Web Disk: technical features and installation

The web disk allows you to upload documents on your hosting by a simple drag and drop procedure. As the web disk is configured, it will allow you to upload documents on your disk and, at the same time, to surf the server section, view files, delete and/or modify them. The web disk is a ready-to-use online hard disk, a perfect alternative to usb key, dvd, cd or external hard disks, accessible on your laptop, using an internet connection.

You can access your web disk, using your cPanel, by clicking on the dedicated icon. You will access, using HTTPS, a web disk or remote disk, that you can use as a local one, to save all kind of files. As you access the web disk from your computer, you will open a window where you can drag, add or delete files on the remote server.

The web disk account uses, by default, the same cPanel credentials and allows you to access all the files in the home directory of the remote disk. You can create additional usernames and passwords to allow friends and collaborators to enter the shared web disk both for reading and writing. You can provide the reading and/or writing rights for your  home or just for one of the folders inside it.

To create a brand new Web Disk account:

1. Type your "username" in the dedicated section and select, in case of a multi domain account, the domain or subdomain you are interested in;
2. Type and confirm the "password" you chose or use the password generator;
3. Type the directory you want to connect to;
4. Type the licenses for the account you are creating, choosing between Read-Write, that allows all the supported operations for the selected directory, the possibility to view all files and to add new ones, or Read-Only, that allows the download, reading and visualization of the files in the remote folder;
5. Select the box next to the string “Enable Digest Authentication without SSL (Windows® Vista (or later) support)”, if you use Windows® Vista or other versions of  Windows®  or if you wish to use an authentication without SSL  (Digest Authentication without SSL).  You can also activate this feature later;
6. Click on "Create" to complete the operation.

If you use  Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 e Windows 8  you can connect to the web disk by using a dedicated procedure or manually. cPanel could also make a request to Windows for an authentication to access the web disk on HTTPS (Digest Authentication): if you already have a SSL Certificate the authentication will not be required.

If you use Linux to access the web disk you will have to use Nautilus:

1. Open the application;
2. Type the web disk address in the search bar;
3. Type the credentials;
4. Save, as bookmark, the address for the next session.

If you use Mac, to connect to the web disk using MacOS X, you will have to:

1. Open a window in the Finder;
2. Click on "Go" in the bar above and select "Server connection";
3. Type the web disk address, provided at registration moment, in the "Server Address" field;
4. Click on "Connect";
5. Type the previous credentials in the authentication field;
6. Click on "Ok" to access the web disk.

You access the web disk in the same way you would access an ordinary folder: the main difference is that the file's copy, download and modification processes could take a bit longer. We suggest you to use the web disk as a backup for small sized documents, such as text files or images, that you can also encrypt, in local, by using a password to protect them from uninvited visits.

You can also access the web disk, in alternative, by using the browser. You will have to open a window in the browser, type the web disk address as an ordinary internet address, type your credentials and click on "Login". The web disk will appear in the browser and you can access the files you saved in your private web space, only for reading.