Need online storage? Try Box.net

Published on 3/2/2006 in Productivity and Web 2.0. View Comments Tags: .

Box.netI’ve been trying to find an online storage solution for keep my files accessible anytime anywhere. One of the best articles I’ve discovered is The Online Storage Gang, written by Michael Arrington of Techcrunch. In it, you’ll find the ultra-useful online storage comparison chart. The article lists various competing services promising to give you all the space you need, secured, accessible, and sometimes even shareable amongst friends.

A month or two back, Aaron Levie gave a few of us tech bloggers early access to his company’s new version of box.net (2.0), an online storage service which works straight from any web-browser. Under a media agreement, none of us could really provide links for you to try it until now. What makes this online storage service different from others is that straight off the bat, they give you 1gb of online storage (no catch). There are also a slew of features they’ve added to really pull Box.net ahead of the online storage crowd.

Here are the best features of Box.net:
1.Pretty functional web interface (includes tagging files)
2.Multiple Upload/Download methods (desktop syncing, zipped download, etc)
3.Sharing files among friends (bit of social networking there)
4.Built-in audio and image playback (share mp3s, photo slideshows)

If you read my iMeem review last time, you know that I’m a fan of persistent file sharing, where your files still sharable even though you might be offline. I’ll leave the Box.net feature run-down to buddy Paul Stamatiou, who did a great write-up.

Meantime, do me a favor and sign up for a free 1gb Box.net account via this link. I’ll get a referral for more space and we can easily share files online together.

UPDATE: Aaron’s Box.net Blog notes that a web-based document editor is coming along, as well as a Mac-based Desktop Syncronization program. Whoopie!





  • Michele
    I used Box.net that offers just a 1GB free with 1Gb file size limit. I tried also Memopal (www.memopal.com), that gives you 5Gb free and no size limit.
  • I like that you can add the interface to the Google Personal Desktop. When I login to my email account I am set to go from one interface
  • Sancho: iBackup isn't free. Box.net gives us up to 5gb free every year. That alone rocks.
  • sancho
    Hi, you can do all the things you mentioned above with another service called IBackup, a leading online backup service. Just go to IBackup and take a look at their features and advantages.

    IBackup is more than a simple online storage and backup service. Using IBackup you can backup and restore interactively or schedule regular online backups for desktops, laptops and servers. Your backups and restores will be totally safe as they use the highest level of data encryption.

    IBackup supports one-way syncing of files or folders from your computer to your IBackup account. You can listen to your favorite music using
    IDrive Multimedia . The Webmanager lets you create folders, upload, files and share files or folders with others for collaborative access.

    You can even map your IBackup account as a local drive on your computer with IDrive and work on the files and folders with ease. All this comes with paid subscription, but it is worth a try. You can try their free trial also.
  • There are two ways I've seen for getting that 5gb upgrade:
    1. Refer 5 friends to join box.net
    2. I think I saw that sharing files with 5 members also works
  • Did you get the upgrade? Maybe I can't because I'm just a free user? I'll try uploading something above 5mb soon and see how it goes.
  • I've been looking for something like this for a while, it seems pretty cool. Of course, I have just been using the built in sftp/ssh that comes with OS X, but at least now i don't have to write the IP on my hand all the time, and it is immeasurably more convenient since it only requires a web browser.

    I would also be a bit wary about what sort of things you store on services like these and be sure to check the Terms of Service religiously. You wouldn't want to put all your original music/fiction/source code or other creative work on this site, only to find out they pulled a MySpace and changed it so that they get ownership/distribution rights to your hard work.

    Still, it's quite nice for keeping all my reference documentation in one place. As soon as I can get my Ruby on Rails pdf up there i will be a happy camper.
  • Ivan: Being in a university setting, I always remind faculty and staff that such services are useful but are beyond our control. Use it, but make sure to keep backups just in case. In any case this online storage service is one of the better ones I've encountered... the staff are pretty responsive too. Just read their blog and you'll see what they're thinking.
  • I'm always a bit wary of using such free services (unless they are big companies like Yahoo or Google), not that I think they are scams, but because I find that when I become reliant on them, they might start charging or drop the service. And then my files are gone. But that's the real world I guess.
  • I just signed up for the premium... 5 bucks a month is definitely worth it.

    thanks dude.
  • Rubez: I've uploaded 20MB+ mp3 files without a problem. Besides pictures, Box.net also has an audio player to playback mp3s so you could use it to share different kinds of media with friends. Just checkout my public folder and play with anything you find there.
  • It seems pretty nifty so far, but it doesn't let me upload files larger than 5mb. Boo. Been happily uploading pictures though, just to test it out. If only I could upload more than 5mb though...

    One gripe I have is that it seems difficult to move things into folders, or maybe I'm just too fussy. I want to be able to drag and drop everything at one go, not select each file individually.

    Actually, I have no idea how useful this would be to me. Maybe if I had word documents or something, then it'd be more useful. Currently it's just picture storage.
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