Secure online photo sharing with Windows Home Server and Community Add-Ins
Don’t you love to share your photos with your friends and family? Those great shots of your little kids wearing their strained carrots or a picture of your daughter’s first formal dance; it’s through images that we graphically share the high’s and low’s of our most personal lives. With Windows Home Server you can easily create a private online photo sharing experience for only those individuals you permit while being accessible to the internet.
When you add a Windows Home Server to an online photo sharing site, like Flickr it gets even more interesting. We know that for many Windows Home Server users securely storing and sharing photo’s online is a main reason for them to purchase a server in the first place. Add to that the robust developer community add-ins such as Ed Holloway’s online photo sharing Photosync for Windows Home Server which automatically syncs the contents of your photo’s folder on the Windows Home Server to Flickr, Doug Barrett’s WebGuide which enables you to remotely access, listen, watch and stream your music, photos and videos stored on your home server while away from home and Andrew Grant's Whiist that allows you to create and manage web content on your Windows Home Server.
I’m a social networking geek these days, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and I blog about our cycling epics and Windows Home Server, yet I am very hesitant to share truly personal photos, especially group photos, using the current publically available online tools. I value my privacy and want to respect the privacy of my friends by not sharing photos or videos of them in a way that might make them uncomfortable, now or in the future.
It’s amazing how much information is shared across the web and photos are a means of visual sharing. These days social networking and online photo sharing sites like Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket, and SmugMug to name a few, allow us to share our photos with our friends and potentially the world with a few clicks of a mouse. These sites do a great job and provide a community gathering place for those interested in visually exploring the world around them. For an in depth look at the online photo sharing ecosystem including analysis of the various services, check out Wikipedia, cnet Online digital photo printing & sharing and Lifehacker’s review of the Five Best Photo Sharing Sites.
I mentioned my cycling epics earlier; this past year I spent 2 weeks riding our tandem down the pacific coast with 28 other folks from all over North America to raise funds for the American Lung Association. Before the trip I knew only one individual, afterwards we are all fast friends who now keep in touch regularly over Facebook and email. Over the course of the trip as the miles passed we all unwound and the ensuing antics of the trip were dutifully recorded by multiple cameras including some video footage of the best dances, camping mornings and late night cribbage games.
After the trip we all wanted to check out the photos from the other riders, especially the dancing, however as many of the riders are in the legal profession it was important to ensure security for many of the pictures, especially the really good stuff; yet we wanted to make it possible for all of the riders to access the photo’s online. The answer to our dilemma was the Windows Home Server and its remote access and shared folder features.
Specifically what we did is to create one photo album (folder) and it’s link and password was sent out to the participants. This enabled them to use the web to link into the remote Windows Home Server to access the one online photo album while still keeping the rest of the information on the server private. We also leveraged the add-in Photosync to share specific photos with the masses on Flickr.
With Windows Home Server we were able to collect hundreds of photos of the trip in a private password protected online location. By allowing each rider to upload their photos, sharing became a breeze. Each of the photos is available online to anyone using web browsers who have the proper permissions. Permissions are simple to set and can be revised at any time by the Windows Home Server administrator (probably youJ). This enabled our entire cycling crew to share the experience all over again whenever they want. In addition with the add-ins like Whiist & WebGuide we were able to create a more robust viewing experience.
For families, hobby organizations, sports teams, vacation buddies, or conference attendees, anytime when privacy matters Windows Home Server is your online photo sharing solution. It provides a secure location to allow private online photo sharing in addition to robust image based backup software technology. There are alternatives to public websites, why take the chance with a public solution when Windows Home Server can create a private community where you can share photos, videos and files with your friends and family?
Moira
Comments
Anonymous
January 01, 2003
Great information about the ability to create a photo sharing solution Moira! I recently bought a system with WHS pre-installed (an Acer H340 unit) with the intent of using it to backup my various desktops and provide some streaming of our music and videos through our Xbox's. Now however reading about the phot sharing is opening up my eyes to some other great possibilities! I put together some of my own thoughts about Windows Home Server, if you have a moment you can check them out here, http://www.squidoo.com/windows-home-server-info Regards, BillAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Thanks Bill, We'd love to hear your experiences setting up the Acer EasyStore. Especially how you manage your photos. MoiraAnonymous
January 01, 2003
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