Battle of the Free Online Storages

[city_zen]

I was searching the forum for the latest info and reviews of free online storage services. I found a couple of recent topics on the subject (SpiderOak offers 10Gb free online data backup account with promo code, Six Free Online Storage Services). I wonder if anyone has further information about these services. How's the user experience, limits you may find when using it, support, etc.

While googling this subject, I also found a very interesting post at This Could Be Living: Battle of the Free Online Storages, which includes a comparative chart and mini reviews of 13 such services.

P.S.: I'm not sure if "General software Discussion" is the right place for this topic, feel free to move it if it should go somewhere else

[Lutz_]

This service looks interesting; up to 25 GB free storage; I believe it has not been mentioned on DC so far:

http://humyo.com/

It won the comparison test of the german CHIP magazine:
http://www.chip.de/artikel/Vergleichstest-Online-Festplatten_32846847.html
Disadvantages are: no Linux client, data transfer encryption is only available in the paid version.

[tomos]

This service looks interesting; up to 25 GB free storage; I believe it has not been mentioned on DC so far:

http://humyo.com/

It won the comparison test of the german CHIP magazine:
http://www.chip.de/artikel/Vergleichstest-Online-Festplatten_32846847.html
Disadvantages are: no Linux client, data transfer encryption is only available in the paid version.

says for free version

Features 
    * 25GB storage for media files
    * 5GB storage for non media files
    * Access via web browser or mobile phone

not sure how they define or differentiate between media/non-media files?

Basic paid version is 50euros (with special offer at the mo for under 40 euro) for 100GB -
this much cheaper than e.g. dropbox which I think is $99 for 100GB (cant find out on their website) and I've seen roughly that price ($99) on other online backup sites too.

They have quotes from good reviews in English papers (Guardian, Independent) and pc mags

[kartal]

Adrive.com clearly is the winner for free storage(at least for now) But I am sure all these free services will end up like old geocities.

[Crush]

The winner in the Test was humyo.com.
ADrive was only third.

[tomos]

The winner in the Test was humyo.com.
ADrive was only third.

Features 
    * 25GB storage for media files
    * 5GB storage for non media files
    * Access via web browser or mobile phone

not sure how they define or differentiate between media/non-media files?

actually they now say on this page
http://humyo.com/pages/en/online-storage-plans-and-pricing

10 Gigabytes 5GB for Photos/Music/Videos & 5GB for other files

[laughinglizard]

I've been looking into this for a week or two and trying out a few of them..........I've been using Jungle Disk with Amazon S3 for some time, and it works fine for me, but for some reason I'm driven to play around with the others. 
(that along with an external hard drive have me feeling reasonable safe)
There are other interfaces available for S3, but I'm not aware of any others that do automatic backup.
FWIW, Jungle Disk was purchased by Rackspace, and though its not clear as yet what they plan to do, it looks like they are thinking of offering storage in both places.

I've also been using Windows Sky Drive:
Windows Sky Drive
It has 5 GB free storage.
I have a few things stored on there and the interface is easy, but if you want drag and drop you need to use IE.

Windows Live Mesh looks interesting:
Windows Live Mesh

After poking around, the biggest difference I noticed was that some offer file synchronization across one or more computers, some offer storage only and files are backed up manually, and some offer storage and back up, or storage, backup, and synchronization.

Most of them are accessible from anywhere, though some of the free ones limit you to one computer. Some of them will only allow certain types of files to be uploaded.

Dropbox has 2GB and is very easy to use:
Dropbox
I have a handful of invitations if anyone wants one.
Dropbox stores their files at Amazon S3.

Syncplicity just came out of beta - I've been using it off and on. It hogs a lot of bandwidth.
Sugarsync has plans starting at $2.49/mo. US and will put your photos into gorgeous photo albums (so they say).

Most of the services allow files to be shared or kept private.

I'm leery of Wuala as they seem to store bits and pieces data on the computers of the people who join.
Maybe its secure but the very idea of my data being scattered about on other people's computers gives me the chills.

Lifehacker has a good and recent comparison chart of online storage, and there are several more mentioned in the comments.

[yksyks]

Still no one brave enough to try the free OpenDrive? It's not listed anywhere. Is it that bad?

[sazzen]

Interesting that I came across this just now. I just came from the Free Download A Day website and was thinking about downloading A Drive.  Ever since my computer crashed and wreaked such havoc in my life, I live in fear of it happening again. I keep backups on an external WD drive and some of the most important files I also keep on a flash drive but I'm still not comfortable. I mean, what would I do if my house burned down or someone stole my precious Gremlin (yes, my 'puter has a name)??? And A Drive offers, not 2, not 5, not even 25 but 50 GB of free storage.

[tomos]

Interesting that I came across this just now. I just came from the Free Download A Day website and was thinking about downloading A Drive.  Ever since my computer crashed and wreaked such havoc in my life, I live in fear of it happening again. I keep backups on an external WD drive and some of the most important files I also keep on a flash drive but I'm still not comfortable. I mean, what would I do if my house burned down or someone stole my precious Gremlin (yes, my 'puter has a name)??? And A Drive offers, not 2, not 5, not even 25 but 50 GB of free storage.

ADrive has a very slow upload acording to the test Crush links to above
160 mins (almost 3 hrs) for 300mb
75 mins to download same
and
a generally slow and/or problematic connection - still got third place though!
Just so's you know

50GB is tempting though

[Clive]

I'm using Live Mesh (see above) and X Drive, but see that X Drive is to be withdrawn.

Important Service Announcement to all Xdrive Users:

On January 12, 2009, AOL will permanently close
the Xdrive Online Storage Service.

We sincerely appreciate your being an Xdrive customer and want to make sure you are aware of the options you have for retrieving your files.

To make this transition as easy as possible, you can use the following download options to retieve your files:


Create a zip file of your entire Xdrive account for easy download;and/or
Download selected files through the standard Xdrive Web or Xdrive Desktop Client

You may choose any combination of these options, based on your needs, by returning to this site at any time prior to January 12, 2009.

Please be sure that you have retrieved your files by January 12, 2009. After this date, the Xdrive site will no longer be accessible and any remaining files will be permanently deleted.

For more information about the closing of Xdrive or on how to retrieve your files, please visit our frequently asked questions area at www.xdrive.com/closingfaqs/

They offer these alternatives which may be worth checking:

Other Online Storage Options

Once you have retrieved your files from Xdrive, you can try any of these services for your future online storage needs.

Box - www.box.net

Carbonite - www.carbonite.com

Elephant Drive - www.elephantdrive.com

[sazzen]

ADrive has a very slow upload acording to the test Crush links to above
160 mins (almost 3 hrs) for 300mb
75 mins to download same
and
a generally slow and/or problematic connection - still got third place though!
Just so's you know

Well-ll-ll-ll -  didn't you just burst my happy bubble! 
Makes me wonder what got fourth place.  Thanks for the warning. I'm now calculating essential MBs.

[iphigenie]

There are so many it's just crazy!

Currently trying spideroak as the feature set in the marketing speak is appealing - they alas dont offer a competitive enough deal on larger plan - I dont mind paying 10/month but 100Gb is just too little to back up all my photos and music files as well as my documents. So I need two.

As a result I am looking towards adrive or elephant for the storage of the photos/music files, someone offering less features but more space is what i need there. FTP access would be great too since I could run it from SFFS.

In a way these are different needs
- things I am using a lot and want to be able to easily retrieve, sync, version etc. - things that would take a huge time to recreate, things that need keeping for paperwork purposes, software licenses etc. I do not share these, but I might appreciate access from anywhere. Note: at the moment a small amount of those files are on fastmail but it is too fastidious (web browser upload) for anything but the most important stuff.
Online editing like adrive offers might just be useful for that need too...

- things that are purely a "in case my house burns down or is burglared" things - things that are already backed up on an external drive at home but whose loss would be irretrievable

I guess it is not absurd that 2 different services would serve those differently

[city_zen]

I'm now calculating essential MBs.

sazzen, if you end up trying out ADrive, I'll be very interested in your experience, since it's my # 1 choice too

Also, since my first post, I've found the very interesting Backup Review website, filled with information and reviews about these services

[tomos]

Currently trying spideroak as the feature set in the marketing speak is appealing - they alas dont offer a competitive enough deal on larger plan - I dont mind paying 10/month but 100Gb is just too little to back up all my photos and music files as well as my documents. So I need two.

have you checked out Carbonite (I havent used it) the offer unlimited storage for 50$ a year
there was a thread about it here somewhere - ah I see you've posted there

I'm using Jungle Disk/Amazon S3 for important backups
and
DropBox (because of it's versioning and partial file update capability) for my SQLNotes database (otherwise I'd be backing up over 10MB every 15 mins or whatever ..)

but I havent gotten as far as backing up photos which I'd like to do at some stage - about 60GB at the moment
so will be curious to hear if you find something suitable to requirment #2
-

- things that are purely a "in case my house burns down or is burglared" things - things that are already backed up on an external drive at home but whose loss would be irretrievable

[Clive]

I have these invite codes for www.hordit.com
Obviously it's a case of first in best dressed!
OVW440
HEF417
JPU146
EDY352
RYO537
RED287
MBU704
DEL975

[mahesh2k]

-Windows Skydrive
- Adrive
- Mihd
- Esnips

looks good to me,besides they're on internet for quite some time now.

[CGA]

Tried Hordit, no way to store a folder or even multiple files at once. 

[Darwin]

Just to note - hordit is going full pay-per-service in 90 days. They're looking at making the current free account $45 a year or $5 a month (25% discount if you pay a year in advance). I received a nice (and apologetic) e-mail to this effect this afternoon, explaining the reasoning behind the decision (economic downturn).

Just thought I'd update the thread. I expect we'll see more of this from other companies and service providers in the (not too distant) future.

[Clive]

New(ish) player in the field is GoAruna offering unlimited space and a slightly easier desktop upload process than ADrive.
Also note that Backupify is offering free accounts until end of January 2010.

[Steven Avery]

Hi Folks,

For small free usage (I think it is 50 mg a day) DriveHQ is truly excellent.  They give you a very good file manager client.

I use them for files from home to work, alternate to a USB drive or FTP. And backup of the critical PIM style data files, like Keynote or Linkman or this or that. Originally I started with them when I was at a library and needed an upload site to hold some JSTOR files, and got set up in 5 minutes.

Maybe .. occasionally they slow you up or make you maybe do an extra "start" click because  you are on free service.

They are the only one I have used that have given you a solid File Manager client on your PC that has copy, move, delete from your PC to their storage and vica versa that works fine (in addition to the "navigate the site" possibility).

If there are others similar, please let me know.
Thanks.

Shalom,
Steven

[tomos]

looks interesting, appears to be also free for commercial use
how much of the software have you installed Stephen ?

http://www.drivehq.com/freeBandwidth.aspx

Get Free Bandwidth by Using DriveHQ State-of-the-art Features

DriveHQ offers a lot of best features and software tools. These features and tools each has a retail value higher than $39.99. Now we are offering the basic service, software tools, 1GB storage and unlimited uploads for free! It also comes with 200MB download bytes per month, which is good if you are sharing photos or backup files only. Just by using our features / software once, you can get up to 1GB free download bytes/month!

   * For Microsoft Windows Users

     Use each of the following features and you will get 200MB free download bytes, for a max of 1GB:

     DriveHQ FileManager
     DriveHQ Online Backup
     DriveHQ Desktop Express (Bundled with FileManager)
     DriveHQ Batch PhotoEditor
     DriveHQ FTP (ftp.drivehq.com)
     Free upgrade to group account (logon, click on My Account, then click on Group Account)
     Share a folder
     Publish a folder
     DriveHQ SMTP/POP3 email
     Refer a user using your referral link

and their comparision to some others
http://www.drivehq.com/Backup/FeatureCompare.aspx

[Steven Avery]

Hi Folks,

I think when I have the file manager, pretty much everything is there.  The batch photo thing doesn't interest me, but that is likely online.

Mostly the premium service is size of use, and amount of use, not quality of features.

Compare DriveHQ free and premium services.      
http://www.drivehq.com/premium/

Feature / price comparisons with major providers: many times better and cheaper!
http://www.drivehq.com/help/features/defaultStorage.aspx?from=storage&service=storage'

The key is:

Map network folder / drive  
FileManager is better, never slows down your PC, never locks Explorer

And far easier to use, like Total Commander vs. Explorer.

Shalom,
Steven

[tomos]

Here's an interesting one:
CrashPlan

I came across it here (a not very in depth review, in the Imaging Resource newsletter)

~ Basic backup software is free
~ Plus ('+') software is $60

Why should I buy CrashPlan+?

Purchase CrashPlan+ if:

   * You are a business. The free version of CrashPlan is for personal use only.
   * You need customer support. CrashPlan+ users receive email and phone support.
   * You want to restore files from the web. CrashPlan+ users can restore their files over the web when combined with CrashPlan Central (purchased separately).
   * You want continuous, real-time backup. The free version of CrashPlan backs up daily.
   * You like being super secure. The free version of CrashPlan is plenty secure but for enhanced security, CrashPlan+ uses 448bit encryption.
   * You want to be ad free! There are no ads in CrashPlan+

you can figure out from that the disadvantages of the basic software... Compare here.  

In review linked above, they say it needs 500MB memory for continuous protection (!)
It's one of those watch your files in the background apps
It does partial file updates

The online backup costs $54/year/individual, unlimited backup (that sounds good!)
Again in the review they say they'll send you a 1TB drive to do your first backup if you have over 100GB to backup  [edit]-I didnt see that advertised on their site, presumably only in the US-[/edit]

[MrCrispy]

The thing I'm not sure about is how long will these new providers be around? I use Live Mesh, Skydrive and Dropbox and I know that they are big enough names that my data will be around.