Every home is full of stacks of files, loose-leaf binders and countless storage media containing countless documents. Often, you don’t even know what to do with all of these things. The “cloud” seems to be the lifeline, but caution is advised.
Store private data offline
Not everything belongs on the Internet. Private data such as bank details, insurance, purchase contracts and the like should be kept in the traditional way at home in a cupboard or even in a safe. If you don’t have your own study, you can set up an office corner in the living room with a nice and, above all, lockable filing cabinet or a wall safe hidden behind a picture. Elegant writing accessories from Papersmart complete the picture of a high-quality workplace at home, because some letters still deserve to be written by hand. Greeting cards, congratulations and the like in particular. If you stick to tradition here, you show style and also protect your private data from unauthorized access by data thieves on the Internet.
What belongs in the cloud?
The “cloud” is a virtual storage space on the Internet in which a large amount of data can be stored. This is particularly helpful for anyone who works on different computers, for example, sometimes at home in the home office, sometimes in the office on the company computer and sometimes on the go on a laptop or new iPad. Data stored in the cloud can be opened and edited from anywhere, so that CDs, USB sticks or other storage media no longer have to be carried around (and are easily lost). Another advantage of the cloud is that employees can also access certain data, e.g. to work on joint projects. Clouds provided by the company are usually well secured and are managed and maintained by the company’s internal system administrators. However, care should also be taken here to ensure that no unauthorized persons can access important company data, for example by leaving a company laptop unattended when traveling.
Private Cloud
The cloud can also ensure that files and CDs no longer pile up at home in private.
Photos from vacation trips or from the family, for example, can be easily stored in the cloud – so
grandma in the Black Forest or brother in Australia can access them and browse through the family albums. The same applies to the music collection on mp3, downloaded movies or the new virtual bookshelves with eBooks. Here the cloud works like a huge hard drive on which everything can be stored safely and no data is lost if the laptop at home breaks.
