Did you know that Nokia N8 allows you to map network drives supported by a WebDav server. Most of the free online storage providers support WebDav clients which means you can create a network drive on your phone using these online storage services for free. In this post, I am showcasing this capability using my 4shared.com account. It provides a 15GB free online storage account for every type of file. You can even opt for a premium account. I tried other sites as well but found this to be the faster one compared to all others and east to setup.
What is WebDav ?
It stands for Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning. It is an extension of the HTTP protocol which enables syncing and managing files based out of the World Wide Web servers. In this post, it is 4shared.com. In practical sense, you need not worry about what WebDav is or does. You just need to know that when you look for online storage services to use with the phone, you gotta check that it supports WebDav and provides a URL for mapping network drives via WebDav clients.
Prerequisites for mapping network drive
1. Get an online storage account that supports WebDav. Ex – 4shared, DriveHQ, Box.net, etc.
2. A working data connection or a WiFi to be able to connect to the internet.
3. Some patience 🙂
Getting Started
1. Go to the Menu -> Applications -> Office.
2. Tap on the File Manager
3. Tap on Options -> Map new drive
4. Provide a name for the drive to be mapped.
5. URL of the WebDav server from the online storage service provider. For 4shared it is http://webdav.4shared.com:80/wa
6. Select an Access point. Any Gprs, Edge, 3G or Wifi.
7. Provide the username for your account.
8. Provide the password for your account.
9. Tap on the Back button.
10. You should see the drive listed in the File Manager. Long press on the Drive, tap on Connect.