Hewlett-Packard has announced HP Upline, a new subsciption-based online backup and file access service aimed at everyday computer users. With Upline, users will be able to back up, share, and access their digital files and content using any available Internet connection, saving their data in a secure, offsite location in the even their computers should be lost, damaged, or stolen. To launch the service, HP is offering small businesses and consumers limited Upline services free for one year.
“With increasingly more personal and business content being housed on PCs, the easy-to-use and affordable HP Upline service protects and shares everything from memories in digital photos to critical business documents,” said the general manager of HP’s personal systems group Ulf Claesson, in a statement. “HP Upline delivers tools for a differentiated and more personal experience from a vendor consumers and small businesses can trust.”
HP Upline enables users to automate file backup: user can schedule uploads to multiple online servers, and streams are all encrypted during transit for security. HP Upline also offers a selection of sharing and remote access services, including the ability to share any file in an Upline repository by sending someone a time-limited link via email rather than sending the whole file, and the ability to publicly share any file using a public URL. HP Upline also enables user to easily migrate data to a new computer, offers a multi-user dashboard so (say) a business can manage multiple employee accounts from a single login, and remote access to any file using a secure password.
HP is offering Upline in three subscription packages: Home & Home Office (1 login, $59/year), Family (three logins, $149/year), and Professional (up to 100 PCs, $299/year). A limited version of HP Upline is available to U.S. customers at no cost for a year: the limited plan includes a “fixed amount” of online storage, remote access, remote file sharing, publishing, and automatic online backup.
