New Online Storage Option with wuala by LaCie

In episode 72 of the Home Server Show we talked with Mike Mihalik of LaCie about their new Windows Home Server and a file storage service called wuala.  Mike gave us a great description of the service so you should go and listen to that podcast but here is a little bit about wuala.

Summing up this information, you get a free 2GB of online storage by using the referral links below.  You then choose the files you want to backup to the wuala service and it copies them out to the cloud.  Sounds pretty normal right?  Here is where wuala stands out from the rest.  You can choose to share several gigabytes of your local hard drive to the cloud and earn more storage for yourself.  The wuala service will test your reliability(how long your computer is up, etc.) and then you can earn even more storage space.  All your data is encrypted and you can even choose friends to share folders with.  Here is what wuala has to say:

Harnessing idle resources

Wuala users can choose to contribute idle resources to Wuala. In addition to servers, Wuala can harness these resources. The data is first encrypted and then split into fragments which are redundantly stored on our servers and in the grid network. When you access a file, Wuala simultaneously downloads as many of these fragments as it can from the grid storage and optionally takes the remaining ones from our servers. This allows us to save costs for downloads (bandwidth, electrical power) and to provide a better service for free including many advantages for our users (unlimited traffic, no file size limits, fast downloads, etc.). Our redundant and robust server infrastructure guarantees that your files are always available.

Once you are up and running you can invite friends to sign up and it will increase your storage limits.  Wuala also sells additional storage if you should need it.

John, Jim, Chris, and Dave have recently started using the service and would like to invite you to try it out as well.  I would like to see the Home Server Show community test this out and hit the forums.

Jim’s referral  – http://www.wuala.com/referral/336K63B4FAAAMHMFP7FB

Dave’s referral – http://www.wuala.com/referral/FGF544P3BK67C66AANGH

Chris’s referral – http://www.wuala.com/referral/KKPJBBAGG5CKA3MK43GF

John’s referral – http://www.wuala.com/referral/BNJ3G3MAFFK6KH7FG45M

In Tools, Options, you can see the Trade Storage tab.  It’s here where you designate how much storage on your local drive that you want to share to the wuala service.  The software even sets up a mapped drive on your computer.

I know what your next question is.  Does it work with Windows Home Server?  The answer so far is yes.  Jim has it running successfully on a test server.  I don’t think I’m going to recommend that you install it on your server quite yet since it is a java based software and it’s in beta.  Let’s wait for LaCie to get us something designed for WHS.  But, we all have it working and would like for you to join us in testing it.  Follow one of the referral links above and get signed up.  One simple click will start the process and you will be up and running in no time.

Join us in the forums to discuss wuala and stay tuned to future podcasts for even more discussions about it.

Tags: Cloud, Cloud Storage, LaCie, wuala

Category: Home Server Storage, Software, Windows Home Server