Pogoplug has been a part of my life for a while now, and over time has become my go-to solution for accessing my digital files and media online. I've done it all, too, everything from distributing digital photos to family members to accessing work documents remotely from my office PC.

Up until now, Pogoplug has been designed mainly to work with either the drives inside your computer (Pogoplug remote access software) or USB drives attached to Pogoplug hardware, such as the Mobile or V2. This makes it easy to stream your already existing files from anywhere.

However, what if you are looking for online storage--perhaps you want to duplicate or store files remotely, or have a separate storage area for documents, for example. Now, you can do this with Pogoplug Cloud.

What is Pogoplug Cloud?

It's very simple, actually! Pogoplug Cloud is a way to store your files inside the Pogoplug ecosystem with remote servers rather than your own storage medium.

In terms of how it works, it fits in with your other Pogoplug attached drives and hardware seamlessly; it appears as another "device" with storage space.

You can see it in both the My.Pogoplug online site, mobile device apps, on your desktop Pogoplug drive, and the Pogoplug Uploader (formerly known as Pogoplug Browser) app.

Why Pogoplug Cloud?

Everyone can sign up for a free 5GB account, making it a no-brainer in my book--but there will be other paid options to dramatically increase your storage.

So, why would you want to sign up? 

• It's free to give it a try
• It integrates seamlessly with other Pogoplug services (such as Desktop access, which also has a free option)
• It's easy to expand your storage without needing to buy additional hardware for your home
• It can serve as a secure remote backup for your existing files

I honestly feel that the Pogoplug service now offers a complete suite of file access tools, bringing together your desktop files, mobile files, and cloud storage all into one "hub." Perhaps that's its greatest strength--and certainly what makes Pogoplug stand out from other offerings out there.

Pogoplug Uploader

With Pogoplug Cloud and the Uploader application (aka the Browser app) you can easily set up seamless storing from your desktop PC to your Pogoplug Cloud online storage. There are several pre-set options, such as Photos--or you can set up your own. I've done this with my work and personal document folders, which are the most important to me.

Here is the result of the sample store operation that I set up above. Within only a few moments, the Pogoplug Uploader had pushed the photos to the corresponding folder in my Pogoplug Cloud. When I add new photos to that directory, it will continue to push the files over.

Automatic Uploads

Another cool feature is the ability to upload photos and videos from your mobile app directly--and automatically. It's easy to turn the feature on in the settings menu; you'll need to adjust a few things, such as whether you want it to upload on Wi-Fi only or both Wi-Fi and 3G, the upload directory, and so on.

Once you have it set up, Automatic Upload will take photos and videos that you have taken on your phone and upload them via the mobile app as a background task--meaning it's seamless for you and optimizes encoding and availability. (Note that both original and encoded versions of videos will be uploaded.)

Conclusions

I think it was somewhat inevitable that Pogoplug would venture into offering a "true" remote storage and sharing solution, given the ubiquitous nature of it these days. Many users will probably have their first experience with Pogoplug using the Cloud offering, and that's a good thing, based on my experiences.

However, the true nature of Pogoplug Cloud really shines through when you look at it as a part of an overall solution--a complete Pogoplug ecosystem or hub in which you can do the following:

• Store, share, and stream from your Pogoplug Cloud
• Access your files at home with Pogoplug Desktop Software
• Have a low-power, always-on way to access your files from anywhere with Pogoplug hardware
• Link all of this to your mobile device for sharing, viewing, and streaming

In short, you should definitely give it a try, and if you're an existing Pogoplug customer, it's easy to see how an online storage solution can integrate nicely with your Pogoplug setup.