Amazon S3 is the hosting solution of choice for many online video websites. Using Amazon S3 has many advantages for online video storage. It’s inexpensive, secure and you have total control over it.
Anytime you use an online video sharing site for hosting videos you run a risk because you do not have total control over that arrangement. I know a gal who watched her entire business go down the drain when You Tube suspended her account for no apparent reason. Ouch!
You can sign up for an Amazon S3 account for free through Amazon web Services. Once you have the account, you only pay for the bandwidth and storage you actually use.
S3 stands for:
- Simple
- Storage
- Services
Storing files on the Amazon servers is one of the most popular ways to host your videos online because it is one of the best ways. Biggest problem with S3 is that the name implies that it is SIMPLE. It’s not.
Several products have popped up to help Amazon S3 live up to its name, SIMPLE. Several of those products are relatively expensive. Today, I want to share one with you that is FREE.
CloudBerry Explorer is free downloadable software that lets you manage every Amazon S3 and Amazon CloudFront feature. It is actually more than just a video publishing platform, as S3 is for all kinds of storage. S3 is not limited to video, even though that has become one of its more popular functions and that is what I tend to concentrate on here at Video Production Tips.
With CloudBerry Explorer, you can work with multiple S3 accounts simultaneously. The primary features of CloudBerry are:
- Browse your S3 buckets, even from other accounts
- Copy/move files between Amazon S3 and your computer
- Copy file between two S3 accounts quickly
- Set-up file access permissions
- Automate common tasks with Microsoft PowerShell
- Manage CloudFront Distributions (Cloud Front is an Amazon service that helps increase data transfer speeds.)
Cloudberry Explorer helps people without technical knowledge perform as if they did. Using cloudberry is much like using a standard FTP client. You have two windows and you move files between them. Here is a screen shot.
CloudBerry Explorer essentially extends Amazon S3 to function more like local storage. Obviously this can be great for backing up files and freeing up your own hard drive space.
Using Cloudberry Explorer, files in your S3 accounts can be shared with anyone on the internet, but only with your permission. For security, S3 accounts can be password protected and access restricted. Unlike some of its competitors, CloudBerry does not need your Amazon account details to work, which increases security.
In a few months, Cloudberry will offer an even more powerful Pro version. They say they have not yet decided on a final price, but are thinking it will be around $40 with one year of maintenance and updates. That price would make it significantly less expensive than some of the other S3 companion options available.
Download CloudBerry Explorer here.
CloudBerry Labs named themselves after the Cloud Berry Plant, which produces a raspberry-like fruit.
Thanks for reading Video Production tips
Lorraine Grula
Internet Video Gal
Related posts:
1 Trackback(s)