ZumoDrive
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Cloud storage, File hosting service |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Founder | David Zhao, Kevin West, Vijay Mani |
| Defunct | May 1, 2012 |
| Fate | Acquired by Motorola Mobility |
| Headquarters | Silicon Valley , United States |
| Products | Cloud storage service, file synchronization |
| Parent | Motorola Mobility (from 2010) |
ZumoDrive was a cloud storage service managed by Zecter, Inc., which Motorola Mobility acquired on December 22, 2010. This platform allowed users to save and synchronize files online and across multiple devices using its HybridCloud storage technology. While synchronization between computers was discontinued around September 2011, the cloud storage offering officially ended on May 1, 2012.
The service provided clients compatible with Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and Palm webOS. Users could transfer files or entire folders into a virtual drive that synchronized with the cloud and other connected devices. File sharing with others was supported, along with access through a web portal that enabled manual file uploads. ZumoDrive’s free tier included 2 GB of storage, with paid plans available from 10 GB up to 500 GB.
From a strategic standpoint, ZumoDrive integrated with Yahoo! Mail (which ceased operations in June 2012) and powered Hewlett-Packard’s CloudDrive technology featured on HP Mini netbooks, broadening its presence through these collaborations.
History
Founded in 2007 by David Zhao, Kevin West, and Vijay Mani in Silicon Valley, Zecter was the company behind ZumoDrive. Zhao brought experience from Amazon, while West and Mani had backgrounds at Microsoft.
Early investments came from Y Combinator, Tandem Entrepreneurs, and other seed backers. By late 2009, Zecter secured an additional $1.5 million funding round led by Sherpalo Ventures with contributions from Tandem Entrepreneurs and VeriFone CEO Douglas Bergeron. Development started in 2008, culminating in the launch of ZumoDrive in January 2009.
Motorola Mobility acquired Zecter on December 22, 2010. Although ZumoDrive’s service ended on June 1, 2012, users linked to HP, CruzSync, and Toshiba branded solutions were initially unaffected by this shutdown.
Functionality
ZumoDrive combined file synchronization and storage through an innovative method where cloud-stored content appeared as if locally saved within the user’s filesystem. The service utilized SSL connections with AES-256 encryption and incorporated revision history via delta encoding to enable restoration of deleted files across synchronized devices. Its version control system facilitated conflict-free collaborative editing. There was no restriction on file size when uploading through the client application. All files were hosted on Amazon S3 infrastructure.
Content streamed directly from the cloud while maintaining a local presence for users. The platform supported music streaming to iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, and WebOS devices. An intelligent "predictive caching" feature saved frequently accessed files locally to ensure offline availability. Users had the option to selectively synchronize individual files, folders, or entire virtual drives and could link existing directories for continuous synchronization across devices.
By leveraging cloud integration, ZumoDrive effectively expanded the usable storage capacity for devices with limited local space—such as netbooks and smartphones—granting access to nearly unlimited cloud-based storage.
Criticism
Limited broadband bandwidth can negatively impact the ability to stream large media files like movies to mobile or remote devices.
Despite encrypting data during transmission with 256-bit SSL and storing it encrypted on Amazon S3 servers, content remained accessible to ZumoDrive administrators.
See also
- List of online backup services
- Comparison of online backup services
- File synchronization
- File hosting service
- Cloud computing