Effective Usage: How To Use Wuala As A Photographer

The following posting is written by guest blogger Michael Schmid. Michael is CTO at Amazee and owner of x-foto.ch. Be sure to check out his amazing portfolio or follow him on Twitter.

As a photographer you are producing a lot of pictures, meaning a lot of data. Carrying this data around is a real hassle, after all you do not always have your notebook with you and an USB stick does not solve the problem either.

I'm not working as a full-time photographer, but as with Murphy's law, there are times when I desperately need a picture. Mostly it is a client needing a picture in full resolution, something I could not guarantee if I’m on the road while the pictures are on my notebook at home. Since I don't want to disappoint my clients, I searched for a good and simple solution to solve my problem, and voilà, I found it!

The Good Thing About Wuala Backups
What I really appreciate is that I do not have to carry around my pictures and still have access to them on the go. Further, all my pictures are encrypted with the best security available, an important aspect for not only me but also for other photographers.

How My Setup Works
I'm using Aperture and have shot around 200'000 pictures during the past eight years. All these pictures are saved on a NAS at my home. Every picture tagged with at least one star or more is stored in a separate folder on the NAS. It is this folder that is backed up via the Wuala functionality. So even if the NAS were to crash or my house were to burn down, I would still have my best pictures available in the Wuala Cloud.

So what happens when I need access to a picture when I’m not at home? I can open my Aperture Picture database, look in which folder the file is and download this folder from the Wuala Cloud, point the Aperture database to this folder and edit the pictures on my local notebook. Or if I don't have my notebook with me, I can access all my files through the web by starting Wuala directly in the browser. I can even give the client direct access to the folder with a secure key, in order for him to choose the picture he wants. The good thing is that the client doesn’t need to register or install anything.

The bottom line: Wuala allows me to respond quickly to a client’s request by directly sharing a folder with a secure key in the web and without needing to take along all my pictures. Further, I don't need to worry about hardware failures of my NAS, since all my pictures are stored in Wuala.

Top 10 Tech Questions and Their Answers: What You Need to Know About Sync

Two weeks ago we started our new series by explaining why Wuala does not know your password. Today we will continue with a topic of current interest: Sync.

The Difference Between Backup and Sync Folders
Let's start off with the differences between backup and sync folders. Though you may think that backup and sync folders are similar there are certain aspects which distinguish them.

Backup folders are read only and backups can be scheduled (every minute, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly). This means that you cannot edit files in your backup folder, but you can share the backup folder and you can download the folder if you like.

With sync folders you can sync files online and across multiple computers. Files can be edited directly on your local computer and on your Wuala sync folder, and are updated a short time after a change has taken place. Sync folders can be shared with friends.

Hence, the major difference is that your Wuala backup folder is read only, while your Wuala sync folder allows you to add and edit files directly.

The Details
Since we have released sync last week, we have received many specific questions on how sync works. I would like to pick up those questions and answer them.

How many previous versions are saved?
10 versions. The first version and the last version are always available.

Can I delete old versions?
In order to delete an old version, you would need to delete the whole file.

Are old versions of files saved when using sync?
Yes, old versions of files are saved. However, if you delete a file and then empty the trash on Wuala, the file and all its old versions will be permanently deleted.

How are conflicts handled in sync folders?
A copy of the conflicting files is made.

What happens when I delete a file in my local folder?
When you delete a file in your local folder it will be deleted in your Wuala sync folder and on all other folders which you have linked to your Wuala sync folder. However, with the time travel feature you can restore the file again. Select your sync folder and go to View > Show Time Travel. With the slider at the bottom you can move back and forth in time and select deleted files. If you want to restore a file, select it and go to File > Restore.

The Advanced Option
When setting up a sync folder (read the previous posting on How To Set Up Sync in Three Steps) you can also define where you want to create your sync folder within Wuala. Click on 'Advanced' in the 'Add Sync' dialog. You can now select the location of your sync folder on Wuala and set a folder name. This is convenient if you want to have your Sync folder in a special location on Wuala.

Let me know if you have any further questions or topics we should consider in this series.

Effective Usage: How To Set Up Sync in Three Steps

With our recent update it is possible to sync your files online and across multiple computers. This is convenient if you want to sync your files from your home computer to your work computer or if you want to have a copy of your music collection on all your computers. Just follow the steps below and you'll be in sync instantly.

Step 1: Add your local folder
Click on the 'Sync' tab and go to 'Add Sync'. A new window will open. Click on 'Select folder' to select your local folder. A new window will show you the path to your local folder. Click 'Ok' to confirm.

Step 2: View your sync folder
The folder will be synced automatically. You can see an overview of your online Wuala sync folder. If you want to disable sync, please click on 'Unlink'.


Step 3: Add another folder to your online Wuala Sync folder
Start Wuala on another computer. A new window will appear asking you if you want to sync the folder. Select the sync folder and click on OK. You may change the path of the sync folder by clicking on '...'. The sync overview shows you which local folders have been linked to your online Wuala sync folder.
Now you can edit files directly in your local folders (even if you're offline) or drop something into your online Wuala sync folder. Wuala will automatically adjust the changes, keeping your files up to date.

Anniversary Release: Sync, New Look and Updated Pro Packages

It's our two-year anniversary and we're excited to share the news:

Sync
Your wish is our command. With our newest feature, you can now sync your files online and across multiple computers. Simply choose the folders on your notebook and home computer, and link them to your Wuala Sync folder. Edits on your home computer will immediately be synced to your notebook, while anything added to your online Wuala Sync folder will instantly appear on all your associated systems. Make your edits directly on your desktop - just like you are used to - while Wuala will work quietly in the background without you even noticing.

Use our new sync feature to access your entire music collection on any computer or just keep documents between your home Mac and your work PC in sync. Further, you can also share your sync folder - great for keeping your friends up to date.

We will be following up with a short tutorial next week, stay tuned.



New Look and Feel
If you've started Wuala today, you will see that we have undergone a little makeover. By moving the tabs to the left, you now have a neater overview of all your folders, backups, sync, friends and groups.

There will no longer be a tab 'world'; we have decided to completely disable this tab. Friends and public groups can still be found by using Wuala's features, while public files are shared directly through a weblink. If you want to search for public content on Wuala, we recommend using Google.

Every folder now has a specific icon, showing you the folder type and its sharing status. Though the colors of the folders have changed slightly, they still mean the same: Yellow folders are private, red folders are shared, while blue folders are public. Since usability tests have shown that many users mistake thumbnails for images, folders do not include thumbnails per default anymore. You may still set thumbnails on folders, while existing thumbnails can still be seen by activating the setting 'Show thumbnails on folders' (Tools > Options > Advanced on Win/Linux or Wuala > Preferences > Advanced on Mac).

This is only the first set of updates regarding our new look. We will be rolling out further enhancements in the next few weeks and months.


Updated Pro Packages
We've updated our pricing plans and are now offering a 25 GB plan for 49 USD per year. Note that our pro packages now cover all your online storage needs - automatic backup, sync and file versioning. You can easily get an upgrade and become Pro: Trade local storage for online storage or buy additional storage (10 GB, 25 GB, 50 GB, 100 GB, more upon request).

We hope that you like our changes as much as we do. Let us know your thoughts by commenting below or by sending us an email to feedback@wuala.com. We look forward to hearing your opinion and your inputs.

Top 10 Tech Questions and Their Answers: Why We Do Not Know Your Password

Today we are kicking off our new series 'Top Ten Tech Questions and Their Answers'. Our newest series is aimed at answering those tech questions we hear quite often. Let us know if you have any further tech questions we should answer in this series.

Wuala encrypts and decrypts all your files locally. When creating an account, your Wuala client generates a 'master key' that is used for encryption. This key is generated automatically and is not related to your username and password.

In order to enable you to access your files everywhere, this 'master key' has to be saved on our server and is sent to your client every time you login. In order to not affect your account, the 'master key' is encrypted with a key derived from your username and password and is sent to our server (in an encrypted archive).

When you log in, we will send you the archive that belongs to your username. This archive will be decrypted locally on your computer by entering your username and password. If you do not know the correct password, the decryption will fail.

This concept enables you to access your account from everywhere even though your password never leaves your computer. It also allows you to change your password easily without the need of changing the encryption of your files. When changing your password, the 'master key' (used to encrypt your files) will encrypt with your new password, while the archive on our server will be updated with this new package. After this change, you will need your new password in order to log in to your account again.

Résumé: Always remember your password and do not forget it. Be cautious when changing your password.

Effective Usage: Running Wuala as a Windows Service

The following post is written by guest blogger Tsukasa, a developer from Germany, who has been using Wuala since closed alpha. Read his blog for interesting insights about technology.

One of the more common questions is how to run Wuala as a Windows service. There is in fact a thread in the forums describing how to run Wuala as a scheduled task.

A scheduled task in Windows is not a suitable replacement for a service, though. The most striking difference is that a scheduled task only runs when the user is logged on to the machine. Imagine a scenario where you experience a power outage, your machine boots up again and Wuala is not being started until you sit in front of the machine.

If you want to improve this behaviour you can try to install one of the many Cron clones for Windows. These tools do the same thing as Windows' built-in scheduled task feature - but as a service. This means you do not have to log on to trigger the start of the task.

Again, though, there are drawbacks: A simple search for "cron +windows" gives you a vast amount of software to try. Some of the tools come with dependencies like Perl - things you will not find on a average Windows installation.

So, what else is there? Programs like FireDaemon or Microsoft's SrvAny fit the bill. On top of being quite user-friendly you can find a how-to for Wuala on FireDaemon's forums. The tool isn't free though, so we may want to look around a bit more.

NSSM is promising. Not only is the tool free, it is easy to use and comes with full source-code included. The software allows you to install normal applications as services and even takes care of checking and restarting unresponsive or crashed applications. Furthermore NSSM works on 32bit and 64bit Windows systems.

If NSSM is not for you I have also hacked a quick and dirty, (almost) one-click installable Wuala service (source-code here). Just unpack, click install and do not delete or move.

No matter which solution you prefer there are some points you should pay attention to:

• Normally services run under the Windows SYSTEM or LocalService accounts. They have full privileges so be sure never to run any application under these accounts.
• Additionaly you should remember that Wuala is saving data in the user profile so make sure there is one. You should be fine as long as you use a normal user account and not a Windows system account.
• Best practice is to create a new, limited user account on your system or use your existing Windows user account (given that you are not administrator) to run Wuala as a service. Be sure to make all the necessary changes to the configuration (like enabling auto-login or the Wuala drive) within the user account. Editing Wuala's startup parameters is not necessary since services usually do not interact with a user's desktop unless explicitly set.
• If you're not using FireDaemon you can change the account for a service from within Windows' Computer Management console. Select the service you want to change, choose properties and go to the Account tab.

All this should take you as little as 5 minutes and you will have Wuala up and running all the time. A nice side effect: You can remote-control Wuala through either Windows' "net" command or Windows' MMC feature, allowing you to start/stop/monitor Wuala on your entire network.

New Team Member

Hi Wuala fans!

My name is Christian. Monday was the first day at my new and all exciting workplace...

Well, you certainly guessed it, I just joined the Wuala team. :-)

After finishing my M. Sc. EE at the EPF in Lausanne, I worked at Ascom in Bern, Lucent Technologies in Holmdel NJ, and Bluewin/Swisscom in Zürich. Now I'm looking forward to the many new challenges waiting here at Wuala.

You can find me here.

Best regards

Christian