Dropbox to Hosted Desktop-Know the Difference!

When discussing Hosted Desktop and the different features and advantages that it has to offer, some begin to ask, well what is dropbox for then? Dropbox has been an essential program and used by many in the workplace when it comes to easy access to files and your projects all over the internet using the cloud.  When I think of Hosted Desktop, I like to think of it as Dropbox on steroids. The main difference between the two of them is that not only do you have access to your files with hosted desktop but you are actually given access to your entire desktop! Seem a little unrealistic? Not at all, with Hosted Desktop you actually are given the ability to log on to your mobile device whether that be your laptop, tablet or even your smart phone, and you are able to access your entire work desktop. So guess what?  Work is with you all of the time!

With Dropbox you are given many features with multiple advantages such as, that feature that you can access files from almost any mobile device, although you may not be able to work on them unless its installed locally. Another feature that I have found to be beneficial is that you can share your dropbox folder with other dropbox users. For example, when you are looking to send those hi-res images of a product to a client or to an employee, you are capable of just sending the dropbox folder to them and they can access your files just as easily as you can. You may begin to wonder, if I am sharing my folders with them, can they access all of your other documents, and the answer to that is no. You can pick and choose what folders to share and they can pick and pull from what you send them. It’s as easy as that.

Although one disadvantage to dropbox is that it is shared on a public cloud and not a private cloud. Since dropbox is not on a dedicated server, you do pose a risk of your data being compromised. Also, you may choose to switch to dropbox since saving your files via the cloud may seem more reliable then saving them to your hard drive. If your computer crashes and it isn’t backed up, you lose everything. With dropbox everything is over the internet and can be accessed at anytime, but keep it mind, that although it is safer to have your files in the cloud, the internet isn’t necessarily backed up either.

Hosted Desktop, although similar to Dropbox, fully backs up your data.  That is one of the features that it offers. Your hosted desktop is in a private cloud so your data is not in the public cloud with other businesses data.  Another feature of hosted desktop is that you are no longer tied to your desk at work, because your work desktop can go with you wherever you go because it is in the cloud.

So what are some of the major differences between the two? Well the first is that with dropbox your files are in the cloud whereas hosted desktop your entire desktop is in the cloud. So ultimately you have more access to more of your data.  Also another difference is the daily back up with hosted desktop, so that you never have to worry about losing any of your hard work. Also with hosted desktop, there is no need to sync files between your devices and storage account because all you need is a login. This means that the version control never becomes an issue, whereas with dropbox it can be a problem.