Using two laptops together

[ozzolins]

hello people,

so I have one gaming laptop which is relatively heavy and not so portable so I am considering buying one less powerful and lighter question. The question is - is it possible to make some sort of server/network so that basically I don't have to jump from one laptop to another to look for files, so that it duplicates everything automatically?

I would appreciate if you could tell me which direction I should look to get something like that.

 

[boosted1g]

The easiest solution is to use a cloud service like dropbox, google drive, etc.

If you have hundreds of gigabytes of data then there are more complex solutions.

 

[Kaisei]

I second dropbox or google drive. If you want a more complete cloud solution, you can go with pogoplug and plug in an external hard drive for lots of storage without having to pay monthly.

 

[ozzolins]

What about some servers or homegroups? How does that work?

 

[Kaisei]

homegroups are a little more complicated and sometimes frustrating. There are times your homegroup PC is detected and there are times that the router just ruins everything. Also with a homegroup setup, the file is stored locally on the PC, so if you turn off one of your PCs, the other will not be able to access any local file there.

Servers are even more complicated because you will have to have one PC running 24/7 in order to feel like you are accessing the "same" computer. In most cases, it would require a 3rd unit running as a server while the 2 laptops connect to it for you to get that same feel. Pogoplug, dropbox, and google drive basically act like a server, but in the cloud. Dropbox and gdrive will be stored on their respective servers, while pogoplug will be stored in whatever drive you have plugged into it. The great thing about pogoplug is that you do not need to use a USB slot on your PC, nor do you need to use any local storage. Everything is stored on the USB drive plugged into pogoplug and pogoplug is connected to a router or switch through ethernet cable. Pogoplug stays static, offering almost unlimited storage (based on the drive you plug in), while you can move around and access it from a computer anywhere.