ZumoCast + DroboPro = Endless Storage Everywhere
by Tim Chaten
October 16, 2010
I am a brand new DroboPro owner. The DroboPro allows me to have over 10TB of storage by mixing and matching drives as I need to. It is a fantastic data machine that I have quickly fallen in love with. Best of all, it keeps all of that data safe by using only 2TB spread across multiple drives.
My challenge was to find a way that my iPad and iPod touch could access all of that data anywhere in the world. I was also looking for a way I could access that data from laptops and other computers with ease. After a little bit of searching I came across an application called ZumoCast (which had its first look on AppAdvice about a month ago).
ZumoCast allows you to access all the files on your Mac or Windows machine anywhere in the world via the web or an iOS device. It is a simple concept, but a cool one. The app and the service are both free at this time, but in the future there will be a premium version of the service that I will gladly pay for.
The first way I am using the service is as an iPod replacement. The service recognizes music/video and creates a separate tab for easy access. When playing music you can leave the app and the music will continue to play in the background. The app will also play videos over 3G with ease. You can also download files locally to your iOS device for trips. You can download any movie, album, or file that you will need and have it available. It turns out that ZumoCast is a truly great iPod replacement app that allows me to access an iTunes library of over 2TB anywhere in the world.
I'm also using the service to access all of the documents and other files on my iPad. I am actually able to open files and edit them right on the iPad using apps like iWork.
A problem came up: I could not send the files back into my DroboPro after leaving ZumoCast. The solution I found was to setup a free 2GB Dropbox account and have that Dropbox folder stored on my DroboPro. So now when I work with documents on my DroboPro they can be edited and saved back to Dropbox where I can later move them back into the appropriate folders. I can even setup Automator actions on the Mac to do this automatically for me! Before using ZumoCast I actually paid $10 a month for a 50GB Dropbox account. ZumoCast has freed me of that $10 a month subscription and instead I just use my DroboPro.
The web interface for ZumoCast is very nice, but I'd like to see them add the following to the iOS apps:
1. The ability to save into Dropbox and move files back to replace the old ones on the iPad rather than waiting to get back home to my Mac.
2. The ability to upload files on iOS. I would be very excited to see an "Open In" ZumoCast option from other apps to add new files to my DroboPro on the go. Imagine using a laptop or iPad to do some audio or video work. Then at the end of the day upload it back to your DroboPro, and delete it from your laptop or iPad.
Another reason I am excited to use ZumoCast is they are working on adding the ability to mount your ZumoCast onto another Mac or Windows machine. It is exciting to think that a MacBook Air could have access to my DroboPro hundreds of miles away and read and/or write to the DroboPro wirelessly.
I have finally found a great solution enabling me to have endless, safe, and reliable storage anywhere in the world using my DroboPro and the ZumoCast service.
I would love to hear how others are accessing their data from wherever they are. Are there better options? Let me hear your thoughts in the comments.