Cloud hosting, or online hosting in general, is not a new technology. Your emails hosted on your email provider’s server are as much cloud hosting as storing website files on content distribution networks or important documents with the help of a provider like Dropbox.
When you look at the services that Dropbox offers, you will notice that they offer free and professional accounts. Part of the cloud hosting providers popularity stems from that fact. But free alone is usually not good enough when it comes to hosting documents or files online. Other factors play important roles as well, among them security and reliability.
Generally speaking, security ensures that your data is safe and cannot be copied or deleted by third parties. Reliability on the other hand means availability of data and the service in general.
We have seen new cloud hosting players come into business who promised Gigabytes of free space only to vanish soon thereafter. As far as Dropbox is concerned, it all checks out.
Dropbox uses modern encryption methods to both transfer and store your data.
- Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and AES-256 bit encryption
- Dropbox website and client software have been hardened against attacks from hackers
- Public files are only viewable by people who have a link to the file(s). Public folders are not browsable or searchable
Dropbox uses Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3) for storage, which has a robust security policy of its own.
Dropbox launched their product in September 2008, and has since then shown significant growth. Today, the service has more than 45 million registered users who save one million files every five minutes.
New users who register an account can either select the free option which gives them 2 Gigabytes of free storage space, or one of the paid options which provide them with either 50 or 100 Gigabytes of space for $9.99 or $19.99 per month. Custom plans are available for teams and organizations.
Free users can increase their storage space by referring friends to the service. Both parties will receive 250 Megabytes of extra space up to a limit of 8 Gigabytes (Students receive 500 Megabytes for every referral).
They can afterwards download the Dropbox client software to their system. the client software is made available for Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac, Linux and mobile operating systems. The client creates a Dropbox folder on the system which acts as the root folder. All files that you copy in here will be synchronized with the online storage automatically, provided that you have enough space left for the operation.
Even better, Dropbox transfers the files automatically whenever they change. If you are working on a document in your Dropbox folder you will be able to access revisions of the file from the Dropbox online panel.
Files can also be accessed on the Dropbox website directly. This means that access is available even if you are working on a computer where Dropbox is not installed on (say Internet Cafe, public computer).
The files that you add or modify online are automatically synced with your devices.
Lets take a look at some usage scenarios:
- You are often on the road and need to access specific documents regularly. While you could carry around an USB device for that or even a laptop, you later need to make sure that the document is synced with your desktop computer and other devices where it is needed.
- You need to backup important data, e.g. spreadsheets, financial documents or your passwords managers encrypted database. Storing data online makes sure it is still available even if your computer is stolen or your house burns down.
- You need to share documents or files with select users. While you could use file hosting sites for this or email, you probably want to use a more secure option without storage restraints. You can also share entire folders with other users, which is excellent for project work.
Top 5 Tips
- You can use keyboard shortcuts to perform actions more quickly while browsing the files on the Dropbox website. You may need to enable keyboard shortcuts first in the online client. Click on Account > Account Settings and enable “Enable file browser keyboard shortcuts” to do so.
- You can limit the upload and download speed of file synchronizations in the client software.
- Check out My Computers under Account to see a list of computers that have recently connected to your Dropbox. You can unlink computers right here as well in case you want to remove a devices authorization.
- Version Control is a great feature. Free users get 30 days of version history. This can be used to preview and restore file snapshots.
- Use third party software like Dropbox Folder Sync or Boxcryptor to customize your experience even more.
Take a look at the following video for a short introduction if you have never heard about Dropbox before and want a quick overview of the service.
Dropbox Video
Verdict
Dropbox is a versatile file synchronization and online storage provider. Clients are available for all major operating systems, and website access ensures that files are always in reach.
Two Gigabytes of free space may not seem like a lot, but it depends in the end on the individual user.
Giveaway
If you need more space and cannot find users to refer to, you can take part in the giveaway to get 2 Gigabytes of extra Dropbox space. We have ten promo codes that you can use to get that extra space assigned to your Dropbox account.
To take part, leave a comment and let me know if you use a cloud storage provider currently. Good luck everyone. If you have not signed up yet, you can do it here with my referral code which gets you 250 Megabyte extra storage.
Related Articles:
Dropbox Review and InvitesThings To Look Out For When Choosing Online File Storage
Upload Multiple Files to Online File Storage Sites
VideoDropper, Save YouTube Videos To Your Dropbox Storage
Increase Your Dropbox Space By 4.5 Gigabyte
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Hey! Nice giveaway! It smells christmas ;-) I would definitively run for it.
i’m using dropbox/Livemesh… because the setup is really minimal. I’m also looking to other solutions to see if I could get a system on my own server (to be really unlimited in term of storage/bandwith etc).
There is a few open-source solutions wich are Dropbox-like, but as of today none of them is really ready for lar deplyment and there is also some cross platform issues. I also try webdav, but having a correct setup is really a pain… So I’m sticking with dropbox for now ;-).
I use Dropbox for personal and work purposes on 1 laptop, 2 desktops and an Iphone.
Thx for the Giveaway.
Ciao
MP
Thanks for this Giveaway. I would like to have more space for my personal files. An extra 2GB would be cool! THX!
I use dropbox for saving my school files. It’s a real lifesaver when I need to access something from the school computers to print.
I also use it to sync my codebases since I’m a programmer. It’s really great to be able to collaborate on the fly on projects, plus the versioning system is really useful.
Currently using Dropbox. Skydrive looks promising, but with a file size limit… it’s unfortunately a deal breaker.
I use dropbox to synchronise my android phone and my home/work computers.
On my phone I use the Dropsync app drom the market, it is much better than the official app, as it allows for two way sync.
This promo code would sure come in handy.
I had no idea that you could use keyboard shortcuts with the Dropbox web account! I’ve been using Dropbox since late 2009 and find it invaluable for keeping documents in sync and accessible. Keep up the good work with the full RSS feed – it makes keeping up with ghacks nice and easy for me. I guess you’ve already given away the codes for 2GB extra but if you haven’t… count me in!
David, the winners are announced tomorrow. Everyone has the same chance if they leave a comment until then.
Yes, I’d like 2xtra bits of storage with Drop Box
i use Drop Box since 2 Years
I use just dropbox since it has been launched.
I’m a fan of Dropbox too – i used to use Sugarsync, which allows you to sync up any folder you want, but it turned out to be slower than DB, thanks to the ‘LAN sync’ option built into dropbox which uses your LAN to sync between machines if possible. I don’t think the article mentions LAN sync at all – but it’s a lot quicker than downloading from the internet!
Currently using Dropbox, Box.net and Pogoplug. Might sign up for Minus as well in the near future. Would love that 2 GB extra on Dropbox though. Nothing’s easier than Dropbox. It just works.
this was a great article to read. It shows why dropbox is better then other similar services.
this is exactly why i use it everyday and why i develop apps to use with it.
I have been using Dropbox for the last 2 years. Ever since they have launched the service I have always used encrypted z7 archives, just to be on the safe side :) I also use iCloud but to be honest I like the simplicity and the control of Dropbox Folders/Files. I currently have 3GB storage and extra 2GB will be definitely welcome. Thank you Martin/Ghacks for all of the giveaways.
Regards,
Ivan K.
Currently sugarsync but it is not working anymore (issues with setup) so an extra 2 gig for dropbox would be great!
Fantastic tool
I especially appreciate the ease of background uploading of files from my PC-based DropBox directories.
Truly a great product!
I’d love some extra space though!
I’m using dropbox currently on my phone, laptop and desktop. I would love to have extra 2gb
I mainly use Dropbox, but also iCloud for my apple stuff and sometimes box.net (on which i have lot of free space).
I love dropbox. its free and easy to use and with a bit work will grand nearly 20gb Free storage. Tried some other services like Live Mesh but dropbox is simply the best atm
would love to have the extra 2gb space in my almost filled account :)
Nice review, and thanks for the cool little tips!
Currently using Dropbox and Sugarsync, the space limitations for the free version of DropBox kind of makes me lean towards Sugarsync – however in college nearly everyone uses dropbox so I am reluctant to leave it.
Extra free storage would be great.
Yes, I love Dropbox! Also tried SugarSync since they’re more generous with their free space, but the client just isn’t as snappy and upload/sync times are a lot slower.
I use this service and aprove it… i hope i can win this extra space!!!
I would love to have more storage, count me in.
I use Dropbox, I travel a lot with work. Makes my life a whole lot easier!
I be grateful for an extra 2 Gigs worth as well!!
Yes, I use dropbox now and extra gigs could be nice option! :)
Could use more space so count me in.
I would love some extra Dropbox space as well :)
I’ve been using the service for a while. When I started using my smartphone and tablet more extensively, the benefits of Dropbox really became apparent – who needs USB dongles when you have Dropbox? :D
I currently use Dropbox with work colleagues (sharing assets) and friends (music and photos), it’s a great piece of software. I’ve used it in Windows and Linux, even in some unsupported distributions and it still worked flawlessly!
If I’ve won, please pass the gift on to the next winner. Thanks
Dropbox is great for setting up an online backup on your parents’ PC! And I can definitely use another 2 GB :-)
Thx for the Giveaway.
For me Dropbox is THE most essential tools of all the software tools I use. But it’s getting crowded. So yes, I could also use the promo code. :-)