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How to password protect public cloud files for almost any public Cloud Storage

For over 2 years now we have had the Public Files page. When users sets a file public from any of the 35+ information Clouds they have mapped to their account then it is displayed on this public files page.  Users have always been able to make such files password protected by encrypting the files on upload through our platform, but we have had feedback that what users really wanted was the ability to have any files on this page password protected, whether they were uploaded as encrypted files or not.

We’ve now added this change to the service. To take advantage of it all that needs to be done is to assign a password to the public files page from your Cloud DashBoard after login to the web. This can be set under the “extended options” section (at the bottom of the DashBoard).

Password protect public files

Setting files to be public is easy, just right click on the file from the web and choose to make the file public:

Other desktop and mobile clients also enable files to be set as public, as in the Android example below:

Once files are set public they appear on the public files page that each user account has:

These files are also available as an RSS feed that can added to the foot of an email for example, or as a an iPhone App:

Once a file is then accessed when public file sharing is turned on then the user is redirected to a password page  when they try to access any file from the public files page:

This feature works across files from any Cloud and indeed Cloud Files from different clouds can be shared and protected from the same page in this way.

Business Cloud File Server users can take advantage of this or turn off file sharing completely for their users.

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Cloud File Manager for Windows Phone updated: Unify access to your Cloud Files

We recently updated The Windows Phone Cloud File Manager. Features include:

– Instant access to unified Cloud files anytime, anywhere direct from a WP7 device.

– Assign lengthy tasks and operations to the SME Platform Tasks Engine (PTE). Use your phone while tasks are completed in background. Check progress at anytime in cloud tasks.

– Manage multiple Clouds in a single view. Easily move files between different clouds, done in background.

– Advanced Cloud Search feature that can search for files across multiple clouds.

– Unique Cloud Clipboard feature enables file management from different clouds in batches, without downloading & then uploading.

– Unique Direct Upload uploads files from web directly, no need to download and then upload, just enter file address and our servers will upload it in background.

– Open files in the phone in Microsoft Office, MediaPlayer etc.

– Share and collaborate – share files to social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Windows Live, etc.), over email or with users groups.

– Record audio (even with screen locked), take notes and 2-way sync with chosen Cloud(s). No need for another recording App.

– 2-way sync pictures with different Clouds. Integrated with Pictures hub. Pictures can be uploaded (shared) directly from the hub.

We have seen a recent surge in business customers wanting to use the Windows Phone with our Cloud File Server SaaS and hosted hybrid appliance and expect this to continue with the recently announced windows phone business features.

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Linux Cloud Tools updated to 3.0.12

We’ve updated our Linux Cloud Tools to 3.0.12. The changes include:

1. Supports deleting of files during sync

If a user deletes files locally and syncs then the files will be deleted on the server. If a user  deletes files on the server and then syncs then files will be deleted locally. These 2 options are ‘Off’ by default. and can be turned on in settings of the sync center.

2. In Ubuntu 11.10+ “Hide in tray” works correctly.

3. Fixed Menu duplication

4. Fix for large fonts bug.

5. In Explorer new option to upload folder (previously only individual files were possible to upload).

6. Fixed bug with trash in explorer (not all files from trash were displayed)

7. Sync center works as per other OS sync tooling.  The “My syncs” folder concept is not used any more and desktop to different cloud folders can be mapped. ie. any folder can now be nominated for sync.  The free version has a restriction of 3 folders that can be sync’d

8. Encryption now supported (only for Personal Cloud or Business Cloud users.). In the Properties window it is possible to set a password for encryption of files during sync.

9. Small fix for Properties window for small screens. Scrolling works correctly now.

The Linux Cloud Tools can be used with the following Clouds:

Google Docs, Google Storage, Google Sites,
Amazon S3, MobileMe, Microsoft Live Mesh (read only),
Microsoft SkyDrive, DropBox, Azure Blob Storage,
Box.net, RackSpace Cloud Files, OpenStack Swift,
Gmail-as-a-Cloud, Email-as-a-Cloud, Mezeo,
HP Object Cloud Storage, S3 compliant Clouds such as (Eucalyptus Walrus),
Ubuntu One Cloud, iKeepinCloud, PogoPlug,
BaseCamp SaaS Service, IBM Connections Files,
EMC Atmos, Office365, SharePoint, CloudMe,
HostingSolutions.it, Scality, Alfresco (on-premise),
Zimbra Briefcase, SafeSync(WebDav enabled),
FilesAnywhere (WebDav enabled), and any WebDav enabled Cloud.

The tools can be downloaded from the Linux Cloud Tools Page.

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HTML5 Cloud FIle Manager for over 35 Storage Clouds for Playbook and other webkit browsers

As part of the platform update I blogged about in the last post we have have released a new HTML5 App for BlackBerry Playbook, that is optimised for webkit browsers.

It is able to access, unify, and manage clouds from over 35 Cloud Storage and SaaS services. It supports upload, where webkit browsers enable access to the file system, such as the Playbook and the Android, and it supports url generation for files, managed file sharing by expiry, as well as cross cloud search.



We also put together a short video to demonstrate how it works.



The Mobile App can be found at http://storagemadeeasy.com/mobile

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Turning any Storage Cloud into an Amazon S3 compatible Private, Public or hybrid Cloud

In the past we have written about Amazon S3 and how, aas the 100 pound gorilla, of the Cloud Storage world, it’s S3 API has become almost a de facto interface for developers. This is one of the reasons that we originally added an S3 API protocol adaptor to our service.

Many start up’s, small businesses and even enterprises choose initially to use S3 for storage.  This can be fine initially, however, when the volume increases the monthly bill can become an OPEX issue and small companies (and Enterprise) are looking for ways to slash their costs in any way they can. Aside from this other companies have stringent issues about where data is stored (for clarification, Amazon S3 is PCI DSS 2.0 compliant,   SAS 70 Type II certified, and VPV ISO 27001 certified) or wish to store it within their own data centre or site.

As SMEStorage supports over 35 Clouds and SaaS services, you could very easily turn Google Docs, Box, Windows Azure or DropBox into an S3 Platform, or you could just add your own NetGear or PogoPlug appliance, or other private storage implementation.

The SME hosted service, and Cloud Appliance,  provides the ability access to any Saas or cloud storage mapped to your account via multiple protocols. These include  FTP, WebDav and also S3. These work even if the backend provider does not support the protocol natively. The SME protocol adaptors will do the protocol translation to the native storage provider protocol. One of the benefits of this that the users don’t need any special software to be able to access the Clouds. They can use any FTP, or WebDav client, or in the case of S3 any S3 client or code in which the host endpoint can be changed.

To demonstrate compatibility with the S3 API and tools we will now look at how to use AWS s3curl with a smestorage account.

To use s3 curl you will need to modify s3curl.pl and change the end point to

‘s3.smetorage.com’ (US Server) or ‘s3eu.storagemadeeasy.com‘ (EU Server) e.g my @endpoints = ( ‘s3.storagemadeeasy.com‘);

Your id is your smestorage account user name and you can obtain your secret key by logging into SMEStorage.com going to “My  Dashboard” (from the sidebar) and copying the API key from  the“Tech Info”  section where the “API secret Key” resides.

Now you are all set to use s3curl. For example to list all the buckets you can use

./s3curl.pl –id smestorageusername –key API secret key http://s3.storagemadeeasy.com

For s3curl command line options please see the README file that is part of the s3curl package. Also note that the secure way to use s3curl is to use the .s3curl file in your home directory to pass the id and and key.

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FTPS Support added to CloudFTP (FTP over any Cloud)

As per the numerous requests we have had, we have now updated our CloudFTP product to also work with FTPS. This update enables all existing users and any new users to take access of secure Cloud FTP into Clouds that are mapped to their account that do not natively support FTP, such as for example, Amazon S3, Google Docs, Google Sites, DropBox etc.

The ports that you require are:

FTPES – port 21

FTPIS(FTPS) -990

and the host is storagemadeeasy.com

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Windows Phone 7 Cloud / Local File Manager released

The SMEStorage Cloud File Manager for Windows Phone 7 has been approved and is now available on the Windows Marketplace. It has all the features you would expect from a SMEStorage client, including:

– Ability to aggregate Clouds into a virtual Cloud File System to be manage from Your Windows 7 Phone

– Clouds supported: Amazon S3, Amazon Cloud Drive, Google Docs, Google Storage, Google Sites, RackSpace Cloud Files, OpenStack, OpenS3 (S3 compatible Clouds), Box.net, Zimbra Briefcase, Mezeo, CloudMe, DropBox, Live Mesh 2011, Azure Blob Storage, GMail, Email-as-a-Cloud, WebDav and FTP Clouds.

– Ability to take and sync text and voice memos back to your chosen default cloud

– Ability to sync files from the Cloud to the local Phone file system

– Ability to work with local offline files

– Ability to share Cloud File over email and obtain URL’s and also to be able to add files to the Cloud Clipboard and share these files over multiple links in one email.

– Ability to create Business Groups for content sharing. Share a file with the Group and all Group members will receive the file. Update a file and all group members receive an update

– Sync Pictures with your local Photos

– Ability to view Cloud Files using Google Viewer

– Ability to edit Office files on the Cloud using Zoho Office

There are many other features many of which you will know if you have used SMEStorage previously.

We’ll post a video at some point but for now please find some screenshots below:




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Mac Cloud Drive and Tools updated to Version 1.14

We’ve updated our Mac Cloud Tools to version 1.14. The Mac Cloud Tools work with your SMEStorage Account to enable you to manage the Storage Clouds mapped to your account directly from the Mac desktop either using:

– A network ‘Cloud’ Drive. We integrate with the OpenSource MacFuse to bring the Cloud into your Desktop

– Sync Folder. The Cloud Drive provides a view onto your Cloud data but if you want to keep data in sync from your desktop to (multiple) Clouds then use the Sync folders.

– Spotlight integration. We’ve integrated your Cloud Data with Spotlight so that when you search you also  are returned search results that include your Cloud Data.

More information on the Cloud Tools can be found here and the Wiki pages for the Cloud Tools can be found here.

If you are an existing registered user of the Mac Tools log into the site and download the new version for the “My Cloud Tools” link on the right sidebar.


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Windows Mobile 7 Support – Progress

Support for Windows Mobile 7 has always been on our RoadMap. We view it as a strategic handset client, and we’re happy to say that the App is close to being completed. The screenshots below give an idea of how it will finally look:

We hope to have an App in the Windows Marketplace by the beginning of July.

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