Egnyte turning netbooks into notebooks with unlimited file storage
Add Egnyte as another player in the crowded cloud storage market, only they’re claiming to do something else that no competitor is doing: they’re turning netbooks into notebooks. We all know that netbooks are simply smaller and lower powered notebooks, so there’s actually no hocus-pocus going on here. Instead, Egnyte is making a statement, and offering a solution, to the limited storage capacity of netbooks, which in some cases is a meager 4GB.
Essentially, this is another on-line file storage system, which Egnyte is positioning as extended capacity for your netbook. There’s not much new here when compared to other solutions like Mozy, SugarSync, or even the technical preview of Microsoft’s Live Mesh. Egnyte netbook offering is tagged as "the only online service that addresses three of your critical needs: file storage, collaboration and continuous backup in one secure solution." I beg to differ on that claim, but they do offer a solid feature-set at a reasonable $15 per month for unlimited storage. That same $15 over at SugarSync by way of comparison, would "only" get you 100GB. I’d say if you truly need unlimited storage, then Egnyte is worth a look. I don’t, so I didn’t even sign up for the 15-day free trial, which currently limits storage to 20GB for one or two users; three or more gets you the unlimited amount. Here’s what I’m missing out on then, based on the press release slated for later today:
- Configurable Shared Folders. Create folders to store and share files within and outside your company. Control permissions on folders (e.g. read only, read/write).
- Access as a Drive. Access Egnyte as folders on your computer. Drag & drop files easily
- No Download or Upload limits. Download or upload as much data as required. No daily or monthly restrictions. There are no file size limits either.
- Tight Privacy Controls. Share with multiple customers or suppliers. One party cannot see another’s folders or files.
- Highly Secure. Manage accounts and permissions. All access to Egnyte is fully encrypted. Servers hosted at a SAS-70 compliant, highly secure facility.
As I read through the features and compare them to what Egnyte offered prior to netbooks, it looks to me like the magic is more slight-of-hand as they’ve simply taken their existing enterprise solution set and applied to netbooks. There’s nothing specific in the service that’s an added value for netbooks, or if there is, I haven’t found it.
Again, unlimited storage at $15 appears to be the attention-getter here, along with WebDAV access, search capabilities, encrypted storage and continuous backup plus file sharing. There’s no file synchronization with multiple devices that I can see, which ironically is something individual netbook users would be interested in since it’s a companion device for most.
Kevin,
In ths release we have enabled the Egnyte desktop access for linux os, since most netbooks are on some flavor of Linux or XP. For one power user license, the unlimited storage option is at $35/month but as you have stated in a team situation, with 3 power users, storage is unlimited by default.
The idea is to provide a virtual server accessible real-time to all team members whether they use a netbook, notebook or desktop. Since, changes made by any person are immediately available to others, the “synchronization” on local computers is not required. In fact, for storage challenged netbooks, we believe local synchronization is a “no go”.
Also, due to a small form factor of the netbooks, they are more prone to loss/theft and therefore carrying copies of files locally is a big risk. Hence, Egnyte’s virtual file server accessible from a netbook gives the best of both worlds – unlimited storage and direct access (as long as you have an internet connection).
Regards
Vineet, thanks for adding additional information about your company’s offering. Your statement referring to “all team members” actually supports my logic in that Egnyte is geared towards the enterprise. In my opinion, netbooks generally are not.
That doesn’t mean you won’t find them in the enterprise of course, but they’re essentially a consumer electronics device that complement other consumer notebooks and desktops. Hence, my call for file synchronization. Perhaps that’s a configurable or optional feature we might see in the future from Egnyte?
Kevin, you nailed it. Can’t disclose all the details but yes, you will be hearing about “something” in that regard in January 2009, which based on the beta tests indicates that will beautifully address the challenge of complete cloud based solution that are beyond the control of the service provider – for example, someone’s internet connection going down.
Regards
Vineet