Linux access to all cloud storage is here
Linux users have been clamoring for a sync client to their favorite cloud storage services for years, but most of these requests have fallen on deaf ears.
Google Drive is probably the most notorious offender. Having stated over 4 years ago that a client was being worked on.
4 years and counting...
So far nothing has been released, even though tens of thousands of pleading requests have been made by members of the Linux community.
You’ll find the same thing with OneDrive
And Box...
Despite being such a progressive, expansive, and pervasive technology, the cloud storage world can be quite shortsighted and narrow-minded with regards to the Linux community. Because Linux has captured a relatively small portion of the desktop OS market (just a smidgen over 1.5%), most cloud storage players feel that the Linux market potential is not worth the development/support effort.
Tsk, tsk.
Linux matters more than you think
Something that is continually (and tragically) overlooked is the non-desktop market. Look outside of the desktop and you see that Linux is a extremely important part of … well, everything.
When you consider server computing market, Linux is a force to be reckoned with. The lowest estimates put Linux at %36 of the total public server segment. The ability to utilize cloud storage in these environments is a huge gap. Remote storage access in Linux server environments has been stuck in a rut for years and years. Imagine being able to access all of your storage, in any server environment, from a simple CLI interface.
Another example of Linux’s growing adoption is within the realm of software development. Developers are now turning to Linux as their OS of choice. These are the folks that are driving innovation; paving and shaping what’s to come. The fact that cloud storage access is unavailable from many of the major providers in these environments is a problem that needed solving.
The power of a cloud storage CLI
When looking at all of these factors, it became obvious to us why providing Linux support is so important. That’s why we developed odrive Agent. Agent is a free, flexible, scriptable, command line interface to odrive’s Progressive Sync engine. With it, you can sync to over 20 different types of storage, including all of the major cloud storage services, such as Google Drive, OneDrive, Amazon Cloud Drive, Box, and Dropbox. odrive also integrates with infrastructure cloud storage services like Amazon S3 and Google Cloud Storage.
Desktop environments have been the mainstay of cloud storage access for years and odrive Agent can be used to cover those basic cases to great effect. However, this only scratches the surface of how powerful cloud storage can be. With a CLI we can get a lot more creative.
The ability to granularly control sync and infuse cloud access into existing automated processes gives users the means to create some very powerful solutions, with cloud storage at the core. For example:
- Continuous content deployment from multiple cloud storage sources
- Rapid system construction from base images
- Disaster recovery
- Instant access to utilities and data from any system
- Automated data transfer/migration/duplication across storage services
- Efficient inter-system data transfer
- Scheduled/automated backup to any cloud storage service, or even multiple services
- Scheduled bulk import/export to control bandwidth utilization during peak hours
- Automated logfile/diagnostics aggregation for archival/analysis
…. just to name a few.
Linux cloud storage access for Devs, Sysops, Devops, IT, and, yes, even desktop users is here and its free.
Have odrive Agent ideas/questions/requests, or just want to add to the conversation? Hit us up on our forum thread!