Can anyone recommend a free online storage website?

[drakethib]

Need something simple to use and has a decent amount of storage for files.

Thanks

 

[wilde_oscar]

mesh.com
it is a microsoft utility that allows 5 gig of storage and has sycronatization capabilities between different machines
or sky drive. skydrive.live.com which is 25 gig of storage, but no sync

 

[drakethib]

mesh.com
it is a microsoft utility that allows 5 gig of storage and has sycronatization capabilities between different machines
or sky drive. skydrive.live.com which is 25 gig of storage, but no sync

Thanks Rex.

 

[dpuck1998]

I use carbonite.com and it has no size limits. I've recovered from it several times and right now I'm storing over 80 gig online right now!

 

[Disneybridein2k3]

I use carbonite.com and it has no size limits. I've recovered from it several times and right now I'm storing over 80 gig online right now!

He's looking for a free site though and carbonite charges 49.95/yr. It is an awesome product and worth the $$$ if you use it.

 

[dpuck1998]

He's looking for a free site though and carbonite charges 49.95/yr. It is an awesome product and worth the $$$ if you use it.

Oppp, sorry missed the word free

Use Google then! You can store lots of files there, just use email, they give you a ton of space.

 

[safetymom]

Personally I am not a fan of online storage. I like having my own external hard drives where I know the information is. With storing online any number of things could happen.

 

[dpuck1998]

Personally I am not a fan of online storage. I like having my own external hard drives where I know the information is. With storing online any number of things could happen.

I agree, but that is why I do both! If you sit a hard drive next your computer and backup with it what happens if, god forbid, you have a house fire, or a robbery? I back everything up to a hard drive AND online. Also, I back up to DVDs on occasion and take them to work for safe keeping. Sounds a little like overkill, but I have so many priceless photos that I can't risk losing.

 

[safetymom]

I back up to 2 DVD's and give one to family. I also have two hard drives that I back up to.

I just don't recommend only backing up to online storage. What happens if the place folds? How do you know that your information isn't being shared?

I too have lots and lots of photos that I don't want to lose. I know way too many people that only back up their photos to their computer and nothing else. Although I have met a lot of people that just save their memory cards as their backup.

I used to teach classes about backing up your images and you can't believe the excuses I have heard why they don't do it.

 

[AlexDurrani]

I don't like online storage either because one big set back is that you are very hindered with the speed of uploading the files. I agree an external storage device like Thumb drives and regular drives are the best way to make sure that the files are secure and they are also portable. The problem with carbonite is that you pay per computer access and you can not restore single files like with the external storage device. the prices on the thumb drives are really small now days and getting smaller by the day.

 

[dpuck1998]

I don't like online storage either because one big set back is that you are very hindered with the speed of uploading the files. I agree an external storage device like Thumb drives and regular drives are the best way to make sure that the files are secure and they are also portable. The problem with carbonite is that you pay per computer access and you can not restore single files like with the external storage device. the prices on the thumb drives are really small now days and getting smaller by the day.

You can indeed restore single files on carbonite without a problem. Its just like having a hard drive attached and the client is very easy to work with.

 

[wilde_oscar]

I'll agree carbonite is amazing, but there is a cost for it... the new utilities from microsoft that I mentioned are free and work well with windows. I prefer the mesh option for important documents and current projects since it will sync between multiple computers and maintain a back up in the "cloud".

Google is working on a project called g drive... or something to that effect, that will provide huge amounts of online storage, enough to back up your computer... that is rumored that it will be free.

Online back up is great but it depends on a fast connection, and the US is lagging behind in high speed connectivity... local backup means if there is a disaster you probably lost the computer and the back up. And no back up solution means anything if it doesn't work, so check to make sure whatever solution you use is working.

 

[lisah0711]

Sometimes you have free storage from your internet provider or your email accounts, i.e. yahoo.com has a little storage space and so does hotmail.

Between home and office we have seven computers. We use two portable hard drives and an offsite storage through Verizon (billed with our internet for a nominal monthly fee). It is so worth it for the peace of mind to have multiple backups!

 

[dpuck1998]

I'll agree carbonite is amazing, but there is a cost for it... the new utilities from microsoft that I mentioned are free and work well with windows. I prefer the mesh option for important documents and current projects since it will sync between multiple computers and maintain a back up in the "cloud".

Google is working on a project called g drive... or something to that effect, that will provide huge amounts of online storage, enough to back up your computer... that is rumored that it will be free.

Online back up is great but it depends on a fast connection, and the US is lagging behind in high speed connectivity... local backup means if there is a disaster you probably lost the computer and the back up. And no back up solution means anything if it doesn't work, so check to make sure whatever solution you use is working.

All great reasons to use several options! Also, like a quickly mentioned before, if you just have a few files, or not a huge amount, you can zip them up and email them to yourself in google. I think they are in the 10Gig range of space available for free.

 

[FireDancer]

Skydrive is great and you can't beat the price. Amazon's S3 product is also very good but isn't free. A storage solution from Google is on the way and will probably be free, but that hasn't been determined yet.

As far as online versus onsite backups I recommend doing both. I have external drives that store most of my data for backups but stuff like pictures which are important should also be stored offsite. This can be an external drive you take offsite or in the cloud. The advantage of cloud storage is mobility. If you are on vacation and want to store a backup of your pictures doing so on the cloud is convenient and easy. Plus, if you backup to an external hard drive and both are stolen from your hotel, you are SOL.

Remember to encrypt and then store anything you don't want anyone else to see. Cloud storage, while safe, is not completely hack proof so I would recommend encrypting anything that you wouldn't want seen by a stranger.

 

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

External Hard Drives are becoming so much more reasonably priced now, I would hesitate to even think of online storage. We picked up a 720GB HD for less than $300 last fall. And, let's face it, when you can buy and 8GB thumb drive for about $20, why bother with online storage?

 

[dpuck1998]

External Hard Drives are becoming so much more reasonably priced now, I would hesitate to even think of online storage. We picked up a 720GB HD for less than $300 last fall. And, let's face it, when you can buy and 8GB thumb drive for about $20, why bother with online storage?

Because those devices can and will fail and require you to move them off-site to eliminate the chance of losing them if you have a real disaster. Flash Drives still aren't big enough to store the entire contents of a hard drive. I would never trust my life long memories to one single point of failure or one backup type. JMHO

 

[PrincessBelle39]

I had always been nervous about online storage but am about to back up everything, especially my photos. With the awful bushfires here, I now think its the only way to totally protect everything on my computer.

 

[dpuck1998]

Just saw an ad for mozy.com The claim to offer 2 gig of free storage. I haven't checked it out yet, but sounds like something to investigate.

 

[Timon-n-Pumbaa Fan]

Because those devices can and will fail and require you to move them off-site to eliminate the chance of losing them if you have a real disaster. Flash Drives still aren't big enough to store the entire contents of a hard drive. I would never trust my life long memories to one single point of failure or one backup type. JMHO

In our case, we have a once every 3 to 6 month dump of our photos onto an external HD that gets reput into a safe deposit box. We have 2 in house external HD's. We also have numerous thumb drives.

Trust me, we have back ups to our back ups. My partner works in the IT field. Her job depends on her having her stuff together. If we ever had to evacuate for a natural disaster, we would grab our 3 laptops, our master back-up HD, the animals, some clothes, our wallets and hit the road for safer ground. We just haven't seen the need for offsite internet storage.