IQ Storage Making Cloud Private and Open

IQ Storage, Inc. has released IQBox alpha, a free and open-source software solution for file synchronization.

While similar to other file synchronization programs, such as DropBox, IQBox sets itself apart by allowing users to maintain full control of their data.

Having to entrust your data to third-party servers is now a thing of the past: IQBox supports syncing to a broad range of Internet-connected computers and devices.

Simon Lightstone, the founder of IQ Storage, created IQBox to put people in control of their own data: “Information is the lifeblood of the modern enterprise, and consequently everyone is trying to own your data. We are doing the opposite. Open standards and privacy are now more valuable than ever. At IQ Storage, we have capitalized on our extensive FTP hosting and online backup experience to create a tool which champions these values. The IQBox sync tool is free, light-weight, built on open standards, and open source.”

With the IQBox tool installed on a desktop computer, folders can be kept in sync with any device which supports an FTP server. This includes other desktops running FTP server software, NAS devices, private dedicated servers over the Internet, public FTP sites, and more. While it was designed to work with FileZilla Server, IQBox works with many other FTP servers.

“Past attempts at open-source and private cloud solutions have failed largely due to unnecessarily complex software. As a result, people went back to companies like DropBox, which provide simplified solutions at the expense of control. IQBox breaks this trend with its straightforward setup and intuitive interface.”

Rather than introducing yet another complex proprietary protocol or complicated back-end system, IQBox leverages the established encrypted FTP standard.

The advantages of this are: it is an Internet standard, it is already well-supported, and many organizations already have compatible systems in place.

IQ Storage plans to support more standards, like WebDAV, in the future.

In technical terms, IQBox is an FTP client with intelligent real-time automation that makes syncing files between a desktop and an FTP server simple and transparent.

IQBox alpha now available for download.

It currently supports all Windows platforms, with Mac and Linux beta versions scheduled for mid-March 2014. IQBox alpha features FileZilla Server support, and a growing list of supported FTP servers.