Data stored on cloud drive is critical and so are the aftereffects associated with the data loss. Although, cloud services have offered much to the users and it’s an overwhelming pleasure experiencing these facilities. But there are several limitations to this advanced data storage technology; such as:
Also read: G Cloud Backup - Google Play Android Apps
® Data stored on cloud cannot be accessible round the clock as it is subject to the internet connectivity and in case of unreliable network, the connection interrupts.
® User does not hold full control over data as any sort of Server downtime situations can leads to loss of accessibility over the data (no matter how important is the task).
® It is even important to remember the username and password credentials to access cloud data and if you have numerous accounts, then hard to remember all such details.
The major drawback is that if any of the data gets deleted permanently, it becomes difficult or almost impossible to restore it back to the account. So, to avoid the loss of information various methods can be implemented that serves as a repository mediums for cloud data storage.
Configure MS Outlook to Outlook.com (Hotmail) Profile:
Also, read: How to extract email addresses from a website (tutorial)
MS Outlook application can be used as data storage medium. It can be configured to Outlook.com (formerly known as Hotmail) profile and hence, the cloud data can be accessed in the respective application. Since, PST is the proprietary file format of MS Outlook and hence, the emails and all other components are saved on hard disk in the form of PST files. “Account Settings” option in the “Tool” menu is used for configuring MS Outlook to the Hotmail account. The path for PST storage in MS Outlook depends upon the version of Windows as well as the version of the application itself.
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Download Hotmail Data to Thunderbird:
Another method to download cloud based data to hard disk is via Thunderbird. The Hotmail account can be configured and synched with Thunderbird and thereafter all the hotmail emails can be accessed over in PC based app. Similar to MS Outlook, in Thunderbird too, the accounts can be configured using “Account Settings” option which is available in the “Tools” menu. The data downloaded to this email application is stored on disk automatically.
Associated Pros and Cons
When the cloud data is downloaded to any of the desktop-based email apps, it offers to save data on local storage device. Moreover, the downloaded mailbox contents can be viewed without internet connection. Internet connectivity is only required while requesting data from server, once the data is moved to the mailbox, internet is not required for further accessing the same. In addition, it is not required to provide username and password credential each time you need to access data.
Although, there are many such benefits associated with these above-mentioned approaches but these are entitled to some drawbacks as well. The major drawback is that the PC based email apps occupies good amount of disk space for processing and storing the incorporated data. Therefore, there is a much effective solution as well; that I explored after utilizing all above said techniques and this method proved to be really helpful.
Alternate Technique to Backup Hotmail Data
Hotmail Backup Software helps in downloading data from cloud server while delivering supplementary benefits. I used this software to backup my entire cloud data and it did the entire download task in a seamless manner. There are additional features offered by the tool and utilizing those, the backup process can be implemented smoothly without affecting the alternate running processes.
This tool offered me to store the backup files in MSG, EML, PST and MBOX formats on local storage media. Since these file formats are widely acceptable in distinct email applications; they provides me the benefit to access the Outlook.com data over multiple email application in the form of EML and MBOX. Moreover, now I can view all my hotmail mailbox data on tablets, smart phones, iOS, Linux based devices as well as Windows and Mac based laptops and PCs.
Author Bio: Years of experience in IT compelled me to write this section on cloud data storage and backup methods. In today’s digital era when everything has gone digitalized, the main issue is to maintain the integrity and security of cloud data so that one holds full control over it and can access it whenever required.