Thank you to Connected Data, creator of the Transporter, for sponsoring iPhone J.D. again this month. I described the basic function of the Transporter in March, and last month I discussed the useful Transporter iOS app. This month, I want to note the reason that you might want to purchase two Transporters: remote backup.
One advantage of an online document storage service such as Dropbox is that your files are somewhere else. Thus, even if there is a fire, earthquake, flood, or other disaster at your office or home, you can rest assured that your files are safely located somewhere else. A key advantage of the Transporter is privacy; the unit sits on your desk, and thus you don't have to worry about a company that you don't control having access to your data. But if disaster strikes and the items on your desk are destroyed, you could lose access to the data on the hard drive in that Transporter sitting on your desk.
But there is a simple solution. Purchase a second Transporter and keep it in another location. If you have one in your main office, put the other one in your satellite office, or your home. Then use the simple software to select which folders on your first Transporter to backup to the second Transporter, and then you are done. Shortly after files are added and revised on your first Transporter, they are also added and revised on the second Transporter.
Connected Data sent me two Transporter units to review so I've had this setup for several months now, and it just works without any involvement by me after the initial setup process. When I first started, I had a lot of files on my original Transporter, so I put the second Transporter on the same network for the initial backup. This way, fast local Ethernet was used to move the files over. (You don't have to do this initial step, but I did so just to speed things up.) Then I moved the second Transporter to another office and it has continued to update all of my files.
You can always access the secure portal on the Transporter website to check on the status of everything and make sure that both Transporters are working, which folders are being synced, etc. Remember that, for privacy reasons, the Transporter website doesn't have access to any of your data. Instead, it just has status and statistical information so that you can easily monitor that everything is working as planned. You can also use the website to give other people access to one or more of your folders, making the Transporter perfect for sharing files, even a large number of files, and for removing access if you want privacy again.
The smart folks behind the Transporter know that lawyers are a key market for this product, and they had a busy booth at ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago lat month. I know that they have also been hard at work on additional features, and while I don't have any inside knowledge on what is coming, the company seems to be dropping hints on its Twitter feed. For example, a few days ago, someone tweeted that Transporter "doesn't offer public links," and the company responded: "Stay tuned. You are going to be pleasantly surprised later this month."
If you like the idea of online storage that is completely private and secure while also being sharable and accessible on your iPhone or iPad, and if you like the idea of paying one reasonable price and avoiding monthly service charges year after year, check out the Transporter.Click here to get Transporter from Connected Data ($199 - $399).
Click here to get Transporter from Amazon ($299 for 1TB or $399 for 2TB).
