The iTwin USB drive has changed the way I share files with my family and friends. It’s extremely user friendly! The days of pulling out one of your old 4gb USB drives to transfer files to someone in person are gone. With the iTwin all you have to do is pop the ends together and plug it into your PC or Mac. Then disconnect the outer iTwin and hand it over to one of your friends, family or coworker. They attach it to their PC or Mac and BOOM you have a straight line of file sharing with end to end AES 256- bit encryption. It’s that simple! No worrying about dynamic ip addresses or having to figure out domain and port information. You can also password protect each paired iTwin for the added security. If you happen to lose one of your iTwin’s, you can remotely disable it to keep your files safe. My review was done completely with Mac computers, but it also works on PC’s. It even works cross platform ie. Mac to PC or PC to Mac.
After both users have plugged in the iTwin there will be two folders one is your local folder (Your shared files) and the other is the remote folder (Your coworkers shared files). The software is very nonintrusive and works very nicely. When you add a file to share it does not physically move the file anywhere, it gives permission to transfer that specific file from the location it’s at. Brilliant! You dont have to worry about having mutiple copies of a file. You also don’t have to worry about another file in the same folder accidentally being shared. If a file is deleted from the iTwin it just removes accsess to it. The original file is still right where you have it saved. There is no bandwidth allowances or monthly costs. The only constraint is the limit of your ISP speed and caps. Obviously, you will need a internet connection on both computers for the file sharing to work. If both computers are not directly accessible because of firewalls the encrypted data traffic is relayed through iTwin’s globally distributed servers (Amazon EC2 based). There is no physical storage on the iTwin all storage space is provided by the computer that it’s attached. A really great feature on the iTwin is if a connection is lost during a transfer the iTwin will pause and then continue the transfer when the connection is back up.
There are countless ways of using the iTwin. If you have one computer that has files that need sharing to multiple coworkers, you pair as many iTwin’s as you would like and they have access to that one computers shared folder. You can also set permissions for the files that are shared. Give complete read/write access to those who need it and restrict to read only for those that don’t. Let’s say you have a huge collection of files you use for business. You can throw a iTwin in your pocket and save the money that you would spend on an extra hard drive. Plug the iTwin in and all those files can be on any computer you wish. You can aslo use multiple iTwins on one computer to separate your business and pleasure.
When I first started using the iTwin I was a bit reserved of how I could use it. After a few weeks of using it I found myself using it a lot! I am planning on replacing my usb drive on my keys with a iTwin to take my home computer everywhere I go. This is a great simple solution for file sharing and I would definitely recommend it. If you are limited on no internet connection then this is not for you. Go pick one up for $99 at http://www.itwin.com