Tech tip #50 - cloud storage (and some astronomy stuff!)

This should be the last tech tip of the school year. I plan on starting them up again in September! Let me know if you have any tips to share.

Astronomy:

Firstly, tonight at 9:24 PM is the June, or northern, solstice when the northern hemisphere of earth is most tilted towards the sun. The sun itself will cross from the constellation Taurus into Gemini (though astrologers would have us think it is entering Cancer…) tomorrow morning. In a couple of weeks on July 3rd, (1:11 PM) the Earth will be at aphelion, its furthest from the sun), almost five million kilometres further away than in January (152,092,504 km as opposed to 147,100,998 km on January 4th this year). For more information on the June solstice and aphelion, check out: https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/june-solstice.html  and https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/perihelion-aphelion-solstice.html

Cloud Storage:

Many of you are using various types of cloud storage for storing files and I thought it would be worth a few words to explain what this is. If you use Google Drive or Onedrive, then you are using cloud storage. (Other well-known cloud storage services include Dropbox, Box, and iCloud). Basically cloud storage is where your data is organized logically into pools, but physically may be stored on several servers in several locations. The data is then accessible from any Internet-connected device (phone, tablet, computer etc). Interestingly, Iceland is a popular location for cloud storage since they have very low costs for “green” electricity.

You can access files stored in “the cloud” via a web browser (such as going to http://docs.smus.ca)  or using a client program which downloads copies of your files to your local device. If you are running the google drive or onedrive program on your computer, or the apps on your phone, these can store copies of some or all of your cloud files locally. Files stored in the cloud are also easy to share (see http://smustechtips.blogspot.ca/search/label/sharing) .

Personal Microsoft or Google accounts come with 5GB and 15GB of free storage with options for you to pay for more. Our school accounts come with a lot more: we get half a terabyte in onedrive and unlimited storage with Google drive!

If you want some information on other free cloud storage services, check this page out: https://www.thebalance.com/free-cloud-storage-1356638 . There are even services which allow you to combine the free storage from different providers (for example https://www.odrive.com/) and others that make all your cloud storage appear like a local drive (https://www.odrive.com/ not free!)

Cloud storage is great for making files accessible anywhere and easy to share and can provide a backup of files stored locally.

If you need to move a bunch of files from one system to another, this article (https://www.howtogeek.com/202484/how-to-move-files-from-one-cloud-storage-service-to-another/) has several suggestions.

Let me know if you have any questions, or would like more information.

These tips are now being archived at the following location in a blog format: http://smustechtips.blogspot.ca

You can see a list of all the tips here: http://smustechtips.blogspot.ca/p/toc11.html

Also, please let me know if you have any tips you would like to share!

Cheers and have a great summer. I am off to be a naturalist in Haida Gwaii and south-east Alaska (as well as a trip to view the August 21^st eclipse!)

Mike