gHacks technology news » file storage http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:56:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Things To Look Out For When Choosing Online File Storage http://www.ghacks.net/2008/09/07/things-to-look-out-for-when-choosing-online-file-storage/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/09/07/things-to-look-out-for-when-choosing-online-file-storage/#comments Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:53:41 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=6836 It is interesting to see that online backup providers (or online file storage solutions, call it what you will) are becoming increasingly popular even though external hard drives in the 500 to 1000 Gigabyte range becoming cheap as pie at the same time. Backing up data online definitely has some positive effects to it like providing access to data if the computer gets stolen or if the user connects from a different PC. There are lots of additional benefits but a few drawbacks as well.

The drawbacks can be minimized by choosing the right online storage solution for your needs. A college student who wants to backup his mp3 collection needs more space than the mother who wants to store baby photos on an online drive or the professor who likes to store copies of his upcoming books safely on the Internet.

The professor on the other hand might have special needs that the other two do not have. A secure connection to the online backup provider for one to make sure that no one can snoop on his traffic and grab his manuscript before he publishes it.

The following is a list of services and features that should be checked before selecting an online backup provider.

File Storage space:

  • How much online file storage space is provided?
  • Are there restrictions, e.g. file size or file type limits, bandwidth limitations?
  • In which country are the data centers of the service. (Important for jurisdiction, privacy..)
  • Is it possible to share files and storage space with other users?
  • Is it possible to store Internet downloads right away on the servers?
  • Is it possible to backup data from multiple computers using one account?
  • Is the online file storage scalable if the need for additional space should arise?

Software client, web interface and connection:

  • Is a client provided for the user’s operating system(s)
  • Does the client support SSL connections?
  • Where are the data centers of the service
  • Is the software providing the functionality needed? (Backups, incremental backups, restoring files)
  • Are additional connection types supported (ftp, ssh)
  • Is it possible to map the storage space to a drive letter
  • Is the functionality of the drive limited?(some online file storage providers allow to map the storage space to a drive letter but provide only read access or limited access)
  • Is the web interface providing the functionality needed?
  • Is the web interface user friendly, does it provide a search?
  • Is the download and upload speed sufficient?
  • Are automatic / real time backups supported?

Online File Storage Company

  • For how long has the company been operating their online file storage solution?
  • Is it a reputable company that has a long history or a brand new startup?
  • What happens if data gets corrupted or lost?
  • From which country is the company operating?
  • Is the company offering technical support? Which channels are offered? What are the reaction times, business times for the technical support? Do they charge for technical support?

Price plays a big role as well. Several online file storage providers offer free accounts and upgrades to those accounts if the user requires additional space, priority technical support or functionality that is not offered in the free version.

Is there anything else that you are looking into before selecting an Online File Storage provider?

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/09/07/things-to-look-out-for-when-choosing-online-file-storage/feed/ 5 Upload Multiple Files to Online File Storage Sites http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/11/upload-multiple-files-to-online-file-storage-sites/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/11/upload-multiple-files-to-online-file-storage-sites/#comments Mon, 11 Aug 2008 07:22:13 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=6026 Uploading multiple files to file storage sites has already been covered in the past here at Ghacks but described a method to use a script on a website to spread the files to various file storage sites. The software program File Uploader brings that and a bit more to Windows. The PC Software provides an easy to use interface to queue files and upload them to various file storage sites like Rapidshare, Yousendit or Depositfiles.

Multiple File Storage sites can be selected from the list which contains currently 32 different websites. Several test uploads to those File Storage sites revealed that several of them are not working correctly currently. An error message is displayed when that is happening.

A Successful upload to a file storage sites on the other hand writes an upload log which contains the links to the files uploaded. The software provides four options that can be checked, for instance to protect links by automatically using lix.in for it or to retry failed downloads.

file uploader file storage

Proxy Servers are supported as well as Premium accounts. The greatest benefit of File Uploader is that it is easy to use. It only takes a matter of seconds to start uploading to various file storage sites. Bad is that several sites are not working properly currently and that the files have to be uploaded to each file storage site separately.

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