A Review of Optus Smart Safe

Optus Smart Safe is a new ‘cloud’ based storage service that enables users to store electronic files and media remotely. For the uninitiated, cloud computing simply refers to a method of storing electronic files and media on a remote server which can then be accessed by a user via the internet using a username and password.

The most common uses for this type of service are backing up documents,images, music and emails stored on a computer or mobile phone. So that in the event your computer crashes, or your mobile phone is run over by a truck, the data you have stored in these devices is not lost forever and can be easily retrieved using any computer or compatible mobile device.

Note that you must be a current Optus mobile or broadband user to access Optus Smart Safe.

I’m an Optus mobile customer and personally, I use Optus Smart Safe to protect my investment in hundreds of dollars worth of music files purchased from iTunes and Bigpond. As a business owner, the cloud also provides an additional backup for precious website data.

Like tens of thousands of Australian business owners, I was horrified by the recent obliteration by hackers of 4800 websites hosted by Melbourne based IT company Distribute.IT. In this case, customers of Distribute.IT were unable to recover any of their lost data and many were left with no other choice but to rebuild their websites from scratch. This incident must serve as a warning to all website owners to backup regularly.

With so many hacking attempts being reported in the media, the question everybody has to ask when uploading data to the web is: Is Optus Smart Safe secure? Optus has assured us that stored data will be held securely on Optus Smart Safe servers. Files are transferred to their servers using 3DES encryption and your stored files are encrypted and unreadable by others on the web. Accessing your stored data requires a username (your mobile phone number) and password. You will also require the free Optus Smart Safe client software for PC/Mac or mobile phones, which can be downloaded for free from the Optus Smart Safe website after logging into your OptusZoo account.

Optus Smart Safe for PC/Mac
The first time you backup files or media stored on your computer, you should expect a long wait as upload speeds to the cloud are not as fast as downloads from the web. But you can speed up the process by adjusting the ‘Settings’ in the PC/Mac client so that Optus Smart Safe is able to access more computer resources to complete the task. However, even after adjusting the settings to the maximum upload speed, I still found the process painfully slow. So it could conceivably take days or even weeks, to reach my 10GB storage limit which is priced at $5.99 a month. The upside is that you can continue to use your computer to perform tasks whilst the data is being uploaded in the background to Optus Smart Safe servers.

The basic plan which includes 500MB of data is provided FREE to all Optus customers. The maximum storage limit currently available with Optus Smart Safe is 300GB and this will cost you $14.99 a month.

Which brings me to my next point, a warning. The bandwidth used by the Optus Smart Safe software to backup your files will be counted in your monthly data allowance, so be careful when choosing which files to backup. The good news is that you can choose to pause the uploading of files for up to 24 hours, or just switch it off. The best way to avoid using all your monthly bandwidth limit is to manually launch the software on your PC or Mac. So I suggest that you do NOT set the software to automatically relaunch when you start up your computer, particularly if you are on the Optus Smart Safe 300GB plan.

Optus Smart Safe has been designed to give the user control over when and how much data is uploaded to their servers, so take control, or you could be slugged with a hefty bill from your ISP for exceeding your monthly bandwidth allowance! At best, your ISP will slow down your internet for the remainder of the month if you exceed your bandwidth allowance. So monitor the amount of data you are uploading to the Optus Smart Safe servers carefully.

Optus Smart Safe for Smart Phones
Compatible smart phones enable the user to access the data uploaded to Optus Smart Safe servers remotely from anywhere in the world. You can also upload data such as photos and your contacts, to the cloud using the mobile phone client software. But with monthly data allowance limits for mobile phones being what they are, I suggest using your PC or Mac to upload the bulk of your data.

For the purpose of trialing Optus Smart Safe, I was provided with a HTC Incredible S handset to use for the duration of the trial. I could rave on for hours about all the features of the HTC Incredible S, it really is an incredible device and I want one!

Compatible smart phones include:

Cloud computing has not evolved to the point where it will replace hardware such as the portable hard-drive or storage drive. But it could signal the beginning of the end for all those USB transfer cables and flash drives we have lying around the house.

Although the author was provided with a free trial of Optus Smart Safe, the opinions expressed in this written review are her own and no payment was received by the author or Australian Women Online for publishing this review.