With storage solutions dropping in price year-over-year, companies are building their solution on the back this change. Dropbox is such a company, offering a fast and secure online storage solution, with a starting package that’s absolutely free. Yes, you read that right, free.
With the going rate for a 2GB thumb drive floating anywhere between $5-10, having access to 2GB of online storage an no cost starts to sound appealing. The free Dropbox account comes with 2GB of space that you can use for as long as you like. If you need more than 2GB of space, they offer ‘Pro’ plans for up to 100GB. This is by no means a review, rather an overview of the solution.
Online Backup
Each time you drag a file in to your Dropbox folder it automatically sync back up to their secure servers. This negates the need to carry around a USB thumb drive, as you can securely gain access to your files from any computer with an internet connection.
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File Sync
If you’re looking to sync files across multiple computers, you’re in luck. The Dropbox software is currently compatible with all three major operating systems, including iPhone OS. If you’re dropbox account is authorized on more than one computer, any files that you sync using one device will automatically be accessible from all the other devices. This makes keeping your content in sync, in the home and office, a breeze.
File Sharing
Most email clients throw a strop when you try to attached and send files that are larger than 10MB. With Dropbox, you can upload your files and share them with anyone, without the hassle of moving around large files. Simply upload you file and enable sharing. You can even specify particular recipients and password protect the shared file. Not bad for something that’s free.
History
Every time you save a file in Dropbox, Dropbox syncs it to their secure servers. They keep a history of every change made so that you can undo any mistakes and even undelete files. By default, they keep the last 30 days of undo history for all your files. So, it’s essentially an online version of a mini Time Machine.
Want to see what Dropbox can do? Watch their video tour.
I’ve been using Dropbox for a while now, for those little things and as a double backup for several critical files. You can never be too sure when your external hard drive might fail!
