Can I download to a virtual hard drive?

[fungusaur]

Basically it's like this.

*to use the storage space from an online ftp'd site host that I use for a website.
*to use an online storage account like 50megs.com or some other storage site.

First Question:
I am wondering if I can somehow tell the computer that one or more of these are physical hard drives for the purpose of downloading to the storage supplied at a much faster rate and to be able to transfer the content to a website without my slow upload speed.

Second Question:
Also, if it is possible to download to any of these, would I also be able to access files on these virtual hard drives just like a physical hard drive? Would I be able to double click a file and have it execute? Say if I have an mp3, image, movie file or an xml? Question regarding xml, would I be able to directly pull up an xml in excel simply by double clicking on it as I normally do on my physical hard drive?

Third question:
If I can download to a virtual storage (hard drive), how could I raid or combine the virtual storage to other virtual storage to make a combined larger virtual hard drive?

Fourth Question:
Would I be able to share the material on the virtual hard drives with another party without the chance that another party could change, add or delete the material?

thanks. much appreciation for your time and your knowledge.

[Deerpark]

I can't see any way you'd be able to do that. Usually these sites are browser driven so you can't map them as a drive.

[Zylstra]

Well, I can see why a person would find this useful, however, I do not think that it is at all possible.

Most online storage sites are a bit slow, especially if you have a slow connection. Copying and pasteing data takes time.
Most faster services require that you pay a price, search for "Online Backup storage" on Google.com
Can you raid two together?
No. FTP/HTTP Protocols are much too different for this type of action. It would be best to use the first until its full, and move to the second.
Being that its FTP/HTTP, it would move way too slowly if you tried to raid the drives, two together would not make it faster. Attempting to make it look like a physical disk will not make it faster.

A virtual hard drive, or VHD file, is used in emulating a different operating system on another computer.

Executing a file on FTP/HTTP would do the following:
Open its properties.

Yup, FTP is that useless...
It can open some files, so MP3, image, maybe movie, and documents would open, but many files, especially executables, would definitely not execute properly.

As for sharing:
If you had the ability to add FTP accounts to your server space, then yes, you could set permissions for your friends/family to read data, but to not edit or create data. You could also give your best friend full access to one single folder, or allow anyone to access your public folder (if it was set up) and you could use anonymous access for anyone to read data.

[fungusaur]

ok, i know it can be done. or at least i really think it can be done. i did a little searching and i found this:

http://www.filesanywhere.com/WebDriveInstruction.htm#MapDrive

but i dont want to use their service. and by the looks of the details found here, i dont have to.

i looked at the reg file they had for installation and it looked harmless enough. i backed up my registry and created a restore point before installing the reg. restarted.

i added my site's ftp to My Computer - Other - Macromedia FTP & RDS.

then i tried to add the ftp as a networked drive. but, of course the ftp is not a networked drive so it could not find it.

this is where i need some help. how do i get windows xp home to see the ftp as a networked drive so i can add it as a mapped drive?

[Deerpark]

Now this is a bit different than what you originally asked for.
From what I could find out on a quick Google search you can use a commercial software called Netdrive:
http://www.engadget.com/2005/10/25/how-to-map-a-drive-to-your-ftp-server/

Or install CuteFTP and try this:
http://www.astahost.com/info.php/map-ftp-server-as-drive_t7292.html

Or this:
http://www.killprog.com/fdrve.html

Note that this is still not the same as a physical hdd and if you try to execute something on the mapped drive, the startup can be very slow because the file will need to be downloaded first.

[fungusaur]

basically i am looking for something i can download newsgroups to. i am currently using sftpDrive. While it has no problem with torrents, or anything else that I can find, it shows write errors when downloading any multi-part files which I would get from newsgroups.

Also, apparently I can only download at my upload speed which is around 25KBps. This is a drawback. But, since my host provides me with 11TB, I can put up with it. I'm working off a notebook, so I cannot imagine cramming that much storage in this thing.

The first key thing I want is a external online storage drive. The other stuff would be nice, but not required.

i appreciate the attention this thread is getting. I will look into these other options suggested as well. If something works better than what I have already found, then I don't mind paying for it. Especially if it will work with newsgroups.

[Deerpark]

Also, apparently I can only download at my upload speed which is around 25KBps. This is a drawback. But, since my host provides me with 11TB, I can put up with it. I'm working off a notebook, so I cannot imagine cramming that much storage in this thing.

If what ever program you're using is set to store directly on the ftp then yes you'll be limited by your upload. Because even though you're storing on a remote drive all the data still needs to swing by your computer. So you're downloading it and uploading it to the remote drive.

[Zylstra]

Woah! 25KBPS upload? What is your download?

I wouldn't recommend executing anything from any connection that provides that kind of upload...

Anyways:
Just a note, Windows contains its own FTP client, which operates like a folder, and is much easier to use then many of those other FTP clients. Just go into "My Computer", and in the Location/Address bar of My Computer, (you might have to go to View>Toolbars> And check Address Bar) type the FTP location, like, ftp.mywebsite.com , and you will see the anonymous FTP access. Then, what you want to do next, is select File> Login
Type your login information, and press OK. I will log you in like any other client, but with a better interface (in my opinion, at least, I used to use CuteFTP)

If you are hosting a newsgroup over an FTP server, I recommend checking into a free host, like www.mbhosting.com and combining it with a .co.nr domain (www.co.nr for more information) and installing a forum. (This message that you are reading this very moment is on a forum) They are better for people that cant figure out newsgroups, and in some cases, work better since replys are easier to use.
(But thats only in my opinion, again)

[Anodoin]

Instead of using FTP, use FXP, if supported.  CuteFTP can do it, but the best one I've found for this is FXP.  There are some limits:  You have to have ftp access to both sites, and both sites must allow PASV mode as well as foreign host connections. 

Basically you run your little FXP client, and you'll have two windows, one server's directory tree in one, the other server's tree in the other.  When you transfer files, you're telling the servers to initiate the connections with eachother, so that the speed of the transfer is determined by the two servers, and the file never actually passes through your machine.