What is Dropbox Sync?
Keep your surveillance footage safe with automated cloud backups.
Picture this: You invest in a good quality IP surveillance system. You read the instructions, set up the equipment, plug it in, and fiddle around with angles and system preferences. You press record. Times goes by with nothing to report. You forget about the system and it carries on doing its job in the background. Then one day you're robbed. They destroy your surveillance system, and steal your computer and storage drives. The security footage was on those drives. Any evidence of the perpetrator is gone.
If only your surveillance footage had been backed-up remotely on a cloud computing site like Dropbox... It would have been safe!
Dropbox takes files and software that you would normally store on your hard drive or server, and hosts them in data centres across the United States. Offsite databackup negates a significant element of risk. Hard disk drives fail. Power surges can damage electronic devices. Systems can crash, losing hours, days or weeks of data. External hard drives can become lost. Having your files hosted or backed-up remotely ensures you can maintain security and productivity even when things go wrong!
A number of Jaycar's surveillance solutions - such as the Concord High Definition DVR System with Four x 1080p Cameras - recommend using Dropbox Sync to backup your surveillance footage. Jaycar's DVR systems can be set up to automatically record and transfer captured footage to a Dropbox folder. Utilising motion detection or time interval image capture will further maximise data storage allowances. Another feature of Dropbox is their user-friendly app, enabling easy viewing of video and stills on smartphones and tablets.
Residential and small commercial users embrace 'the cloud' for its hassle-free remote file access and improved computer hard drive capacity. Larger commercial users reduce file duplication and data usage by hosting software and files in a central location, servicing multiple employees and work sites. Both user groups find Dropbox especially useful for sharing large files that email networks simply can't cope with.
So What's the Cost Involved with Opening an Account with a Cloud Hosting Company?
It depends on the provider and how much data storage you expect to use. Dropbox offer a free account with 2GB of remote storage, which is why we recommend them as a good value option. Their 'Dropbox Pro' plan offers 1TB of storage at little more than a cup of coffee a week. Business plans vary depending on the number of users required. It's important to consider what a paid plan could offset: data storage equipment requirements, lost productivity on slow & overloaded servers, data plans, etc.
Why Should I use Dropbox Instead of Managing my Data Myself?
Dropbox has a team who is dedicated to improving systems and transfer speeds, protecting your data, detecting system bugs, identifying vulnerabilities and overall delivering ROI to its customers. Dropbox also saves deleted and draft files, and free account users can access these for up to 30 days. If you're a residential or small commercial user, it's most likely you'll purchase your equipment, set it up and not pay too much attention to it afterwards. You'll probably run system scans and update virus and spam protection software when your operation system prompts you to - i.e. the bare minimum! It's more convenient for you to hand over the worry of data storage and security to the experts, so you can focus on more important things.
If you don't currently export or backup files to a remote cloud provider then be sure to get onto it pronto to save yourself from the headache of data loss! Jaycar's team can show you how easy it is to set up your surveillance system to export to Dropbox. Visit us in-store today!
