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Shadow Drive - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Updated

Key takeaways

  • Shadow Drive is a secured and affordable online-storage solution built in partnership with Nextcloud, the world-leading open-source file-sharing platform.

  • It allows you to store your data while keeping it accessible from anywhere. Data will be available via web, desktop, and mobile apps.

  • Shadow Drive is fully secured through traffic encryption and will be available in all markets Shadow operates in, through servers European owned and based.

  • The solution is available for free with up to 20 GB of storage, while a premium version of the service is available with 2 TB available.

  • Shadow Drive is available in Europe*1, and will soon be available in North America.

    *1 Shadow Drive is only available in the same countries as Shadow: the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, and a few others joining soon.

FAQ

General

On which Software is Shadow Drive based?

Shadow Drive is based on Nextcloud 25. For more information on this new version, you can have a look at the Nextcloud website.

Is there a difference between the web version, the desktop clients, and the applications?

The Shadow Drive web version allows you to access your files through the browser of your choice.

Applications and desktop clients allow you to synchronize your files seamlessly with all your devices and access your files without a browser.

How and when data is encrypted? How is it encrypted during transport and at rest?

To keep it simple, data is encrypted from your device to the final storage.

Shadow Drive uses full encryption via TLS (Transport Layer Security).

It is encrypted:

  • In transit:

    1. Between your device and the Shadow Drive infrastructure

    2. Amongst elements of infrastructure (between web servers, database servers, and storage infrastructure).

  • At rest:

    Shadow Drive Teams are currently working on encryption at rest to strengthen the overall security of our solution.

    In the meantime, if security is a big concern for your data, we suggest making client-side encryption before storing it on our Cloud Solution.

    You can for example have a look at the Boxcryptor solution (please note that we do not officially support this solution).

Is the use of a VPN allowed to access our data?

Absolutely!

Can you change the language of Shadow Drive?

  • Web-version:

    1. Click on your profile picture which is located in the upper right corner. It will open a menu.

    2. Click on "Settings". It will open a new page.

    3. On this page, below "Language", you can then choose a new language.

  • Applications and Desktop Clients:

    You cannot change the language on the applications or the desktop clients themselves. It is set up according to the language of your OS (Operating System).

Will there be 2FA Authentication (Two Factor Authentication) via Google Authenticator or another Third-Party Tool for Shadow Drive?

Yes, we plan to have 2FA Authentication.

Is the windows 32-bit version available?

The Windows 32 version is available.

There are some differences with the 64 bits version:

  • It is a little slower in processing the sync.

  • The contextual menu is limited to only "Liberate space" or "Download locally".

  • There are no thumbnails in the sync folder.

  • There is no share menu.

In terms of infrastructure, how does Shadow Drive impact the storage availability for Shadow extra & main storage slots?

Shadow Drive and Shadow are two different products, there is no dependency on the technical architecture.

Can I connect to my Shadow Drive using ownCloud?

It is not possible to connect to Shadow Drive using ownCloud. While Nextcloud and ownCloud are made of the same core, their respective code is now very different.

Technical

Important: The WebDAV protocol is now available.
It enables third-party tools to connect to Shadow Drive, and lets you use NAS servers, file transfer software (Cyberduck, Filezilla, etc..), and mount a network drive with macOS, Windows, or even Linux system's built-in features with Shadow Drive.

Note:
FTP access is not enabled. Therefore, consider using WebDAV as a fallback if necessary.

Is it possible to synchronize local files with Shadow Drive?

Yes, Shadow Drive can be synchronized with local clients on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android to always keep local and remote files in perfect synchronization.

Is there a limit to the number of devices I can link and synchronize to Shadow Drive?

There is no limit on the number of devices you can synchronize at the same time.

How do I share a Shadow Drive directory with another Shadow Drive user?

You need to click on the share button, then enter the email address of the user you want to share your folder with.

How can I exclude a file from being synchronized?

You should follow these steps:

  1. Open your application or your desktop client.

  2. Click on your username. It will open a new menu.

  3. Click on "Settings". It will open a new window.

  4. Next to the synchronized folder you want to edit, click on the button.

  5. Click on "Edit ignored Files".

  6. Click on "Add Ignore Pattern" (you can check this documentation to add specific reasons)

By adding an exclusion reason, you prevent a certain type of file from being synchronized.

For example, if you add the word "secret", all the files in this folder with the word "secret" in their title will not be synchronized.

Can I schedule a synchronization?

It is not possible to schedule a synchronization, as your files are already being regularly synchronized.

However, you can exclude a file from being synchronized.

Can I edit text files online if they are synchronized with Shadow Drive?

As for now, it is possible to view, edit and share .txt. or .md files directly on Shadow Drive.
We are currently working on collaborative features, like adding Microsoft Office files format support.

Is it possible to find Shadow Drive logs on my local computer? If yes, in which directory?

Yes, you can create and find Shadow Drive logs by following these steps:

  • Open your application or your desktop client.

  • Click on your username. It will open a new menu.

    • Click on "Settings". It will open a new window.

  • Go to advanced settings by clicking on Settings

  • Under the "General settings" section, click on "Create Debug Archive ..." to pick the location where the desktop client will export the logs and the database to a zip file.

For more information, you can take a look at this documentation.

Subscription

Is there an activation delay?

No, you can access your Shadow Drive immediately after getting your Free or Premium offer.

I have an active subscription with the Shadow Offer. I used the same email that I used to subscribe to my Shadow Offer to subscribe to the Shadow Drive Offer, but I don't receive the email to activate my Shadow Drive Subscription. What should I do?

At the moment, some of you might not be able to subscribe to Shadow Drive by using the same email that you used to subscribe to the Shadow Offer.
This will be fixed in the following weeks. In the meantime, you can use a variant of your current email to subscribe.


To do so:

  1. Before the character "@", add the following character depending on your mailbox service:

    • Andrew Project (+)

    • Runbox (+)

    • Gmail (+)

    • Rackspace (+)

    • Yahoo! Mail Plus (-)

    • Apple's iCloud (+)

    • Outlook.com (+)

    • Proton Mail (+)

    • Fastmail (+)

    • postale.io (+)

    • Pobox (+)

    • MeMail (+)

    • MMDF (=)

    • Qmail (-)

    • Courier Mail Server (-)

  2. Add "Drive" or another word of your choice after this character.
    For example, if the email you used to subscribe to the Shadow Offer is john.smith@gmail.fr, you can subscribe to your Shadow Drive offer by using the email john.smith+drive@gmail.com.

For Free Offers, how much inactivity of our account is allowed before expiration?

Your subscription is tacitly renewed each month. If you are not using Shadow Drive for an extended period of time, you will be noticed by mail and invited to use the product.

Starting the reception of this mail, you will have 15 days to reactivate your Shadow Drive by going onto your Shadow Drive online.

After this period, your Shadow Drive access will be suspended, and you will have 15 days to reactivate your account from your Customer Space.

How do I cancel my Premium Offer subscription?

Your subscription is tacitly renewed each month.

You can cancel your subscription from your customer space, and your Shadow Drive will be disabled at the end of your active subscription.

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