Cloud Files

Cloud Files is designed for businesses that need unlimited, high performance object storage for your data, with the ability to deliver files and media worldwide at top speeds.

Although our Control Panel makes it easy for anyone to upload, store, and share files—privately or publicly—Cloud Files really comes alive in the hands of web developers and IT professionals, who can use our Cloud Files API to integrate Cloud Files technology into their own web apps.

Cloud Files is also ideal when you need to deliver data and media across the globe, without lag time. Thanks to our integration with the Content Delivery Network (CDN), your public data will be stored in cache on edge servers all over the world. This way, your data is delivered from the closest server (e.g., a user in Tokyo will access your data from a Tokyo-based edge server)—dramatically reducing delivery time.

Best for:

• Image and video delivery
• Web-accessible storage
• Integration with your web apps
• Scalable storage needs

Cloud Drive

Cloud Drive is designed for businesses that need to store and share files (privately or publicly), back up workstations, and synchronize files across teams and workstations.

After you install the Cloud Drive software on your desktop or laptop, it can work automatically in the background—backing up and/or synchronizing your files. And since your private and public drives look and act just like a drive on your computer, it’s easy for any user to store and share files.

Best for:

• Automated and simplified file backup and storage
• Easy data retrieval and restoration (Cloud Drive supports versioning, so you can easily restore files “as they existed” at a specific time.)
• File sharing and collaboration among teams
• Synchronizing data across workstations
• Backing up files that need to maintain a nested directory/folder structure (Cloud Files organizes data into containers, and cannot be nested.)

Have a question about Cloud Files and Cloud Drive, and which one is the best fit for you? Contact our Fanatical Support team

At some point, your business will probably encounter one of these scenarios . . .

• Switching from an in-house email system to a hosted email service
• Switching from one hosted email service to another
• Changing your company name and, as a result, changing your associated email domain

And when that time comes, you may need to move (or “migrate”) email from one set of email servers to another.

Email migrations are designed to be a seamless transition that happens behind the scenes, so that your business email can keep flowing. There are, however, several important things that you and your employees can do to help ensure a smooth email migration:

1. Identify POP users. Employees who use a POP connection to access email probably don’t need to be included in the migration, since POP users store their email on their individual computer and not on the email server.
2. Create new mailboxes first. Before starting a migration, be sure that you’ve created identical mailboxes, group lists, and aliases on the new email system. This way, email will be delivered seamlessly to the new system after the migration.
3. Gather all user names and passwords. Make note of all mailbox names and passwords—for both the old (source) system and the new (destination) system. You’ll need this information in order to perform the migration.
4. Avoid password changes. When preparing for a migration, ask your employees to avoid making changes to their email passwords. After the migration has been completed, however, you may want to encourage employees to change their passwords, as a security best practice.
5. Purge email clutter. Ask your employees to delete unnecessary email (such as spam, mailing list emails, personal email, etc.). This can drastically improve the speed of your migration.
6. Prepare for app adjustments. Employees who use an email app, such as Microsoft Outlook, will need to make a few changes to the app settings after the migration (so that they can begin receiving email from the new email server). You may want to instruct employees in advance.
7. Make room. Be sure that the new mailboxes are at least 30% bigger than the old mailboxes, so that storage capacity issues don’t slow down your migration.
8. Test first. Always run a test migration on a single mailbox before running the full migration, to identify any potential issues.
9. Don’t cancel your old service too soon. Keep your old email service until you have confirmed that all email has been migrated successfully, and email is now being delivered properly through the new email service.
10. Schedule your migration strategically. Schedule your migration for a time when email activity is typically light for your business, such as during the weekend and/or in the evening.

With a little effort, you can help create a smooth migration that flows seamlessly, behind the scenes, so your employees and your business can keep running productively.

POP. IMAP. Huh?

If you use an email app (such as Outlook), you’ve probably seen these acronyms before. And if you’re like most people, they can make your head spin.

But once you understand the difference between POP and IMAP, it can actually revolutionize the way you use email—and it can help turn your Inbox into an effective productivity tool.

Let’s break it down . . .

When someone sends you an email, it’s stored on a mail server. You can access this new email one of two ways:

POP – Using your email app (Outlook, etc.), you can download your email to your computer, and then delete it from the server.

Advantages

+ You don’t need to worry about running out of online storage space. Since you’re downloading your emails to your computer, you can keep as many emails as your computer can store.

+ You will need an Internet connection to download email, but you can manage your downloaded email offline (i.e., without an Internet connection).

Disadvantages

- Since your email is stored on your computer, you must be at that computer to manage your email. This prevents you from managing email on-the-road or from your mobile device.

- You will need to implement an effective backup system for your computer, in case you need to retrieve lost or deleted emails.

Is POP the best productivity choice for you?

If you always access your email from one computer, and you have limited online storage capacity or use a dial-up connection, POP is probably best for you. It will save you the hassle of worrying about online storage limits or poor connection speeds. Just be sure you back up your computer regularly.

* By default, POP will download and then delete all email in your mail server’s Inbox; however, most email apps will give you the option of keeping email on the mail server, if you prefer.

IMAP – Using your email app (Outlook, etc.), you can manage your email directly on the mail server, rather than downloading it to your computer.

Advantages

+ Since the emails are stored on the mail server, you can access and manage your email and email folders from multiple computers or mobile devices.

+ Email is automatically backed up; so, if you accidentally delete an email, your email administrator can retrieve it.

Disadvantages

- If you have limited online storage space, you may need to delete some emails periodically to avoid exceeding your storage capacity.

- If your Internet connection becomes unavailable, you cannot access your email offline.

Is IMAP the best productivity choice for you?

If you need to access your email and email folders from multiple computers and/or a mobile device, IMAP is best for you. Your email will be centrally located on the mail server, so you can access it directly from any Internet connection.

* By default, email apps store your sent, draft, and trash email on your computer, rather than storing it on the email server (as it should with an IMAP connection); however, most apps give you the option of using your online Sent, Drafts, and Trash folders instead.

Regardless of whether you choose POP or IMAP, you can continue to use your favorite email app—such as Outlook, Thunderbird, etc. And you can always access your email directly from the email server via your email provider’s webmail app. (I love our Rackspace Webmail app so much, I don’t even bother using Outlook anymore! I get all the benefits of IMAP, from any computer or device, without the hassle of software setup. It’s a win-win.)

Rackspace Email customers: Check out our Email & Outlook Setup site for step-by-step directions for setting up a POP or IMAP connection. Or go to http://apps.rackspace.com/ to log into the mail server directly via Webmail.

Rackspace Hosted Exchange customers: You don’t even need to bother with POP and IMAP. Check out our Email & Outlook Setup page to set up Outlook, Entourage, Mac Mail, or your mobile device to access the Exchange server directly. Or go to https://outlook.rackspace.com/ to log into the Exchange server directly via Outlook Web Access.

1. Do customers/clients communicate with you via email?
   Yes = 1 point    No = 0 points
    
2. Do you receive requests for services/goods via email?
   Yes = 1 point    No = 0 points
    
3. Do your employees use email to communicate and collaborate in-house?
   Yes = 1 point    No = 0 points
    
4. Do you receive important information from other businesses or organizations via email?
   Yes = 1 point    No = 0 points
    
5. Is your email address posted on your website or a trade website?
   Yes = 1 point    No = 0 points

Score:

0 – 1 points = Absolutely Mission Critical
2 – 3 points = Absolutely Mission Critical
4 – 5 points = Absolutely Mission Critical

As you can see, even if you use email just a little bit, it’s still potentially mission critical for your business. You can’t afford to miss an important email because of unreliable email service. An undelivered email can lead to business—and possibly money—lost.

That’s why we’ve designed our systems for utmost reliability, so that your email will be delivered the way it should, every time.

Redundant Design is the Key

We have a redundant environment set up for our MX records (the servers that receive the mail)—otherwise known as MX1 and MX2. We provide customers with two MX records so that, if one system for some reason becomes unavailable, mail will be delivered to the second system. In addition to that protection, each MX record points to a geographically balanced set of servers across multiple data centers. These servers successfully process tens of millions of messages every day. If one of these servers were to become unavailable, it is immediately taken out of rotation and the other servers continue to process mail. These adjustments happen automatically in a matter of seconds, so that the flow of email can continue smoothly through the system.

Our Commitment to Reliability

Email reliability is mission critical for us, because it’s mission critical for you. We know that each email must arrive in your mailbox successfully—so that your business doesn’t miss a beat. This commitment to reliability has helped us become one of the largest providers of business email hosting in the world.

Want to learn more about our hosted email services? Check out our email hosting options.

SharePoint: Microsoft’s powerhouse productivity app.

You can use SharePoint for a wide range of collaborative projects. Whether you want to work together on a word processing document, spreadsheet, presentation, or any other type of doc, SharePoint is a great place to do it. With SharePoint you can:

	Store docs that you want to share. You can create a “library” of documents, and then share them with specific users or across your entire organization.
	Manage permissions. You decide who can view your projects, and who can make changes to them.
	Track changes. You can enable versioning, so you can store and track versions of your docs whenever changes are made.

And SharePoint doesn’t stop there. You can use it to manage almost anything: lists, contacts, web pages, calendar events—whatever your business needs to track and share.

If you’re a Rackspace hosted email customer, SharePoint is already included with your account. Otherwise, you can sign up for SharePoint (with or without email service) through our website.

To learn more, check out our SharePoint webinars, including our SharePoint demo.

Our Exchange Hybrid offering is a way for businesses to save upwards of 60% when they combine Hosted Exchange for some of their employees and Rackspace Email for the rest – all on a single domain. We have found that on average only 20% of employees really need the full robust features of Microsoft Exchange. Traditionally businesses have been forced into purchasing Microsoft Exchange for their entire organization instead of just for those employees who really need it. With Hosted Exchange Hybrid we offer businesses a better choice.

Follow the links below for instructions on how to enable and set up these integrated calendars today:

Rackspace Email users follow these instructions:

• Enable your calendar to be shared
  
• View Hosted Exchange users calendar
  

Hosted Exchange users follow these instructions:

• Enable your calendar to be shared
  
• View Rackspace Email users calendars in Outlook
  

By implementing three common email management tools, however, you can turn your Inbox into an effective productivity tool, and reduce the time you spend sifting through email.

Folders

Email folders are essential—even if you create just one. Plan to keep all high-priority, action-item emails in your main Inbox, and file everything else away in a folder. You can use one generic folder, or organize your emails into categories by using multiple folders. Either way, the goal is to clean out your Inbox, so that only the important emails remain.

Filters

Filters will automatically move new emails into designated folders, so you don’t have to. This is especially helpful for keeping low-priority emails (like newsletters and mailing list emails) out of your Inbox altogether. And don’t forget about spam filters—they will move spam directly into your Spam folder.

Flags

Once you have cleaned out your Inbox, and only the important action-item emails remain, you can prioritize your emails by assigning flags. This way, you’ll see easily which items you need to tackle first. You can also sort your list according to flag color, so that flagged items appear at the top of the list.

The result? High visibility for your high-priority, action-item emails, and low visibility (but easy accessibility) for everything else. With these tools, you, too, can master your Inbox.

A co-worker has lost an email—a vital, make-or-break-a-deal kind of email. You’ve helped them try every possible search combination, to no avail. It’s gone. They probably deleted it months ago. There’s nothing you can do.

This time, let’s add Rackspace Archiving to the scenario and try again . . .

A co-worker has lost an email—a vital, make-or-break-a-deal kind of email. No worries. They just log into the archive for their email account, run a quick search, and retrieve the email. They didn’t even need to contact the IT department.

With Rackspace Archiving, you get the relief of knowing that every email—whether it was sent to or from your domain—is stored in the archive. And now, thanks to our new end-user access feature, you can grant your employees the ability to log into their individual email archive themselves—via Microsoft Outlook or online through a web interface.

If you already have Rackspace Archiving, you can manage end-user access inside our Control Panel.

And if you don’t have Rackspace Archiving yet, you can easily enable Rackspace Archiving for your domain, inside our Control Panel.

• Fortune named Rackspace one of their Top 100 Companies to Work For (again!)
• In the midst of massive layoffs in 2009, we actually hired over 60 new Rackers just for our division (and we’re still hiring!)
• Our CEO, Lanham Napier, was featured on Fox Business
• Email & Apps Rackers were showered with birthday surprises
• Timo Sirainen, the creator of Dovecot, joined the Email & Apps team
• Robert Scoble joined Rackspace and launched Building43
• We crossed a major milestone—hosting over 1.6 million mailboxes
• ReadWriteWeb argued that email is fading away
• We went to SXSW and countered that email is not only alive—it is the king of social media
• Xobni , Cisco, and IBM further proved that email is still alive
• We changed our name (again!)
• We sumo wrestled to celebrate our name change
• The Colbert Report gave us 15 minutes of fame (okay, maybe it was just half a second)
• Our customers sent over 7 billion emails and received over 23 billion emails
• We blocked over 17 billion spam emails and over 500 million viruses
• We safeguarded file systems with automatic backup and easy recovery
• We challenged our neighbors at Modea to a Wii Tournament – and won!
• We helped businesses increase morale in their IT departments
• Our Free Upgrade to Snow Leopard promotion was a huge hit!
• Google won a huge deal with the City of Los Angeles, and it was a win for us all
• Apple admitted that Microsoft Exchange still runs businesses
• We made it easier to move your email to Rackspace
• We launched our very popular Live Chat Support and our new Support Site
• We introduced Sync for iPhone, Search 2.0, and Rackspace Email 7.0
• reMail announced integration with Rackspace, to make email easier to search on your iPhone

Want to help us make 2010 even better? We’d love to hear from you!