Online Storage Firm Wuala (LaCie) Adds New Features

Wuala, a social online storage solution acquired in 2009 by LaCie, announced the addition of new features: backup and file restoration. The new features come just in time to mark the first anniversary of Wuala, which now has users storing and sharing over 65 million files.

The new backup feature allows Wuala users to specify a folder from a local hard drive to automatically be backed up to Wuala’s secure online storage. Backup is complemented by the file restore feature that allows users to access over written or deleted files from a previous date and restore them, protecting the user from accidental deletions. The file restore and backup features work together to allow a user to access a local folder as it was at any desired point in time.

“Backup has long been a feature requested by our users, and we are happy to finally release it”, says Dominik Grolimund, Co-Founder of Wuala. “Since incorporating this functionality, it has become convenient to my everyday life. Currently, I use it to save my extensive photo collection and important documents on Wuala. That way, if my computer crashes, I’ll have a complete backup of these files. Better yet, I know can access them from any computer that has an Internet connection.”

Wuala’s rapid growth is not only attributed to its ease of use, but users’ confidence in its unique way of protecting their privacy. All files stored in Wuala are safely encrypted on the user’s computer before they are stored online. Users can then set preferences for allowing the public, their friend network, or individuals access to their folders. Since the user’s password never leaves the computer, no one can decrypt their private files.

“I love the idea of time travel to change or restore a file. If you accidentally delete or overwrite a file, it’s easy to restore it to a previous version. Together with the automatic mirroring of local folders, this is a step towards making Wuala a more useful tool for managing your personal data,” said Luzius Meisser, Co-Founder of Wuala.

Users that want to take advantage of the new backup and restore features must become Prousers. Pro status is offered to users who have bought additional online storage or have traded local storage for online storage. In stark contrast to other online storage solutions, Wuala is based on grid storage – where anyone with a computer that is regularly connected to the Internet can opt to contribute local hard drive space in exchange for additional storage on the grid – thus increasing their online storage and becoming a part of the growing grid network behind Wuala.