I've gotten a number of questions recently from people who are buying new computers. As you're getting set up, it's worth taking a few minutes to integrate online backup and synchronization into your system.
The most popular online storage software is called Dropbox. This easy-to-use software creates a folder on your computer, and any file or folder that you drop into it is copied onto any other computer with Dropbox installed.
It's truly seamless, and there's little indication that the program is even there. It just works quietly in the background, detecting new files and changes to old files, uploading them to "the cloud" (online storage), and downloading them to other machines you designate. It's easy to set up, doesn't use a lot of your system resources, and is cross-platform, allowing you to sync files on your Windows, Mac or Linux computers.
We've been using Dropbox for some time now, and the benefits keep piling up:
--Offsite backup: You should be backing up your files to an external hard drive to protect yourself against internal hard drive failure.
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But external drives can still be lost to fire, flood, theft or other disaster. Dropbox and other online storage solutions keep irreplaceable files such as wedding pictures or baby videos out of harm's way.
--File synchronization: If you're frequently using, accessing and changing your documents on multiple computers, Dropbox makes sure you have the most up-to-date files available on whichever machine is nearest. You also can store your iTunes library or Firefox profile in your Dropbox, and they will sync to all of your computers.
--Network share: If you want to copy a file from one of your computers to another one, just drop it into Dropbox. Unless it's a huge file, by the time you walk from your laptop to your desktop, it'll be there.
The program also allows you to share documents with people in a workgroup. Just create a Dropbox account for the team, install it on all of your computers, and you're set.
--Online access to files: Using any computer with Internet access, you can log onto Dropbox.com and view, edit and re-save all important files on your home computer.
--Version history: We've all been there -- you hit "save" rather than "save as" and lose the old version of your document. Or you delete something by mistake and can't get it back. Using Dropbox's Web portal, you can access and restore past versions of documents with just a right-click.
--File sharing: Dropbox makes it easy to share files that are too big to e-mail. Place the file in a designated folder, right-click on it, copy the link that Dropbox provides and send as e-mail.
Programs such as AirDropper let you send a link others can use to upload files directly into your Dropbox.
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--Mobile access: Dropbox offers applications for iPhone, iPad and Android, and a mobile-optimized version of its website for other mobile devices. In addition to viewing and downloading files on the go, the applications allow you to take photos and videos with your device and sync them to your Dropbox.
Dropbox is free for storing as much as 2 gigabytes, although you can get up to another 8 GB free for recruiting friends to use Dropbox. You can also choose to pay $9.99 per month/$99 per year for 50 GB of space, or $19.99 per month/$199 per year for 100 GB of space.
The main gripe about Dropbox is that users are required to save files they want to sync in a particular folder. However, there are workarounds, depending on how computer-savvy you are.
While Dropbox is the market leader, competitors including Sugarsync and Syncplicity may have other features that interest people with differing wants or needs. Windows also is getting into the market with Windows Live Mesh 2011.
But if you need any of these services and want software that just works, I'd recommend giving Dropbox a try.
