Rackspace is launching a new service called "Cloud Drive," that allows businesses to store, share and back up files in the Rackspace cloud.
Rackspace is one of the world's largest hosting companies but with more services being offered in the cloud, it is starting to look like it is also establishing a presence as a collaboration services provider.
]]> Pat Mathews, president of email and apps for Rackspace said this is exactly what is happening."We are definitely moving down the collaboration path with Cloud Drive," Mathews sad.
In reality, Rackspace is following a natural progression. With the ability to move IT to the cloud, Rackspace will have to deepen its collaboration service.
For instance, search is not a part of the current offering. But it is part of the roadmap and will become a critical service for customers as they move their files to the cloud. It's a focal reason why collaboration providers like Box.net put a heavy premium on search. Customers need the capability. Without it, the information can end up in folders without ever being touched again.
Some of the features that are part of Cloud Drive include:
- Synchronized folders across one or more computers.
- Syncronized version control to make sure colleagues are working with the most recent files.
- Automatic data backups in the event of a hardware failure.
Complementing Cloud Drive is Rackspace Server Backup, which backs up applications and protects file server data. Its primary function is to back up Windows or Linux data.
Bot Cloud Drive and Rackspace Server Backup are powered by Jungle Disk, which Rackspace acquired last year.
Rackspace Cloud Drive costs $4 per user, per month. Rackspace Server Backup costs $5 per server, per month.