6 ms·

ZumoDrive (YC S07) Is a Silver Lining In 'Cloud' Storage

40 points by keevon 17y ago

almost 17y ago
I don't understand how "You have to remember to put all your files in a special folder" (Dropbox) is much different than "You have to remember to put all your files on a special drive".
- tlb 17y ago
  On systems that support symlinks like OSX and Linux they can be made to look equivalent, but under Windows the differences are noticeable.
  - mbreese 17y ago
    NTFS supports symlinks... it's just that Windows doesn't (or didn't, I don't know about now) include an easy interface for setting them.
    - jurjenh 17y ago
      I use NTFSLink (http://sourceforge.net/projects/ntfslinkext/ http://sourceforge.net/projects/ntfslinkext/) which makes it very easy. Right-click in a folder and select New... and then you can choose NTFS Hardlink or NTFS Junction point. Great app and combined with DropBox, I can sync data folders without having to move them.
      - cliff 17y ago
        Hardlinks and junction points are -not- symbolic links, and have lots of esoteric restrictions and consequences of use. NTFS does support symbolic links as of Vista.
- grourk 17y ago
  He was most likely referring to the ZumoDrive "folder linking" feature, where you can link an existing folder on your system with ZumoDrive, instead of moving it.
  - almost 17y ago
    Ok, that makes sense. It was just the way he wrote it looked like he was comparing having a special drive letter with having a special folder which didn't make any sense. Being able to use arbitrary folders is indeed a very useful feature. I'm on Linux so I've just been using symlinks but on Windows I can see it's pretty vital to have it built into the software.
- growingaseed 17y ago
  With the new version of Zumodrive you can simply link any folder to Zumodrive. I link my desktop to Zumodrive. So any time I create a new folder or add a file to my desktop, it is available to me on all my computers. Same with my iTunes music. I dont have to move anything any more. Before the folder linking you had to move or copy studd into a special drive.
elblanco 17y ago
The real question seems to be "how is this different than dropbox?" Looks like they are targeting it more as a way to share data among a myriad of devices, like PCs and Smartphones, vs. dropbox's more limited focus on just PCs.
Ennis 17y ago
These services are so expensive! I use jungledisk right now and it's dirt cheap compared to the rest.
dfragnito 17y ago
The marginal cost for storing a unit of data must be close to zero after the initial storage space is consumed. Or am I missing something? If that is true then why do the monthly costs not go down, assuming that the same amount of data is stored. Ok there is bandwith and disk I/O cost If I access the data, but if I just use it for archiving purposes these services are way over priced(even S3). There is the the off site aspect but that can be solved with a little ingenuity, two USB devices, a friend, some encryption, and the Internet.
Tichy 17y ago
Will it be possible to play Spaceward Ho! with this? Dropbox wouldn't sync the game file because it was "in use". Spaceward Ho! 4 (for PC) has this ancient networking code: it communicates with the other players via a file on a network share.

40 points by keevon 17y ago

I don't understand how "You have to remember to put all your files in a special folder" (Dropbox) is much different than "You have to remember to put all your files on a special drive".

tlb 17y ago
On systems that support symlinks like OSX and Linux they can be made to look equivalent, but under Windows the differences are noticeable.
- mbreese 17y ago
  NTFS supports symlinks... it's just that Windows doesn't (or didn't, I don't know about now) include an easy interface for setting them.
  - jurjenh 17y ago
    I use NTFSLink (http://sourceforge.net/projects/ntfslinkext/ http://sourceforge.net/projects/ntfslinkext/) which makes it very easy. Right-click in a folder and select New... and then you can choose NTFS Hardlink or NTFS Junction point. Great app and combined with DropBox, I can sync data folders without having to move them.
    - cliff 17y ago
      Hardlinks and junction points are -not- symbolic links, and have lots of esoteric restrictions and consequences of use. NTFS does support symbolic links as of Vista.
grourk 17y ago
He was most likely referring to the ZumoDrive "folder linking" feature, where you can link an existing folder on your system with ZumoDrive, instead of moving it.
- almost 17y ago
  Ok, that makes sense. It was just the way he wrote it looked like he was comparing having a special drive letter with having a special folder which didn't make any sense. Being able to use arbitrary folders is indeed a very useful feature. I'm on Linux so I've just been using symlinks but on Windows I can see it's pretty vital to have it built into the software.
growingaseed 17y ago
With the new version of Zumodrive you can simply link any folder to Zumodrive. I link my desktop to Zumodrive. So any time I create a new folder or add a file to my desktop, it is available to me on all my computers. Same with my iTunes music. I dont have to move anything any more. Before the folder linking you had to move or copy studd into a special drive.

elblanco 17y ago

The real question seems to be "how is this different than dropbox?" Looks like they are targeting it more as a way to share data among a myriad of devices, like PCs and Smartphones, vs. dropbox's more limited focus on just PCs.

Ennis 17y ago

These services are so expensive! I use jungledisk right now and it's dirt cheap compared to the rest.

dfragnito 17y ago

The marginal cost for storing a unit of data must be close to zero after the initial storage space is consumed. Or am I missing something? If that is true then why do the monthly costs not go down, assuming that the same amount of data is stored. Ok there is bandwith and disk I/O cost If I access the data, but if I just use it for archiving purposes these services are way over priced(even S3). There is the the off site aspect but that can be solved with a little ingenuity, two USB devices, a friend, some encryption, and the Internet.

Tichy 17y ago

Will it be possible to play Spaceward Ho! with this? Dropbox wouldn't sync the game file because it was "in use". Spaceward Ho! 4 (for PC) has this ancient networking code: it communicates with the other players via a file on a network share.