For those whom frequent traveling is part of the job description, accessing much-needed tools and data on the field is a big challenge. External devices can only hold so much, and the threat of theft is always present. It may not be worth the risk if you’re dealing with sensitive information. Thanks to cloud computing and cloud storage, these issues are becoming more manageable everyday.

In today’s gadget-obsessed world, the cloud may solve yet another problem. Consumers are accumulating massive amounts of personal data, and these are usually distributed among several computers, digital media players, mobile phones, home entertainment center, and so on. Since these devices tend to overlap on certain tasks, data duplication is the norm. For example, music can be played on an iPod and on a MacBook. Documents can be edited on a PC and on a smartphone. At a certain point, synching the folders on these devices can become too tiresome for even the most experienced technorati. Jon Stokes made a fairly detailed rant about it on Ars Technica:

“I spend way too much time and effort trying to keep different file collections in sync among different devices, so that I can make sure that I have the right version of the right file in the right place when I need it. In short, file syncing is the bane of my existence, and managing multiple versions of individual files and databases (both structured and unstructured) is a constant battle.”

He proposes a novel solution: a home storage cloud. This home cloud won’t be another server far, far away, but all of your devices acting together to form a seamless storage solution, optimized for folder sharing and synchronization. No more worrying if the iTunes library on your desktop and your iPod are up-to-date with each other - the interconnecting software will take care of that. If you think about it, a cloud of this nature makes a lot of sense.

A home storage cloud can also serve as a convenient link between your local files and external cloud services. Making an online back-up of your files will be almost trivial, as the software will be responsible for keeping your home cloud and the Web-based cloud in sync. And since your home cloud is always up-to-date, the impact of server down times will be minimal. What’s not to like?

Google, I hope you’re reading this.