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Dropbox - Your Free Data Backup and Sharing Solution

Guest post by: Josh Bellendir

Article Overview: A review of the free online storage solution dropbox. So what is Dropbox?

Dropbox - Your Free Data Backup and Sharing Solution

So what is dropbox?

Dropbox is an online software that allows you to setup a share folder on your computer that is securely stored on the Dropbox servers in the cloud. This folder appears by default in your my documents folder. Drop whatever you want in this folder (free accounts are up to 2GB in storage) and it immediately gets synced to the Dropbox servers. It takes about 5 minutes to create an account and install the software on your PC. So right away you have a backup copy on a secure online server. So in the event that you lose your laptop or computer HD gets fried, you still have your files safely backed up on Drop box's secure server. Access your Dropbox files anywhere!

Yep, that's right. Go ahead and access your files from any computer that you log into. You can access your files directly from their website. Or you can also install their software on the other computer you use and it will setup a Dropbox folder in your my documents folder and automatically update all the files. Once you save the file from one location, that file will sync with the server and when you log on to your other computer that file will automatically refresh to the latest version. Brilliant!

Share Dropbox folders with friends, family, and business colleagues.

Not only can you access your files from any location, but you can share your drop boxes with others and it only takes a few seconds to setup. All you need to do is right-click a folder inside your Dropbox folder and select Dropbox -> Share this folder. Then a webpage will open up and ask you to enter an email address of the person you wish to share the folder with. Enter as many people as you like and click submit. They will receive an email and accept the invite and then have access to that share folder. Awesome right?!?!? Now you can collaborate on documents, share pictures with family members and much more. It's probably the easiest way I have found to share photos with family members that are not so computer savvy.

Do you need more reasons to create an account?? Well how about the iPhone, Blackberry, and Android App?

Yep, Dropbox also offers iPhone, Blackberry and Android apps so that you can access these files on your mobile devices when you are on the run. Brilliant right! Can you ask for anything more from a FREE software solution? I think not!

In Conclusion...

So I have to say that I completely love this software and hope that I can bring more users and paid users to their service so that they can continue offering such a great service. I have since ditched my USB key which I used to carry on me at all times to have access to my personal data. And now I can be relieved that the situation I always feared, me losing my USB key and somehow gaining access to my personal, most precious documents, will never happen. If after reading this, you still want to keep your USB drive and continue using it, please at least make sure to encrypt and protect your documents on your USB key with using TrueCrypt another free solution, which I highly recommend for all your confidential and precious documents.

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Article Tags: cloud computing, dropbox, online, storage



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