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Cloud Computing. Many love it. Many hate it. It’s just like Microsoft Office Word or Outlook on the web.
Images from Wikipedia (Word 2007)

Well, except for the fact that you don’t have to slow your computer down and/or install software.

But, it’s a need for most people. Nowadays, people store their content on services like Google Docs and Dropbox. Also, workplaces use softwares like Google Apps to host their emails, and Microsoft Active Directory to host their files on their own servers. But the question still remains, what happens if one of those servers fail and the backup servers don’t have the latest data or also fail? Then people would also lose valuable information, sometimes even vital to their work. (Trust me, I’ve done it lots of times, and hated it.)

Downsides to Cloud-Computing

• You can lose your information if one of the service’s servers go down.
• If you don’t have a backup stored on your hard drive, you may lose personal info (and photos).
• If the service doesn’t alert a downtime in advance, or prevent it from happening, you may use it at the wrong time.

Some Cloud-Computing sites I’ve found that tries to combat this:

Truthfully, the only one that I’ve deemed really reliable, is Wuala. Instead of keeping all the data on their own servers, they use a java applet and let you use your files as a network drive. And, when you actually use Wuala, you lighten some of the server load that Wuala has by downloading some of Wuala’s cache. You can find it at http://www.wuala.com/

If you really need a document service, and Java isn’t allowed at your workplace and/or Wuala doesn’t work there, then I’d head next to Google Docs. Their uptime is pretty good, and the online editor is a real plus.

Maybe I’ll find some other sites later, but this is all I have to offer so far.