CloudBerry Explorer: Amazon S3 Management Made Simple

For such a powerful cloud storage platform, Amazon S3 management can be a pain in the rear. Enter CloudBerry Lab, and their newly released CloudBerry Explorer v2.0, a Windows application that allows users to manage files in Amazon’s cloud as they do on their local computers. Better still, it’s compatible with open-source cloud platform Eucalyptus too. Here are some emerging details.

The main advantage of the freeware CloudBerry Explorer is that users don’t need specialized knowledge to perform simple tasks, and they even enable automation. For advanced users, CloudBerry Lab provides a command line interface to integrate S3 and CloudFront storage access with other routines.

The $39.99 “PRO” version of CloudBerry Explorer lets you use it with multiple Amazon accounts, and also provides enterprise features like encryption, FTP support, and folder syncing to keep files consistent locally and in the cloud.

If you’re serious about leveraging Amazon S3 and running a Windows desktop, CloudBerry Explorer PRO — or a product like it — seems like a no-brainer at that price point. My only complaint: you call it CloudBerry and there’s no BlackBerry version? That’s a disconnect in my mind.

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