-readers/tablets, how is it different?
Here are some of the answers that we got:
Jennifer shared both…and for me it’s print usually for fiction, kindle/tablet for nonfiction…
John in Coral Springs, Florida said I use both. For tech manuals and educational reading, I prefer electronic copies. For literature, I still prefer the feel of a book in my hand, flipping each page with anticipation for what comes next.
Tim in San Jose, California simply shared I still get the morning paper but the only paper mags I read are the food magazines..all others are digital.
Anne in North Miami, Florida said Call me old fashioned (emphasis on old), but I love having a book in my hands and doing a newspaper’s crossword puzzle ( and yes, in ink).
Della in Menomonie, WI shared I like my kindle. the old one will read to me if needed, but the Kindle Paper White has back up light. With both, i save the book to my Kindle for PC on the computer. There I can enlarge the print much more, see pictures, etc. without the expense of a kindle fire. Losing eyesight means I do not want to lose reading ability. I also download audible books from the library and they are good; but I can read so much faster! I do wish the paper copies worked because I like to flip back pages, put in book marks, etc. but large print are no longer large enough and they are also much heavier to hold.
Guest Segment:
Amy Saypol Tompkins, President & CEO – Gifting 365
CEA Update with Krista Silano
Sensors are showing up in more and more consumer electronics devices, and the 2015 International CES will have an entire show floor area dedicated to showing off how this technology is growing and changing the industry. Krista Silano with the Consumer Electronics Association explains in this week’s CEA Update.
Gloria in Detroit listens on CKLW 800 asked us: “I had a disagreement with my son, he wants me to get this type of thing where you can lock your house, car remotely from anywhere, and it seems to to me that if I could do it, sooner or later someone will be able to do it, and I’ll get home sometime and there will be someone in my house and that wouldn’t be something that will make me happy. I like to know whether or not these things are safe to do, he always want to do the newest thing and I’m kind of like “wait a minute”. If you say it’s safe, I’ll go ahead and do it but I just want to hear what you have to say.”
Gloria, As long as everything has been properly encrypted from end to end, and as long as all the information is properly stored, you should be safe enough… but here’s the thing, what would be the benefit?
Do you need to let people into your house when you’re not home? And people you wouldn’t trust with a key, at that. Do you often forget to lock up before you leave and want to be able to do it remotely?
The truth is that over the last few thousand years keys haven’t changed all that much, have a look at RomanLocks.com if you don’t believe us, and that’s because, they’re not perfect, but they’re reasonably secure and reasonably convenient.
Now, if you want to be able to unlock your house or car remotely, these systems should be reasonably secure too, but if you’re going to be wondering if you’re house is safe every time you walk over to the grocery store to buy a potato, and if you won’t get any benefit from this then, what’s the point?
Ask your son how you would personally benefit from installing a system like this and why it would be worth your money, if he makes a good point and you think it’s worth it, go for it. If not, use that money as a cake fund for a few months.
And if we’ve learned anything at all from the recent furor over the “Heartbleed” bug in secure web connections, it’s that you can’t always trust what you think you can. We wouldn’t be surprised at all if, sometime down the road, we stumble across the news that some clever hacker has figured a way to unlock houses with his iPhone.
Years ago, it was garage door openers. They were adjusted to a code specific for your house, but it wasn’t random. So you would drive around and press the button on your opener, just for the laughs you’d get when some random garage door started going up. They now use random codes and they even change the codes, but you can’t anticipate everything you don’t know.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
Daniel in Rehoboth, Delaware asked us: “I have a Parrot bluetooth and a Pantech cell phone. How do I turn off the hands free while my vehicle is still running?”
It’s hard to say without knowing what specific model you have, Pantech still sells feature phones and smartphones. However, we should be able to give you a general idea. If it’s not a smartphone, while you’re on the phone you should see something on your screen that may say something like “speaker” or “hands free,” pushing the button below that should return the call to your phone.
If you’re using a smartphone, you will probably see a big button on the screen that will either have a speaker or a bluetooth symbol. Tapping that should bring up a menu to let you choose between the phone’s regular earpiece, the phone’s speaker, and bluetooth.Tapping on the one you want will switch to that one, and that should be all.
Sorry we couldn’t be more specific, but Pantech has made hundreds of phones over the years, and they don’t all work the same. If you call us back with your specific model, though, we’ll be happy to send you more customized instructions.
For more information tune in to Hour 2 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Other World Computing (OWC): NUGUARD KX – Kinectic Energy X-Orbing Case for Samsung Galaxy S4
iolo: Copies of System Mechanic – Tune-up your PC to increase performance and reliability.
Tylt: AL?N Screen Protectors for the iPad Air
“Into Tomorrow”: Microfiber Screen Cleaning Cloths with Dave’s cartoon on them, for all your smartphones, tablets, TVs, camera lenses and computer screens!