24 Free Awsome Cloud Storage Services
by CloudGeek on November 6, 2012
If you own a small business and you’re not already familiar with the advantages of cloud storage, then it’s time you were. Cloud storage providers offer a service which can really up efficiency and save money for small businesses. There are two great advantages which cloud storage brings: first, it can grow with your storage needs at just the rate you need without you investing in additional storage equipment for your own premises, and the second advantage is the security of having cloud-based backup, which means you never again have to worry about losing your office-based backups.
There’s a third advantage which can be significant for the business owner: your business data is available to you anywhere you have an internet connection without you having to invest in expensive server equipment or learning to configure and maintain specialised hardware. The simplification involved in moving your computing to the cloud can often result in staff savings, because you won’t need a dedicated technician in the office just making sure that data is available at all times.
As the cloud storage industry evolves, providers are falling over themselves to maintain their competitive advantage in this rapidly growing market and this is a situation which the canny consumer can always take advantage of. The rapid proliferation of providers means that many of these firms are offering their services at or even below their cost price, just to retain their clients and win new one. Because of this there are now many providers offering free cloud storage and you can save a lot of money by taking advantage of these offers.
There are a lot of these providers offering great free storage deals at the moment and you’ll discover more and more once you start looking for them. But, just to get you started, here are 24 of the best around at the moment:
https://one.ubuntu.com/
Ubuntu One offers a wide range of services including Windows and mobile apps, music streaming and flexible file delivery. Part of the service is free data syncing and 5 GB free storage.
www.idrive.com/
At the moment, 5 GB is about the average storage offered free by many providers and this is the free limit at IDrive. This is a service aimed mainly at providing backup services which can grow with your needs and the free 5 GB storage is a great introduction. The company has storage apps for all kinds of specialist needs.
mozy.com/
Just 2 GB of free storage here at Mozy, but the company offers premium security and a flexible approach to backup. This is another company which focuses on backup. Mozy also has a great service for syncing to multiple computers so that your data is always available wherever you want it.
www.opendrive.com/
OpenDrive also specializes in syncing data across multiple computers and provides an excellent and straightforward data backup system. There’s also a basic plan with 5 GB free storage for personal users only, but this company also has flexible low-cost business accounts.
www.dropbox.com/
Dropbox may only offer 2 GB of free storage, but this is an award-winning service aimed at personal users. Dropbox is offering a service to bring all you data together in one place. Dropbox automatically syncs across all your computers and mobile devices, along with your cloud storage.
box.com/
Box is one of the most popular cloud storage providers and is used by a large number of business and personal users. Box offers 5 GB of free storage and provides access on demand from wherever you need it. Box also has a great forwarding facility so that you can send a link to files stored in your account to friends or associates anywhere.
www.memopal.com/en/
Memopal offers 3 GB of free storage with access from any kind of internet-connected device. This company offers a great automatic backup scheme that will ensure you never forget to back up. One of the best features here is a bonus scheme which rewards you with extra free space when you invite friends to sign up. You can also use Memopal to send files larger than 1 GB which you can’t send by email.
https://skydrive.live.com
Skydrive is one of the heavyweights of cloud storage, offering 25 GB of storage free. It’s not surprising when you realize this is Microsoft’s own cloud storage service. It works via Microsoft’s SkyDrive app which is available for Windows Phone and iPhone or, if you prefer, you can connect from your phone’s web browser. This is not the most feature-rich cloud storage service, but it does have the advantage of being integrated with all your other Microsoft services on a single sign-in and that massive 25 GB of free storage is a huge attraction. The SkyDrive interface is simple and easy to use.
www.teamdrive.com/
TeamDrive offers 2 GB of free storage and one of the best sync tools around. It’s so good that it’s been voted the best online sync tool by Europe’s largest computer magazine, Computerbild. TeamDrive is excellent for online collaboration thanks to a special Open Office plugin which allows you to work easily with anyone using Open Office. The plug-in also supports Office Libre and Microsoft Office, so this is a way to make your online teamwork painless. Excellent and effortless connection across multiple servers and privacy technology which carries the official German Seal of Privacy for IT products.
cx.com
CX.com offers a great syncing service and 10 GB of free online storage. The sharing platform is extremely flexible, allowing you to share your files exactly the way you want to. Multiple device syncing is included and CX.com provides great collaborative tools for online team work. And if the free 10 GB isn’t enough for you, CX.com has great bargain prices on additional storage.
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/
Amazon is never far behind the latest innovations in computing and cloud storage is no exception. The company offers a standard 5 GB of free storage with its cloud service, but lifts that up to 20 GB as a reward for purchasing an mp3 album. To take advantage of this all you have to do is sign on with your regular Amazon account details and your free storage is waiting for you. Amazon also offers paid storage up to a Terabyte, so your account here is always going to be expandable.
www.adrive.com/
ADrive has one of the best offers around. Sign up for their free personal account and you’ll have a wide range of features including universal access, folder uploading, an easy search tool and remote file transfer, all with a massive 50 GB storage capacity. For most people wanting to carry some personal backup and have their data accessible anywhere and anytime, this is an offer that’s hard to beat. ADrive also has a full range of business and premium services so, if the time comes to expand, you’ll be able to do it right there with them.
www.4shared.com/
Solid service from 4Shared with full desktop and mobile support, an excellent syncing facility and a very useful 10 GB of free cloud storage. There’s a file size limit of 2 GB for the free account, but this should still be adequate for most individual users.
www.zumodrive.com/
With only 2 GB of free storage, ZumoDrive may appear a bit basic, but if you don’t need more storage than that, you’ll be very satisfied with the other features offered by this progressive cloud provider. One of the most sophisticated backup applications around, with a full revision history so that you can find your way easily to missing files. ZumoDrive is seamless to use and provides a handy way of adding extra storage to your mobile devices.
www.mimedia.com/
MiMedia gives you 7 GB of storage free and one of the best automatic online backup systems around. This is a really great system which has everything the individual user could possible want. It lets you stream your media on demand and makes photo, video and file sharing a snap. MiMedia has a great cloud-based music player to let you listen to your entire music collection from anywhere on demand, provided your tracks aren’t DRM-crippled. MiMedia even provides the album art for every track.
https://spideroak.com/
If you’re an active internet user with a large social network, you can get a real bargain with Spideroak. The basic free account gives you just 2 GB storage, but Spideroak’s generous referrals system can net you up to 50 GB of storage, just for referring new clients. As well as free storage, Spideroak offers handy tools for organizing your data online and backing up with a full history of deleted files available. This is a sophisticated system which is easy to use and will meet most of the needs of the individual user.
www.syncplicity.com/
If you want maximum flexibility but don’t have a need for massive storage, Syncplicity could be the answer for you. This company offers a comprehensive package which covers automatic sync, universal access, backup and file sharing, all through one simple interface. You’ll get 2 GB of free storage and you’ll also have the facility to set access policies exactly the way you want them for as many different users as you want. With the free account you can sync to up to two devices.
www.safecopybackup.com/
SafeCopy has an excellent account model, offering a free lifetime account with 3 GB free backup for life, but with the facility to buy more space when you need it. SafeCopy keeps you close to your files with universal access from any computer, smartphone or other mobile device whenever you need it. It also keeps your devices running freely by moving heavy processing to its own servers. This is great news when you’re running backup, as you’ll know if you’ve ever experienced the speed drop which comes with some backup software.
https://docs.google.com/
Google is probably most people’s first experience of cloud computing, as you’ll be aware if you’ve ever used Google Docs for collaborative work online. Google provides 1 GB of free storage in the cloud along with a whole range of integrated services to take your entire computing experience away from your desktop and onto the road with you.
www.binfire.com/
Binfire is focused on project management on line, with a great set of online collaboration tools. Along the way it provides 10 GB of free storage and a whole host of other features which make this a really good service. You’re not going to get great free storage value here, but if you don’t have massive files to store, the excellent tools provide make it really worthwhile using this great service. The interactive whiteboard alone makes collaborative work a joy.
https://www.yousendit.com/
YouSendIt is focused on remote delivery of files and hassle-free delivery of data from cloud storage. While this site is mainly designed for business use, it has a free plan with 2 GB of free storage. YouSendIt makes it easy to send large files without problems and without encountering file size limits imposed by email services. Offers a wide range of plans from individual accounts to corporate services.
lp.fabasoft.com/
Fabasoft bills itself as the Folio Cloud because of its focus on business-to-business collaboration. Fabasoft provides a full range of services with access from desktops, smartphones and other mobile devices. Free registration is available for individual users with free cloud storage of 2 GB.
www.symform.com/free-cloud-storage.aspx
You can getup to 200 GB of cloud storage completely free with Symform so you can see for yourself that this is a superior cloud storage solution. So instead of paying for unlimited cloud storage, you can qualify for a free online backup account by contributing unused cheap local storage space equivalent to the amount of data you would like to protect redundantly in the cloud. Symform uses 1.5 x redundancies, so 200 GB of data equals 300 GB in the cloud.
minus.com/pages/about
Minus is a new concept in file sharing. Basically designed for the individual user, Minus is planned as an interactive cloud space for people to share and collaborate online. It’s a completely free service and allows 10 GB of free disk space to account holders. Minus is totally easy to use and is a great resource for any individual who wants great sharing tools and free online backup and storage space with a minimum of hassle.
This post is written by Heather James who is the content manager for Digital Push, a blogger outreach specialist agency.
Factors to Consider When Changing your IT Support Partner
by CloudGeek on August 29, 2012
There are very few businesses that don’t rely to some extent on IT which makes the partner you choose to support your computing needs crucial to your company’s success.
IT is an expensive resource to provide internally so looking elsewhere for the expertise and service you require makes good business sense. And there may come a time when you decide you need to change the IT support partner you have been working with for one reason or another.
But how you do decide who will provide the best service from all the providers in the market? Here’s a guide to some of the most important factors to consider when you are changing your IT support partner.
Know your own mind
Before you start browsing through the services available on the market, it is helpful to first have a good idea about what you want as a minimum.
The services available from IT support partners range from basic through to fully comprehensive but unless you have money to waste, there is little point paying for a service you don’t want or need. For example, will you need support around the clock in any circumstances or is your business strictly a 9-5 operation? And how about weekends – do staff sometimes put in extra hours on Saturday and Sundays? Paying for support which is available 24 hours a day or seven days a week will be a pointless expense if you know you will never use it.
Service levels are another factor which can influence cost significantly. If IT is vital to the operation of your business, you will need a provider that can guarantee a rapid response. If however, having no IT capability for a few hours would not unduly affect the day to day running of your company, it may not be cost-effective to pay for a premium rate response team.
A computer breakdown could be catastrophic for your business if not solved quickly.
Extras
Once you have established the basics of what you need, it might also be worth considering whether your IT support partner could bring any added value to your business.
For example, if IT capability is not being utilised to the maximum in your company, your chosen partner may be able to help out by providing training to staff or helping to create new systems. Or, you may be struggling with a system which is slow and prone to freezing. Whilst not technically a new problem, the experts might be able to suggest economical improvements which could be made to help get things moving.
On a larger scale, some IT support companies are particularly good at streamlining processes and infrastructure as well as identifying ways to increase profitability without compromising on quality. This type of business re-engineering can unlock hidden potential and increase capacity without having to take on more staff. Not all IT support partners will offer this service but investing a little bit more into a company that is willing to become more involved with your business rather than just providing technical advice at the end of the phone could be worth the money in the long run.
Finding a company which offers more support including staff training could bring real rewards.
Longevity
Even if IT systems aren’t integral to your business, a total collapse with no imminent solution would undoubtedly be a problem for most companies.
Using an IT support partner involves an element of trust as you are handing control for one of the key elements of your business to an external party. For this reason, it is imperative that you can rely on the partner you choose.
It is therefore a good idea to select an IT partner which has a track record of in the sector and has experience of delivering on contracts. Whilst a newer company may seem fresh and exciting, if the venture proves to be unsuccessful and collapses, you will be left stranded without any IT support.
Conclusion
It may be tempting for many to simply search for the cheapest provider. In the long run the aim should be to find a partner who is committed to bringing out the best in your business and can offer flexibility and a real desire to help is the best option for both you and your staff. cheekymunkey.co.uk offers a wide variety of support packages and could be a good option for companies looking for a new partner.
Image Credits: taberandrew and ACPL.
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