Ever been without the file(s) you really needed? Allow me to paint a quick picture of what happened to me the other day and see if you can relate.
I was out at one of the AALS libraries doing some PC related changes. The library director was happy that I FINALLY made it out after so many weeks. I was on time, pumped and enthused about starting the work. I popped in my flash drive and then in my brain it was a cataclysmic slow motion sound effect of Ohhhhhh Nooooooooooo!!! The file(s) needed were not on the drive. Frantically, I checked my laptop bag, no not there. Ah my CD case! It has to be on one of these discs somewhere, right? As I flip through all of the CD's, beads of sweat began to pour down my head (OK I am exaggerating here), but no luck there either. I suddenly realized I drove an hour and a half without the files I needed anywhere. Thankfully, I was able to download a trial version of what I needed. Then I thought "Rodney! You have an online storage account, why didn't you have it there?" You see with online storage, as long as you have access to the web, you can get to files that you save there. Don't have one yet? You never know when you might need those important files. You can also inform your library patrons about this. If they have an account it is quite possible they may not even need external storage devices.
Here are 3 different online storage (virtual hard drives) companies that I use. Each offer free storage space. Offering access to files/folders which also includes photos, music, video, and much more. You can also share these with friends, coworkers, or others easily. Each of these services will require a user name and password, so read more as you go to their site.
Box.net--A few neat things about this one should be noted. It allows uploading from your email. What that means is that an attachment you have in email can be uploaded to your boxnet account. Another feature is 3rd party tools which allows you to edit previously stored files. For example, say you need to edit a spreadsheet. Access to the tools allows you to edit while it is in your storage area instead of downloading it to yourself, making changes, and the re uploading it to yourself a second time. You can also access files through mobile devices as long as they have a web browser. With the good comes some bad. It gives you only 1 GB of space. And the file size to upload on the free account is not much (10 MB). So large file uploading is not ideal on the free account.
XDrive--I found this service the most pleasant and user friendly to use out of the three. It is easy to navigate, has an upload accelerator, which allows for faster upload speed in most cases, and it also has a desktop download that makes it seem like you have an external drive attached to the pc. There are many other features, one will allow you to create personalized photos and music. The other thing I really like is that they give you 5 GB for free. Not a trial version either. Xdrive also has email upload capabilities.
Windows Live Sky Drive (Beta)--This one as shown is still in a beta form. It gives you 1 GB of space, but the upload is limited to 50 MB per file. This one offered little to impress me, plus this one does not work with the Linux operating system. But still good for getting files when you need them.
Concerned with security? Each offers security as a high priority. And if you share files you can put permissions on those files as well. Having access to your files regardless of where you are, which computer you are on, or the time or day is most ideal.
Have any stories about this topic or comments in general? Please let me hear from you. I will post them here for all to enjoy and learn from.
Rodney
