In the good old days we only needed to worry about one computer system. However recently the cost of acquiring computer systems has really gone down to the extent that we now find ourselves joggling at least two computing devices. Recent improvements in smartphone hardware hasn’t made this any easy. We are faced with the chore of keeping our files in sync on all machines. No more can our faithful flash drive keep up with storage needs and file distribution requirements. It became apparent that this situation had to be resolved and this has lead to the introduction of cloud based storage.
The computing world now lives in the cloud. You don’t believe me? Just Google “Cloud Storage”. A popular cloud based storage solution is Dropbox developed by two MIT students Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi who got tired of emailing files to themselves. Today, more than 25 million people across every continent use Dropbox to always have their stuff at hand, share with family and friends, and work on team projects.
What is Dropbox?
Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. It supports the major computing platforms from Mac,Linux and Windows as well as ,Android, IPhone, IPad and BlackBerry smart phones. With Dropbox you can easily share several files across all your computing devices. Files can easily be updated on one device and you can be rest assured that all devices with Dropbox installed will be in sync.
Situations that may warrant the use of Dropbox is in a team collaboration environment where each member needs to share files. In situations like this everyone gets to receive an updated copy as soon as its available.
Dropbox provides both a web based access mechanism as well as a desktop client. For the desktop client, after installation you have to tell Dropbox which folder to share or keep in sync across all your devices. In a situation where you are not in contact with any of your devices, all you need really is access to a web browser in order to retrieve your files.
How much does it cost?
There are 4 pricing plans provided by the Dropbox service depending on your needs. The plan varies with the how much storage space you require. The available pricing plans are:
| Plan | Storage Space (GB) | Cost $/Month |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 2 | Free |
| Pro 50 | 50 | 9.99 |
| Pro 100 | 100 | 19.99 |
| Team | 350+ | N/A |
With the free account, you can earn up to 8GB by referring friends and family to the Dropbox service. For every person who joins Dropbox based on your referral you are awarded 250MB extra storage space. I currently stand at the 4.5GB mark and still hoping to gain some more.
Getting started with Dropbox?
To start using Dropbox, simply visit www.dropbox.com to download your desktop client and begin sharing files.
