Network file services are rapidly evolving. How will Google respond?

Two more companies have launched services for the placement, storage and transfer of files on the network ... and there is still no news about GDrive from Google.

Syncplicity today offers the same functionality as SugarSync , which we talked about in March. Syncplicity can be used not only to automatically create a backup copy of your computer files from any place where you have access to the Internet, but also to synchronize files on several computers, and to share files with friends. A distinctive feature of this service is the ability to synchronize your Microsoft Office documents with Google Docs, just as DocSyncer does, but only in both directions (DocSyncer only synchronizes in the direction of Google).

The second company is a veteran Allmydata . Version 3.0, the release of which was not positioned by a loud release and was held last week, turned out to be a fundamentally new backup product. The company has almost completely abandoned its p2p roots, this technology has been saved only for data transfer through a server-to-server channel. Allmydata users now need to install a special client on their Mac or PC that will create an unlimited virtual hard disk for $ 5 / PC. And this is far from all the possibilities for transferring your files, but the original project was intended only for synchronizing personal data, in addition, you can still use the web interface, for example, when you are at work.

Virtual file storage today a great many. In addition to the three companies mentioned above, we recently had the good fortune to observe the launch of Dropbox and HP Upline . Recently there have been projects such as Box.net and Xdrive . Microsoft has been trying to join the ranks of these companies since last fall.
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In the light of these events, as expected, we also had to see real actions on the part of the company, the goal of which is to take the lead in this field and make online storage more accessible. It's about google. Since 2006, we have been waiting for the appearance of the so-called GDrive (also known as Platypus and My Stuff). Last November, the Wall Street Journal wrote that the novelty should appear soon.

However, it is April in the yard, and there are no hints about the arrival of GDrive. When WSJ correspondents wrote about Google’s plans to “place on their servers virtually all the files that users store on their personal computer’s hard drives,” they also noted the possibility that “new developments could lead Google to revise its goals and put off on file storage projects planned for the coming months. ”

If this happens, it will be a shame and a shame. The best thing about Box.net is the OpenBox feature, which makes it easy to upload your files from online storage to a variety of web services, such as Picnik or Zoho . SugarSync and Syncplicity also remove the boundaries between files on hard drives and files located on web servers. If Google provided the ability to back up the system, which, in essence, would mean integrating your files into the network software of the service, then this would be followed by an accelerated adaptation of all Google software, including browser applications. This would give a powerful impetus to all Web 2.0 and, provided that Google will release API-products, a whole series of new opportunities for new projects would appear.

Now that Google has released its own engine (App Engine), we can only wait and seriously hope for the release of a set of related programs that can directly serve users.