Chapter 3. Using iDisk

Network storage of one kind or another has been around for decades. Back in the day, if you wanted to move files to a file server, your computer had to be connected to the same network as that file server. If your computer wasn't physically linked to that server, you couldn't connectand you used the good ol' sneakernet file transfer.

The Internet changed all that by allowing different kinds of computers running different kinds of operating systems to connect to each other around the world. Thanks to the Internet, you can access files stored online from just about anywhere.

iDisk is a .Mac utility that lets you store your files on servers maintained by Apple. These servers house files for thousands of .Mac subscribers. When one of those subscribers connects to his or her iDisk using a Mac, the iDisk appears on the Desktop as if it were a network volume on a file server sitting in a closet down the hall. Users can treat the iDisk almost as if it were a hard drive connected directly to their Macs. And you don't have to use a Mac to do itmost Windows PCs can get at an iDisk with little trouble.

In this chapter, I'll cover how to use your iDiskhow to connect to it, how to copy files to it, and how to use the folders stored on it.