StoAmigo’s CloudLocker: Not another NAS device

© 2014 StoAmigo. The information contained within these marketing materials is strictly for illustrative purposes, and the figures herein are not guaranteed for accuracy. The information used in preparing these materials are from sources we believe to be accurate, or reasonably estimated, however StoAmigo has not made any investigation into the accuracy of these sources. StoAmigo does not intend for these marketing materials to be a substitute for appropriate due diligence investigations. StoAmigo, or its agents, and/or affiliates make(s) no further warranties, express or implied, for any reason or purpose to any party in possession of these marketing materials.

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There are a number of companies out there currently touting “personal cloud” and products that enable you to control all of your data “magically” between all of your devices. But is it really “magic”? Are they really accurate?

The Personal Cloud In order to fully understand the advantages or disadvantages of a product or platform, we first need to dive into the purpose for which it is intended. Network security, privacy and cloud capability are driving the consumer marketplace for storage devices, but what does that mean? Are they important for the average, everyday user?

The “Personal Cloud” is simply defined as a system that enables users to store and manage their files, with “everywhere” access. In a perfect world users would never worry or wonder where their files were kept, because they would simply know. No guessing and no confusion.

Typical Application for a NAS

device

NAS devices. The picture shown is a typical application of a home-based NAS.

Are NAS devices a secure place to store my files? Absolutely, that’s the reason people use these devices. They allow you to keep your files in your own home or office, providing the extra space you need to store your digital content. You always know where the NAS is, so there’s never any concern about security or someone else accessing your content. Much like anything else in your home, a NAS is as safe and secure as you can make it.

So what’s a NAS device?

The

Personal Cloud

What’s the downside to a NAS device? NAS devices are designed to house your media. They’re not designed to enable you to easily access it remotely or to share it with friends and family. This has been the trade-off to storing your media on a NAS versus storing it in the public cloud. Historically you’ve had to choose between the ease and simplicity of sharing with the public cloud, or the security and privacy of storing your media on a device that you alone

NAS is short for “Network Attached Storage”. It basically covers any device that has storage capability and is connected to a network, expressly for the purpose of file storage. So in reality web servers, mail servers, cloud storage servers and other devices intended to store data and connected to the network qualify as

manage. Up until now, you simply couldn’t have both.

NAS devices come with proprietary software that gives users a limited set of management tools to allow them to manipulate and share files. This usually involves creating usernames, passwords or other criteria to enable external

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users to “see” the device to facilitate a share. Much like a router or modem, NAS devices require you to manually configure IP information, open router ports and manually integrate your device into your home or office network.

So what’s a CloudLocker? CloudLocker is a revolutionary new device designed to combine all the benefits and feature-rich tools of an industry-leading cloud storage provider with the added security of knowing where your media is kept. The CloudLocker is the only true personal cloud device, simply because it’s the only device that functions like a cloud.

The CloudLocker

Personal Cloud Device

Is the CloudLocker a NAS device? We wouldn’t be paying attention if we didn’t offer our users a vast repository for their important media. The first generation CloudLocker comes with 250 GB of built-in storage space and allows users to expand that by simply attaching USB hard drives to the device. The expansion capability allows CloudLocker to have virtually unlimited space for storing and sharing your files. However, storage is not the primary purpose of the CloudLocker.

NAS devices are all over the marketplace right now. As the “personal cloud” continues to be the buzz, companies that manufacture hard drives will continue to scramble in their efforts to repackage their hard drives as cloud storage devices. The problem with this is when you start with a hard drive, you get a hard drive when the product is finished and released to the world.

CloudLocker didn’t start as a hard drive. CloudLocker started with the need for ultimate privacy and control of our important digital content, ubiquitous, anywhere availability, and sharing tools to enhance our social and digital lives.

How does the CloudLocker work? CloudLocker is a device you can keep in your home or office that allows you to manage all of your digital content from anywhere you have internet access. CloudLocker works in conjunction with a patent-pending, cloud-based operating system called StoAmigo. StoAmigo enables you to store, share and show your files simply and easily with friends and family, while maintaining control of the files you share. CloudLocker combines the management tools

Privacy and Security

Typical NAS Device

and capabilities of the cloud with the privacy and security of knowing where your files are kept.

Another primary consideration for creating the CloudLocker was privacy and security. It’s no secret that the government and other entities are sorting through our private emails, data and phone calls. Any media, data, files or other digital content stored on the internet (email attachments for example) is easy prey for not

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only licensed and legal officials, but for hackers and others seeking to capture our content.

The CloudLocker doesn’t store any of your files on the cloud. Since the media isn’t on the cloud, it can’t be captured or taken from the cloud. It’s that simple. All of your media is stored on your CloudLocker, in the privacy of your own home or office.

Setup and Installation The setup process for a typical NAS device looks very much like the installation of a modem or router on your home or work network. Assuming the device doesn’t plug directly into your laptop, you’ll need to run through the IP configurations, firewall settings, port forwarding and other aspects to enable your device to work within your network environment. You’ll likely have to make some adjustments to your home router too. If you want to access it from multiple devices on your home or work network, you’ll need to install their proprietary dashboards or other software to drive the device.

With CloudLocker, setup is simple. You connect it to an open port on your router in your home or office, then log in to your StoAmigo account from a local computer. Once there, simply click on the button that says “Manage CloudLocker”. You will see your CloudLocker on your network, where you can select and name the device. Once you’ve named it, your CloudLocker is connected and ready to use.

Sharing Sharing our files, folders, songs, eBooks, videos and other digital content is a way of life. We love to share our pictures and favorite music with friends and families. A typical NAS device does this by requiring you to create a folder on the device, assign a username and password to the friend you wish to share with, and then email them instructions on how to log into your NAS and see the picture of your child’s first steps. It’s a pretty cumbersome process, when all you really want to do is share a picture.

With CloudLocker’s operating system (StoAmigo), all you have to do is select the picture you want to share, and share it with that friend. There’s no need for passwords, software downloads, folders, extra login prompts or jumping through other hoops to enable the share. Sharing is simple. If you decide you don’t want to share a file anymore, you can take it back if you want to.

Ever post something on Facebook or another social site and wish you hadn’t? Using CloudLocker to post your content to social media sites enables you to control and take back your posts whenever you wish.

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Permissions and Control Let’s take a look at the control aspects granted by NAS devices. We’ve already learned that enabling a share means creating a special folder to host the material to be shared and populating the folder with the content you wish to share. Once it’s in there, you can then create a special login and password for your friend and send them an email on how to get to the NAS and access the shared content. Don’t forget that if your friend struggles with accessing your NAS, you’ll need to provide technical and phone support as well.

Sharing through these hard-drive based devices is not only cumbersome; in addition, everyone has the same permission for the file, folder or content you shared. That means when they get into your NAS to view it, they can simply download it and share it with anyone they choose. You’ve just lost control of your media.

NAS devices often require you to make multiple copies of your media if you want to vary access permissions. Assuming the device lets you restrict people from downloading a file, you will need to put that file in a specific folder and assign restriction permissions to the folder to prevent downloading. Then the people you share the folder with will need a special login and password to that folder. If you have other friends you want to give download permission to, you’ll need to put that same file in yet another folder with different download permissions assigned to it and create additional logins and passwords. It’s not exactly easy.

With CloudLocker, control is always in your hands - even after you share. StoAmigo incorporates a patent-pending, permission based system that gives you the flexibility of assigning permissions to your share based on the person receiving the share, or based on the file. There are multiple ways to share with one or two clicks, and no requirements for the recipients besides opening and enjoying. StoAmigo lets you decide who can only view,

who can download and who can share with others. You can modify your permission settings on any share at any time.

Music & Videos A typical NAS device uses the same sharing process for music and video files as with picture and document files, but you must allow the people you share music and video files with to download them so they can play them on their device. This assumes that the files are in formats that are compatible with their devices. If not, they’ll need to download a player to enjoy the material you shared. If they’re using a portable device (like a tablet or a phone), they may not be able to enjoy the media you shared until they get to a desktop computer because they’ve simply run out of room to download new media to their devices.

With the CloudLocker, your friends and family can enjoy the songs and videos you share, and stream them right from your device - no downloading required. CloudLocker also automatically converts your digital media files (songs, movies, videos and other playable content) so that they can be played on any portable device. Your friends and family can simply click and play, without the need to download a special player or other accessory to enjoy your videos and music. It may seem like we’ve gone through a whole lot of trouble just to make it simple to share songs and videos, but we think it’s worth it.

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Playlists and Sharing CloudLocker makes it easy to share playlists with anyone. Simply tag the songs you wish to share, create a list and share that list with anyone with the touch of a button. When your friends get the playlist, they can play it from any of their devices. They’ll have a continuous-play list shared and streamed right from your CloudLocker, with no downloading required. If their smartphones or tablets are completely full, they can still enjoy your songs from the gym or anywhere with one click. They won’t need to download any apps or special players because they’re using your CloudLocker to stream the media directly to their devices.

Let’s Review We’ve gone through just a few differences that separate the CloudLocker from a typical NAS device. Technically, the CloudLocker does

connect to a network and it does provide storage. So the CloudLocker is a NAS device – in much the same way as a flag football game is the Super Bowl. They’re both football games, right?

CloudLocker was never intended to be just a place to put your files. It was designed and developed by a team of scientists, mathematicians, tech nerds and executives that think like you do. Privacy and security shouldn’t have to be sacrificed for ease of use and ubiquitous media availability. CloudLocker requires no special software and is accessible from any device or from any web browser, from anywhere in the world. Having everything isn’t so hard once you put your mind to it.

Welcome to CloudLocker, by StoAmigo.

For more information visit www.stoamigo.com