Flickr; is it just another Trojan Horse?

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Zoolz Team

We admit it; it’s quite hard not to be rooting for Yahoo! CEO Marissa Meyer. She has been able in less than a year to boost Yahoo stock by 70%. Only yesterday they closed at $26.58; a number that is close to the $33/share that Microsoft offered when it attempted to take over the Internet pioneer 5 years ago. Many were quite confident that such a price for stock would never come close again.

Many were enticed to hear about their 1 terabyte giveaway. However, do not been fooled by this Trojan horse and remember: Flickr is a hosting website for streaming and sharing images and not a comprehensive cloud backup solution for all of your documents!

Here are some of our highlights of the major differences between Zoolz and Flickr:

Cloud Backup designed for Professional Photographers

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Zoolz Team

Whether it’s on the TV, radio, magazines or the newspapers, it seems there’s one thing that cannot be ignored: The Cloud. The tech industry has been revolutionized with the introduction of Cloud Computing in a way that makes it hard to even think of how it was before. Despite the fact that the technology behind the cloud may be perplexing, the concept of Cloud Computing is quite straightforward.

Photographers, however, have not been so fortunate to benefit from the Cloud. Up until recently, backing up has been a hassle; be it the large expenses that ought to be paid to store all the images, or even finding the right solution that won’t mislead you into investing with the “not so secure” software.

Regardless of how habitual your backup strategy actually is, theft, damage, different accidents as well as natural disasters are always weighty threats for data loss. Imagine losing all the work you’ve done thus far; all of your clients’ photographs, your very own portfolios and your precious photo libraries that you have invested an immeasurable time editing and organizing.

We realize that the creation of fascinating images is the way photographers make a living and it takes a lot of time, preparations and effort to achieve that perfect shot. So, making sure they are safely kept is just as important as the pictures themselves. Imagine snapping a picture of Rihanna at the Grammy’s that is of better quality than any paparazzi could’ve hoped and then losing it; you’d probably go insane!

Precious pictures are not only of value for professional photographers; catching your child walk for the first time, your teenager hit the home run and win the game or the perfect moment under the Eiffel tower are most certainly priceless.

Are you willing to risk it all? If your answer was no, then you ought to start gauging the best backup strategy for your business. We’ve noticed that the majority of professional photographers are looking for something that will be secure, simple, affordable and most importantly have the feature of supporting RAW images. We’re aware that professional photographers take hundreds if not thousands of RAW images a year, and thus are always looking for an ideal storage solution.

So, the answer to the question: “Where to invest and stay satisfied?” is very simple; Zoolz 2.0

Why? Here are the top 5 reasons for you to instantly jump on board:

1. With Zoolz 2.0 users can now enjoy automatic RAW Support with thumbnail creation on the fly.

2. Security is our top priority; the data is encrypted before leaving the machine and yet still thumbnails can be viewed without decrypting the image itself.

3. Simplifying the experience is our specialty; with Zoolz 2.0 you can search instantly, browse easily through the thumbnails, delete any file any time all of this while the software silently and intelligently works in the background.

4. External drives are not neglected; Zoolz can backup all your external drives without any restrictions or capping.

5. Perfecting the price; last but not least is the price of course and it is what interests every customer. With the introduction of low cost Cold Storage(TM) users can enjoy an ample 100GB for the mere price of $3. This saves a huge amount instead of investing on a multitude of external hard disks that will ultimately leave you stranded.

So, bottom line is, get on Zoolz today, and enjoy the peace of mind of having brilliant work that will never get lost or tarnished.

The evolution of data storage

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Zoolz Team

Punch Card
We have to face it; data storage no longer grows on trees but you’d be surprised that this hasn’t always been so. Just turn your Delorean time machine back to the 18th century and you will first handedly witness the making of the punch cards, which were basically made of hard cardstorck with punched holes to represent data.

Floppy Disk
Moving on to 1971, when IBM proudly introduced the first floppy disk. These bulky old-school storage medium were made up of a circular magnetic film protected by a flexible jacket, thus the term “floppy”. This storage medium was read-only at first, and then later versions added the write-capability as well as increase the scan capacity by more than 6 times. We won’t get into technicalities, however we must say, if you’ve ever owned one of these floppies you can go ahead and award yourself 100 geek point, and a whooping 1000 if you still actually have one.

Magneto-Optical Drive
Sadly, in no way affiliated to the comic book hero, the magneto-optical drive (MOD) was introduced around 1990 and can be regarded as a sort of mutant. One can conclude from the name that the magneto-optical drive combines both magnetic and optical technologies for the purpose of achieving high densities.

USB Flash Drive
Arguably the most powerful storage innovation since the floppy disk, the onset of USB flash drives back in the 2000s signified the termination of floppies. Yet, it was not the 8MB debut capacity that won over consumers, better yet it was the ability to boot from a USB key as well as, and more importantly, the ability to update a motherboard’s BIOS.

The Cloud
Even the all mighty USBs are facing termination and all thanks to the cloud computing industry that is slowly but surely making its way into the IT industry. Even though it is quite obvious how economic and social motivations are making it compulsory for businesses as well as individuals to get on the cloud, here are our top 8 reasons for why you should be on it too:

a. Help companies save money
b. Help small business become more efficient
c. Help save the environment
d. Access to information anywhere at anytime
e. Cloud computing solutions are easy to use
f. Increased demand for resources
g. Integrate part of a disaster recovery solution
h. Will lead to new product and platform innovation

The question now remains: which cloud solution should you select? With so many options out there, it is easy to be bewildered and just give up the whole thought all together. However, we advise you not to give up so hastily, and give Zoolz 2.0 a try. The first cloud solution to introduce Cold StorageTM; an extremely low cost storage that provides an optimal, secure and reliable storage solution for data that is rarely accessed. So sign up today and be on the cloud tonight!

Introducing Zoolz 2.0; it’s time to refrigerate your data!

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Zoolz Team

We all know how an iceberg brought down the famous Titanic, but have you ever imagined that an icicle would save our corporate existence?

Yes, we know that the mere mention of ice on such wintery days makes you want to curl up under a blanket with a hot cup of tea. But, if you’re a corporate professional, SMB or even a large business, this is definitely not what you ought to be doing.

It’s 2012, and if you’re not on the cloud, then you might as well be living in Jurassic Park with handwritten notes that are kept safely locked away in the town’s library. Coming back to the future, where the skies are cloudy and the data is safe and no file is left behind, it might get puzzling to choose the right cloud that has that silver lining that you require; some are too expensive, some too complex to comprehend while others are simply impractical. So, should you opt for a sky without a cloud in sight? Of course, unless that cloud is Zoolz!

Zoolz is proud to announce it is the very first service that employs amazon’s glacier technology with the introduction of Cold Storage. Don’t get petrified; we are not talking about refrigerated meat, we are talking about technology that is supremely user-friendly, durable and most of all ideal for archival backup purposes. Yes, in case you were wondering; businesses can enjoy complete user management systems through which they can configure, manage and deploy to thousands of computers and servers in just 5 minutes.

You can now wave goodbye to the old fashioned tapes that are so cost inefficient, environmentally unhealthy and unpractical; no more wondering “what is this file that’s just been backed up?” because now you can enjoy instant data view, image preview and even search to assess and restore archived data with complete ease.

Big data has a big place in our heart; long gone are the days when you had to dig deep into your pockets to pay for costly storage, paying in advance for “potential business expansion” or having to pay unreasonable amounts of money for data that you hardly ever accessed.

So, choose flexibility over rigidness, comfort over pain, because with Zoolz there’s nothing to lose yet so much to gain!

Can I trust the cloud? – Part 1

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Zoolz Team

With the new year arising we might want to think that we have evolved in ways that security breaches are almost if not completely eliminated, right? Well sadly, the answer is wrong, 2012 was just around the corner with hacks on twitter, dropbox, and even the cloud giant Google was submerged in a casual attack. With all the security breaches out there, the question that comes to our mind is: can I trust the cloud?

The answer comes in with going with the right cloud provider with the right set of features and also take a part in securing your data. With the correct cloud service and proper precautions and procedures, your data can be invulnerable of security breaches. In this blog we will give you tips and tricks on how you can enhance your cloud security by using Zoolz Cloud Backup.

1. Use Client side encryption

The utmost important feature you should be looking for when choosing a cloud solution is client side encryption where you specify the encryption key. This means that your files will be processed with zero knowledge and even if the company was held at gunpoint to release your data it will still be in its encrypted form. To set your own encryption password, go to the Backup settings page, during your first backup configuration and change the security option to Use my own password

There are plenty of cloud services that do not offer zero knowledge encryption. To test if the service does provide it, there should not be “a forget password” or “reset password” option and you should not be able to recover your encrypted data with the new password. With Zoolz, if you lose your encryption key, you will not be able to restore or access your data, so it is highly recommended that you store your key in a safe or safe deposit box written on paper and not on your computer.

Zoolz uses 256-AES military grade encryption, so if the hacker decides that they will attempt to brute force the encryption will require a computer that costs more than $1.25 billion and to will take astronomically larger than 1.3 quadrillion years to break.

It is also worth mentioning that Zoolz also transfers your data to the cloud using SSL and encrypts it on the server using 256-AES encryption, so if you choose to use Zoolz internal encryption, your data is pretty safe too.

2. Use different passwords

To access your account you must provide Zoolz with a password and it is highly recommended that it is different than your encryption password.

However, it is worth noting that Zoolz saves an irreversible hash of your password and not your actual password and that is what is sent to our databases to verify that you are the account holder. So even if the hacker managed to access our securely encrypted databases, they will only have the hash of your password and not the actual password and feeding that into the login page results in an invalid password.

Another good tip is to save both your encryption password and sign in password in two different locations, so if your computer got stolen at least your encryption password is not on it, assuming you took our advice in writing that one on a paper and storing it in a safe.

3. Don’t use the Stay logged in feature when logging in on a mobile or public computer
If you are using a public computer or you are rarely accessing your Zoolz data, uncheck the stay logged in feature to ensure that even if you forgot to logout on a public computer, or your laptop got stolen, your account will not be compromised.

Remember these important tips and your data will be stored securely on the cloud and you will not have to worry about losing your important data again.

In part 2 we will give you tips on how to securely share files and more, so stay tuned and for more information about Zoolz security, check out our white paper

Zoolz: Innovation in Business Cloud Backup

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Zoolz Team

BURLINGTON, MA, December 12, 2012 — Cloud computing has seen major endorsement throughout this year, and statistics seem to concede; a new national poll from San Antonio shows that 91% of “IT decision-makers” see cloud computing as a positive thing. It does not stop there, according to a study sponsored by CompTia, more than 8 in 10 companies currently use some form of cloud solution and that is expected to double in 2013.

However, according to the same study, cloud solutions are not restricted to the major businesses; more than half of micro and small businesses implement some sort of cloud-enabled productivity software.

Yet, with all the hype around cloud, it is undeniable how crippling it can get for the company’s budget and with 2.5 quintillion bytes of data being generated every single day, every company is bound to search for an ideal solution to store and backup all of its data assets.

2012 will surely end on a high note, with the proud introduction of Zoolz; the unprecedented cloud solution that will make Cold Storage go mainstream. Based on the Amazon Glacier technology, Zoolz introduces Cold Storage; a supremely low cost storage that is ideal for archival purposes and data that is infrequently accessed but needs to be backed up.

Zoolz 2.0 is a complete comprehensive storage, which makes browsing supremely easy with its thumbnail view of all the backed up photos, instant search, and a complete list of backed up files and folders stored on Cold Storage. No more wondering about which file was just backed up and which was not.

Zoolz takes security seriously; with 3 levels of encryption (256 AES on machine, SSL for data transfer and 256-AES server side encryption). Flexibility does not take a backseat; expanding from several files to multi- terabytes and hundreds of users without any interruptions, the system is surely flexible enough to meet everyone’s needs. Compelling user-management; enabling specific users to set policies, specify backup selection, backup settings, storage limit, encryption password and much more with incredible ease.

“It is extremely difficult for businesses nowadays to shift all their virtual data to the cloud with an all-in-one solution” stated CEO Muayyad Shehadeh. “Thus, the need for a hybrid cloud software rises and it is here where Zoolz offers its exceptional solution.”

Some users might be discouraged by the Cold storage, claiming they might want to have instant access to their backed up data. Zoolz was ahead of this claim, offering the best of both worlds with its elegant combination of Amazon S3 and Glacier technology, so that the end users can select where their data goes and thus making it easier for them to retrieve it later on.

All in all, Zoolz is the future of cloud software, and with its marginal price of $3/month per 100 GB, it is surely going to sweep businesses off their feet. So join the revolutionary movement today from:
www.zoolz.com