Table of contents for The Cloud Computing Book 6th Edition in The Cloud Computing Book

Over the last few years, technological advancements have changed the way we work and play. Gone are the days when you had to save documents onto USB drives to share them with work colleagues. No longer do you have to carry around a phone, diary, notepad and pager to remember what you’re doing and where you should be. And if you want to purchase a new album or rent a movie, you don’t even need to get up out of your seat. Cloud computing has revolutionised the way we use our Macs, PCs, smartphones and tablets - even our games consoles. Syncing and sharing files with anyone around the world has never been easier, and storage is no longer an issue as everything can be saved to the cloud and…

As is the case with most cloud-based storage options, Google Drive is an ideal way for you to store and share your documents and images. Being linked to your Google account, it means logging in and getting access to your files is easy, whether you’re on a desktop or mobile device. The functionality on offer with Drive is impressive, and you can upload files and share them with anyone around the world with just a few clicks. It includes features that were available in Docs, meaning you can create files from within the Drive interface itself. With 5GB of free storage, this is a service that is likely to appeal to many, and offer a good alternative to the likes of Dropbox and OneDrive. In this tutorial we’ll walk you…

The great thing about cloud applications like Google Drive is that they allow two or more people to collaborate on a single project. No more having to send email messages back and forth, and on top of that you can say goodbye to the frustration of trying to keep track of who has the latest version. This is because Google Drive lets you send an internet link to contacts in order to grant editing rights to a document. The cloud-based productivity suite even lets you ‘chat’ to your contacts in real-time and comment on changes while they are actually being made. Once you have collaborated on creating a document, you can then share it with others. You can share your documents with as many or as few people as you…

Keep is Google’s cloud-based note creation app. Having launched only in the first half of 2013, it is one of the youngest services in Google’s portfolio of services, and as such is less full featured than many of the company’s other products. Yet it is still an incredibly useful app that serves multiple purposes, and as a cloud-based service, it is accessible through any mobile or desktop web browser as well as through the dedicated Android and iOS app. Keep is tied to your Google Drive account. It is a note taking app that is ideal for creating any kind of note, memo, list or reminder, and is suited to anything from serious time management use in the office to casual tasks like maintaining your shopping list. In this tutorial…

“iCloud provides 5GB free storage – sufficient for most” You can use the web to provide various cloud services, wherever you may be. iCloud is Apple’s online hub for all its devices. Some companies provide general services that anyone can use, but iCloud has been optimised for Apple devices. It is primarily a syncing service, but it also provides an online storage facility for all of your files, apps and music. The greatest benefit of using iCloud is that it enables email, contacts, calendar appointments, reminders, photos, notes and more to be synced across all your devices, and made available to you no matter where you are or which device you’re currently using. You can create a document on your Mac and access it via an iPad, or add a…

Sometime soon all of the world’s USB flash drives will be declared obsolete and discarded. No matter how small and seemingly ‘cool’ they look, because of services such as OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive), Microsoft’s password-protected hard drive in the cloud, you can store thousands of files and access them anytime you’re online. And as well as a cloud storage facility for keeping all the important files you wish to transport to and from work, you can also use it for emailing a photo album or collaborating with a group on Word docs, Excel spreadsheets and other Microsoft Office files. What’s more, you can even create any of the above documents from scratch from within your OneDrive, making it a very useful service for all your remote working needs. In this tutorial…

“Working on projects remotely has never been easier” With Office 365, Microsoft provides essential office tools and applications, along with a robust cloud computing service that allows you to get to your files and applications from virtually anywhere – including PC, Mac and tablets. This means that working on projects remotely has never been easier and all of the files you work on are automatically saved and synced across all of your devices. Team collaboration is also made easy because Office 365 offers business-class email, shared calendars, IM and online conferencing. Colleagues can work together in real-time, securely viewing and making modifications to documents. Furthermore, you no longer have to worry about updating tools and running into any compatibility issues because all new updates occur automatically in the background. Then…

Despite being around for over ten years, OneNote is not one of the best-known applications within the Office suite. OneNote has really started to show its potential, though, with the increased interest and demand for cloud-based solutions. Storing files online and accessing them there means everyone is working on the same version, and any changes are seen instantly by everyone involved. OneNote is ideal for quickly sharing and collaborating rough ideas, sketches and plans with other users across your local network or the internet. When you create notes you have the option of sharing them with other people by entering email addresses (which will invite the person to share). When sharing with other people they can view, edit and share the note from anywhere with an internet connection. There are…

OneDrive is the name for Microsoft’s cloud storage service, which is provided free for all Outlook accounts. This includes any Microsoft MSN or Hotmail accounts created before the switch to OneDrive. Since the company has a long list of hardware devices that are capable of displaying media, it only makes sense that it utilises OneDrive on all of these devices – so you can access your files, photos and videos anywhere. Previously named SkyDrive, Microsoft later rebranded it to OneDrive to keep with the media-focused role of the Xbox One. With it you can store your favourite videos or photos in your OneDrive account where you can use it to show off all your media to friends and family without actually having to download the files first, or switch on…

As we have previously explored, the files that you upload to your Amazon Cloud Drive are handled in different ways. You can either download them and find apps to open them with or, if compatible apps are already installed on your system, then you can simply click on a file in its respective folder to open it directly form your Cloud Drive – and if you do this with uploaded pictures then you’ll be in for a nice surprise! When you click on an image file, it won’t just open it up, it will actually place all available photo files into an attractive slideshow and allow you to scroll through them all and view them full-screen in their own slideshow window that encompasses the entire web browser window. It is…

Amazon makes it easy to buy songs it has stored on its servers. It uses clever programming to flag up music that you may enjoy based upon what you have listened to in the past and it recommends songs that are new or proving popular. But what is also does is place all of your purchases in the cloud. It means you can go to the Amazon website, buy a few songs and then have them available on a portable device such as the Kindle Fire. There are no wires involved and no need to re-purchase a song. All you have to do is buy the tune you want on the desktop and then see it appear with the cloud-streaming part of the Music app on the Kindle Fire. As…

There used to be a time, not so long ago, when you had to venture outside and brave the elements to visit a video shop if you wished to rent a title – and then actually pay money to hire something physical that you had to take away. Not anymore. These days you can get thoroughly entertained without leaving the house thanks to streaming services offered by companies such as Amazon. By paying a monthly subscription fee, users can get unlimited movies and TV shows streamed directly to their favoured device, which means you no longer have to endure whatever the TV schedules are throwing at you. You can simply watch what you want whenever you want. What’s more, the selection of devices to which your chosen feature can be…

Box is an incredibly flexible cloud service which gives the user a wide range of options, especially when it comes to collaborating with others or sharing files. Images, for example, can not only be linked via a URL to allow others to view them from within a browser, they can be embedded into websites using the code provided by Box. You can also create group work spaces and even produce notes that are saved in the cloud that can be accessed, read and amended by anyone. To get started, go to box.com and sign up. Although you will be able to use Box’s services straight away, uploading files and manipulating them via the website, you also have the opportunity to download an app for your computer. To do this, simply…

If there is one frustration with email, it’s the inability to attach large files. Even if you have a provider that allows for a big file to be sent, very often the recipient’s email will bounce it back. WeTransfer offers a solution that does not require any registration or log-ins, unless you use the paid-for version. For most people, though, the free version will be more than enough. It allows you to send files of up to 2GB as often as you like. The files are not attached to an email; they are sent to the WeTransfer server and linked to. When a recipient receives an email from WeTransfer, they will be able to click the link to download the file. What’s more, if you choose to send it to…

SugarSync is a flexible, user-defined service in which you can determine which folders you want to sync. You are able to select specific folders and, when you use them on your computer, they are automatically backed up. As with all cloud services, you can then access these files on any computer or device you wish including smartphones and tablets. Files can be uploaded via the web or from apps on any computer or device and it works with any kind of file. Best of all, SugarSync works quietly away in the background and doesn’t interfere with your workflow. Although you get a 30-day free trial with SugarSync, you need to pay when this period runs out. You get 60GB of storage for $74.99/year or $8.49 a month, with a $99.99…

You’ve no doubt seen the adverts and heard all about Netflix’s internet movie streaming service – but just in case you haven’t then a simple three-minute setup process (and a monthly charge of £5.99) allows you to watch an unlimited amount of movies and TV shows on your computer, tablet or smartphone. You can set up your account on a computer and then access it through the various apps available for your tablet or smartphone devices (or vice versa) and, thanks to an effective use of cloud technology, you can stop watching at any time on one device and then continue watching from the exact same point on a different device later, making it a highly versatile service that works in complete harmony with your lifestyle. Setting up a Netflix…

Flickr is an online photo management application that allows you to store your photos and videos in the cloud. This means that you can free up storage space on your computer, and have access to your precious memories from any device with internet access. It is free to sign up to Flickr and you can upload up to 300MB of photos and two videos each month. If you want to upload more than that, then you will have to pay to upgrade to Flickr Pro, which will give you unlimited uploads. It is important to remember that the free version of Flickr will only give you access to smaller versions of your images if you decide to download them. To download your original high-resolution images you will need to pay…

Cloud computing sounds like an invention dreamed up in a marketing meeting, but it is real and in use today by millions of people. You may not be aware that you are using it, but it is highly likely that you are in many more ways than you think. The easiest way to think about cloud computing is to consider it as an application that does not sit on your computer, but on the internet instead. You do not need to know the exact location of the software or associated data and instead can access all of the information as you would with locally stored data on your computer. The fact that the information is remote offers many advantages because this makes it available to a variety of devices, including…

Gmail is an incredibly complex and clever online service that manages to successfully hide all of the trickery behind the process. It’s simple to use, yet at the same time capable enough for the most serious of email users. With many project management-style features and a level of reliability that few other clients can match, it should prove to be the perfect email solution for the majority of users. The huge amount of included space and the way the system works with other Google services, such as Contacts and Tasks, means that it will likely soon become a reliable and much-trusted integrated service that efficiently helps you to deal with the communications that you receive on a daily basis. It’s hard to find a feature in other email solutions that…

The objective of a presentation solution such as Slides in Google Drive is to enable the user to quickly create presentations that integrate workflow, as well as provide ways to share information with other people. A number of people rely on slideshows on a daily basis, including those working in education (such as teachers and university lecturers), and those employed in the business sector (project managers and marketing executives, for example). Start up Slides, and you are instantly greeted with a familiar desktop-like interface that makes creating and editing slides a straightforward and effortless process. For example, many of the most frequently used formatting options (such as bold, underline, indent and font type) are easily accessible directly from the toolbar. You can also upload existing presentations from the desktop, and…

Social networking services have become essential tools for anyone wanting to share their photos. Google+ is a fantastic way of sharing, or simply storing your pictures but things have changed with recent updates to the service and now, instead of just publishing photos, you can create interactive collections to share. By clicking on the Collections section in the side menu, you will bring up several tabs relating to the topic. The Featured section showcases a wide range of collections that other Google+ users have created, and that cover a wide range of topics. You can ‘follow’ any collecitons that you like the look of and these will be stored in the ‘Following’ tab for easy access. Finally, to start creating your own collection, click on the ‘Yours’ tab and then…

Since replacing the Android Market, Google Play has been a fantastic resource, especially for Android users. Acting as a storefront for apps, music, movies, books, magazines and more, there is a huge wealth of content on offer. Recently, Google Play has received a redesign, bringing it more in line with the look of other Google apps. Although everything works in the same way, aesthetically everything is a little cleaner and more straightforward to use, making it even more appealing to download more of your favourite content to enjoy across your devices. As such, device memory use should become less of an issue, because the media will be stored in the cloud. Synchronisation should also be improved between phones and tablets via Google Play apps, and web and mobile content will…

Microsoft’s OneDrive service lets you upload and store files, sync folders and settings from your desktop, and share items with other people. So naturally you’ll be using it rather a lot. It’s good news, then, that you can also enjoy the service through virtually any smartphone or tablet device too. This is incredibly handy if you are working remotely and need to access files from your office computer or get some feedback from your colleagues on particular documents that you upload and share. The app is free to download and can be obtained from the respective smartphone app store that’s native to your device (in this tutorial we have used an iPad). Once you have installed the app and logged in, all of the data that you have uploaded will…

Microsoft Office 365 is the central component of Microsoft’s cloud-based service. It is the engine that drives other services and enables them to work. Office 365 consists of a collection of online services and although they can be used just by you, it is best for working collaboratively with others. It’s great if you run a small business or department in a larger company. The cloud services include email and calendars that can be accessed from your computer, the web and a smartphone or tablet. You can schedule meetings and use video conferencing, create a website for your business with no hosting costs and your own domain name, share files with other users, and use online versions of Office software that require nothing more than a web browser. A free…

In 2012, Microsoft decided to overhaul its web mail client, and brought an end to the Hotmail brand. Don’t worry, if you still have a Hotmail account you can still access your messages and use your email address. But for anyone new to Microsoft emails, Outlook will now be the service you use. If you have an existing Microsoft ID, you can log in using your old email address and you’ll be welcomed by the new-look interface. If you don’t have an account, we’ll walk you through the process of signing up and familiarising yourself with what’s on offer. Outlook has adopted a whole new look, something much more in line with Windows 10 than the old Hotmail interface. The main screen displays all your emails front and centre, with…

It wasn’t so long ago that physical flash drives – which rapidly decreased in physical size, yet increased in storage capacity – were the primary means of keeping your essential files to hand for times of need. But now with the advent of ‘cloud’ storage, you can upload and access files from anywhere –_and all you need is a standard web browser. The Amazon Cloud Drive is your own personal hard drive in the cloud, in which you can store your music, videos, photos and documents on Amazon’s secure servers and then access them at any time, on any computer. The only prerequisites are an Amazon.com account and a web browser that supports Flash. Once you have all of these, you are provided with 5GB of free online storage to…

As we have previously demonstrated with the uploading photos tutorial, the files that you upload to your Amazon Cloud Drive are handled in various ways. You can either download them and find apps to open them with on your system or if you have compatible apps already installed on your computer, then you can simply click on a file in its respective folder to open it directly from your Cloud Drive window. And viewing videos is no exception. When you click on a video file, it will be opened in its own browser window and have its own control bar to help you view and manipulate the video. The controls you have access to are fairly basic – play/pause, a high speed scrubbing bar and volume – but you can…

The digital eBook revolution is in full swing and, as such, it has never been easier to read and enjoy books thanks to Amazon. We all know about the Kindle, a portable eReader that is purpose-built for storing thousands of digital publications and enabling users to read them through a glare-free, natural-looking interface, but all Kindle books purchased from Amazon can be read on your tablet or smartphone, too. Buying books from Amazon is simple – log onto the site from any browser, log in to your account and then jump to the Kindle Books section from the ‘Shop All Departments’ menu. Once there you can browse through millions of books and when you find one you want you can purchase it with one simple click and get it delivered…

Dropbox is a popular and easily accessible cloud-based service that uses networked storage to enable you to store and share documents, photos, videos and other files with friends, family and colleagues. One of the most notable benefits of the service is ease of use. Any file you save in your personal Dropbox is automatically saved to your PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry or Android device. Once configured, no user input is required and as a bonus, a copy of every file is also saved to the Dropbox site. This means that should you ever inadvertently erase important files, Dropbox has it covered. The service enables you to be flexible and you can, for instance, start working on a document on a Mac in the office, proof-read it on your iPhone…

So many people forget to regularly back up their computers. This runs the risk of losing everything should your computer become stolen or suffer a major fault. Carbonite is a cloud storage service that is primarily aimed at backing up your files. Best of all, it offers unlimited storage space so you never have to worry that your files are being abandoned because you’ve reached your limit. It claims to be able to back up your files at twice the speed of competitors and it also comes with seven-day support in the US. Retrieving files is as easy as pressing a single button and you can download files that you have accidentally deleted from your machine and just can’t get back. You also have full control over which folders and…

Hightail has evolved from its former origins as YouSendit. While it still allows you to send files of up to 10GB, it also gives you options to lock those files after a period of time and even protect them with passwords. It lets you track your files and you can access your account on the web, via a desktop app, on an iPhone and iPad or Android device and even from within Outlook. Although there is no free option – only a 15-day free trial – you do get unlimited storage space. This costs the rather high sum of £11.99 per month with options for business that go to £18.99 per month for each user. But being able to access apps, enjoy the benefits of data encryption, the Outlook plug-in…

Mozy is an excellent back-up tool which lets you keep the files in your most important folders safe and secure online in your own cloud space. Although it is not immediately obvious, there is a free version of Mozy which gives you 2GB worth of space to use. To access it, you must go to mozy.co.uk/product/mozy/personal and click the Free button. If you do not, you will find yourself having to input your credit card details – we always think it’s better to try before you buy. Once you are signed up, you can benefit from having your files automatically back up, letting you keep important photos, documents, music and more to be stored and ready to be restored should you lose them on your hard drive. It works with…

Once you have set up an account with Netflix through the website (www.netflix.com) you can access it on any of your mobile devices by downloading the free app. This means that you can choose content to watch while on the move and get complete flexibility to watch how you want. For example, as Netflix utilises cloud technology to store and bookmark your content, you can start watching a film on your computer downstairs and then pick up where you left off on your iPad and finish watching it in bed. Streaming movies and TV shows to your mobile device is easy. You simply trawl through the Netflix app interface, which is tailored to reflect your own personal film and TV preferences, tap on a movie poster to display its respective…

As you’ve been reading so, far the main benefit of cloudbased technology is that it allows you to store a variety of data on an online server and then access it via a web browser or mobile device (such as a tablet or smartphone). This way you don’t have to store backups on your own computer and you can access the files from any location around the world as long as you have an internet connection. SoundCloud is another company that is keen to exploit the cloud-based technology and it’s the primary focus of our tutorial. The service offers a free-topaid subscription platform designed for musicians to share their music or sound clips with others via an online community. In the first part of the tutorial we show you how…

It may have been a long time coming, but Google Drive finally arrived in 2012. While the likes of Dropbox, OneDrive and iCloud have cemented their place as fully functioning cloud-storage options, Drive has been developed to work seamlessly with Google’s other applications, and although a little late to the party, Drive is likely to become the default option for many people. Offering 15GB of free storage, and the option to purchase more if needed, all you need to get up and running is a Google username and password. The service itself is packed full of features, with everything you’d expect on offer. You can upload files and images, create new documents, share your work with others, set viewing and editing permissions, and organise and search your files. And if…

Google Calendar is a powerful but easy-to-use internet calendar, and there are several good reasons why you should choose this featurepacked time-management solution to organise your schedule. For example, you can create multiple colour-coded calendars (which is handy if you want to separate personal and business schedules) and choose to share events with coworkers, friends or family members. Customisable reminders help you stay on schedule, and you can choose to have reminders delivered by email or SMS text message. You can also opt to sync your schedule with desktop personal information manager (PIM) solutions such as Microsoft Outlook or Apple’s iCal. Additionally, if you own a smartphone, you can use it to access your agenda for when you are away from the desktop. On a final note, although Google Calendar…

Of all the software created for the desktop computer, spreadsheets have arguably had the most impact. The appeal of the humble spreadsheet lies in its versatility, as it can help you analyse, share and manage a wealth of information. For example, you can use a spreadsheet to crunch numbers, keep a close eye on personal expenses or to review sales figures. If you like numbers, then you will be pleased to learn that Google Sheets supports all the features required to enter, format, present and analyse data. Not only that, but you can share your data with others or invite selected individuals to perform edits to your workbooks. You can even upload images that are stored on your computer, search for an image online or add personal photos directly from…

i Cloud is your primary storage solution for Mac and iOS, keeping all your photos, videos and other content synced across all your devices. One of the standout features of the Apple tech universe, this service is free to all Mac and iOS users and it is essentially 5GB of cloud storage space for your Apple account. However, there is no manual transferring of files or data to worry about, your personal cloud simply hovers over you at all times, soaking up and absorbing data, such as back-ups, photos, music files, documents, apps and so on, ensuring that everything you need is at hand. By extension, there are many great services that become available thanks to this system, such as photos you take on your iPhone, or music files…

Apple’s iCloud service, which comes free with OS X Mountain Lion and above, is designed to make your life easier and Photo Stream is a prime example of how it goes about it. With iCloud, when you take a photo on one device – like your iPhone – it will automatically appear on your other devices, including your Mac via Photo Stream. There is no manual syncing to worry about, no sending, your photos just appear, as if by magic, on all of your devices, so you will always have them close at hand. It’s a wondrous system and easy to set up, all you have to do is ensure that all of your devices are logged into your iCloud account and then activate the Photo Stream feature – after…

There is no doubt that Apple products are becoming closer to each other as time passes and Apple is gradually introducing new features that will make you more productive if you have bought into the ecosystem. Universal Clipboard is so obvious that it’s surprising it is only becoming available now, and even more surprisingly you will never actually see it when it is being used. The entire process is as simple as copying text or an image on one device and then using the paste command on another. The data will be available on the second device in short order and you can then paste it as if you had copied it on the same device a second before. It will save you time on a daily basis. “Ensure that…

OneDrive is one of those handy facilities that Microsoft offers free with Windows 10. There’s even an app for it on the Start screen. This app is handy for uploading files, moving them around, and creating folders. It can even email or post them to social media sites. However, it can’t share the files by producing links, just link to the image in emails. For that you either need to go to the desktop and use Internet Explorer, or stay in the Modern UI and use Internet Explorer there to do the same thing. The desktop version has slightly more functions available, whereas the Modern UI version looks more consistent with the OneDrive app itself. The other advantage that the OneDrive version using Internet Explorer on the desktop has, is…

Many people are familiar with Microsoft Office and you may have used it at work or even at home or school. There’s no doubt it is a great suite of applications, but not everyone needs all the features it provides. If all you need is to create simple documents, spreadsheets and presentations – and to store notes – then Microsoft’s free web apps are fine. The apps consist of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. They work in a similar way to the desktop programs, so if you have experience of using these you will be right at home with the web versions. They just have slightly fewer features. Anyone with a Microsoft ID, such as a free Hotmail email account, can use the Office web apps and if you don’t…

As part of Microsoft’s big push on cloud technology, the Xbox One is built with this firmly in mind. A large part of the console is driven by cloud tech, whether it’s the account-associated digital licences – meaning you can play and access any digital game on any Xbox One you sign into – or even the dedicated servers that power its games. These dedicated servers enable smoother online experiences on multiplayer games, but can even be used to improve the games you play. This means game developers can use the remote power of these high-spec cloud servers to enhance their games, including improved graphics and more complex AI routines. On the simpler side of things is the way that the Xbox One handles cloud saves. Unlike other consoles, the…

The beauty of Amazon’s free Cloud Drive service is that you can upload any type of files to your own personal cloud and access them at any time from any other computer, as long as it has a web browser. This means that you don’t have to ferry your work around with you on a physical storage device and you can conduct your work on one computer, upload your files to your Cloud Drive and then access them easily on a different computer to continue working later. What’s more, as the service is web-based, the operating system is completely universal so you don’t have to contend with different screen layouts and features when accessing your account on a different machine – everything is laid out exactly the same, making it…

Amazon’s Cloud Player is fast becoming one of the best music services around. Not only can you include songs you’ve bought from Amazon’s website and Kindle Fire store, you can also import your own tunes via any computer so you can access them wherever you are. Songs ripped from CDs, taken from your existing collections or found on your hard drive are fair game. All will be imported and matched to the 256kbps audio versions of your tunes that are stored on the Amazon servers in lightning-fast time. Any songs that cannot be located on the Amazon server will be uploaded fresh. While this will take a bit longer, the overall combination makes this a painless experience that ensures none of your music gets left behind. Any songs that you…

Amazon’s Kindle service extends way beyond its specific Kindle reader devices – anyone can purchase eBooks from the Amazon store and read them on a wide range of devices, from smartphones to tablets. What’s more, the cloud technology that Amazon employs allows you to start reading a downloaded eBook on one device and then pick up exactly where you left off on a different device. As long as you have the free Kindle app installed then you will be able to access all of your books when connected to a Wi-Fi network and your current page, along with all of your notes and bookmarks, will be synced wirelessly and be applied and made available to all of your other connected devices. The freedom this provides is very liberating and ensures…

Dropbox is much more than just a simple cloud-based data backup solution. For example, the service enables you to effortlessly share files with friends and family. Upload a document, photo or video to your Public folder and you can share it with others simply by sending them an internet link. In fact, you can send a public link for any file you wish to share to anyone who has access to a web browser, or even via a social networking service such as Twitter or Facebook. As a bonus, you’re not tied to the desktop as once you’ve installed the mobile Dropbox app on your BlackBerry, iOS or Android device, you can quickly and easily share a link to any file stored in your cloud-based Dropbox while you’re on the…

MEGA Storage is another useful online cloud storage service that you can use to backup your important files. The service is totally free to use and you are provided with up to 50GB of storage space to use however you see fit. What’s more, you can also share all of your uploaded files privately with selected people or publicly, making this a great service for working remotely and collaborating with others. Once you have created an account you can then explore MEGA’s simple, accessible interface and go to work uploading your files. Everything you upload can be organised neatly into folders and clicking on the drop-down menu on a file (or right-clicking) will bring up a menu of assorted options, included those to share and generate links to your files…

“The basic package, giving you 10GB, is free” MediaFire is a user-friendly cloud service that brings in the benefits of social media, allowing files to be shared via Facebook, Google+ and Twitter, for example. You can collaborate on projects with other people or simply let them view files, from photos to documents to video and audio. To this end, it is aimed at the consumer to a great degree, letting media be shared as media, as it likes to point out. You can share, view and listen to 200 different file formats. The basic package, giving you 10GB, is free and it has advertising-supported downloads, while Pro is $4.99 each month and offers a whopping 1,000GB – or a Terrabyte – with files of up to 20GB. Business users can…

SpiderOak prides itself on being a secure service and it makes much play, when you sign-up, of encrypting your password. But it does more than that. You can sync files and log the changes online and you can create shared areas which come complete with a unique URL that can be shared with others. SpiderOak also enables you to access your data from anywhere, be it on a PC, Mac, within a web browser or via a smartphone or tablet app. Backups can be made from multiple computers at the same time too, so that you are able to get a single, large depositary of your files. Having back-up tools alongside synchronisation solutions gives you the best of both worlds. You will quickly find, when using this service to the…

Remember the days when you’d need to take your memory card round to a friend’s house to use your own save data on someone else’s console? Now your most important PS4 and PS3 game saves are never more than a few button presses away when you know what you’re doing. Cloud saving is only available to PlayStation Plus subscribers, but given that the service is required both for PS4 online play and a constant source of free games, we’re going to go ahead and assume that most PlayStation gamers are already signed up. By using the cloud storage made available to PS Plus subscribers, gamers are able to send copies of their progress files to the cloud and retrieve them on any other PS4 console. All you need to do…

Spotify is an excellent music streaming service that allows you to listen to virtually any music you want, making it resemble something of an online jukebox. And there are many different ways to use the service to your advantage. For example, if you sign up for a free account then you can still listen to whatever you want, but the flow of the music is disrupted by adverts occasionally, making this type of account ideal for ‘trying before buying’ new music, but not suitable for providing the music at parties. The premium service, however, allows you to create your own playlists to share with friends or play offline, and your streaming is completely uninterrupted, so you can really savour what you’re listening to (though this service requires a monthly fee).…

From our previous tutorial you should have picked up the steps to create a SoundCloud account. Next we will be focusing on the main selling aspect of the service and that’s the ability to upload your audio files. We use the words ‘audio files’ rather than ‘music’ because SoundCloud isn’t just for musicians as it can also be a useful platform if you want to share your podcasts or other sound bites that you may have taken. Due to the community aspect of the service we will also look at how to upload music to others and comment on tracks. Additionally we will cover the use of widgets, which are small pieces of HTML code that can be placed on your own website to give the public a fast method…