Cloud storage service for individual and business plays an
important role these days since manufacturers of laptops or smartphones and
tablets are offering less storage in their devices. Cloud storage helps us to
save our valuable data online so that at the time of accident, we can retrieve
our data from cloud.
Today I am going to illustrate the basic storage systems
those are widely used by most users and to help you decide which one is best
for you.
Although there are lots of different cloud services, I am
only going to talk about those which are used by majority and supported in most
devices.
Dropbox
Dropbox allows users to create a special folder in
their computers, which dropbox then synchronizes so that these contents within
the folder can be accessible from desktop, or via website or mobile app.
In
terms of user interface, you will find it very comfortable to upload your
documents smoothly. You can store Microsoft office files, pictures, eBooks etc.
You can also share the documents stored with your friends and family by sending
the link to them as there is a link option available.
With
Dropbox free account, you can store documents, photos, and videos upto 2GB
data. There is no file size limit when you are uploading through web browser.
In
addition you can upgrade your account to dropbox pro for $9.99 per month in
which you can store up to 1TB.
For
business personnel the capacity of storage is unlimited with additional file
sharing controls and priority support from dropbox end.
For
seamless continuity Dropbox offers their software in different platform. For
instance you can install Dropbox in your pc through which you can store and
recover data. Moreover, this software will update your data real time in their
server which you can access through your mobile application or from web
browser. Dropbox is also available in iphone, windows and android devices.
May
be because of its simplicity and transparency, Dropbox is widely used by many
users around the globe.
Source:
Dropbox
Uploading
file like images or ms files is easy and requires only fair amount of time.
From “events” option, you can check your latest activities on dropbox. There is
also a notification system aligned with your device (mobile or pc) to update
you about recent sharing.
Although
there was an alleged security issue of 7 million accounts being hacked, however
Dropbox denied and later stated that it wasn’t hacked as because the username
and password was not real.
It
wouldn’t be a big issue since 220 million users are using Dropbox without
facing any serious problem.
Pros:
Additional space offer through referral; unlimited space for business users;
integration of image viewing application, third party application integration.
Cons:
Slow and laggy desktop software; no file offline viewing system.
Google Drive
If
you are a google fan and using an android device, this option might be the
right choice for you. Google drive is integrated with google mail and google
plus service so that you can store your mail and social networking data in your
drive.
Source:
Google drive
Unlike
dropbox, Google drive offers you 15GB space against your free account. That’s
pretty large space for storing images and necessary files and even if it is not
good enough for you, you can always upgrade to 100GB account for $1.99 a month
and 1TB account for S9.99 a month.
Google
offers yet another three accounts that come with 10TB, 20TB and 30TB which will
cost you $99.99/month, $199.99/month and $299.99/month consecutively.
Google
drive supports in almost any platform like mac, windows, IOS device and android
and of course you can go to Google.com from where you can access to your drive.
The
advantage of using drive is that you don’t have to create an account rather
your gmail account will work as one unique account for all services that google
offers.
Just
like other storage services, you can create folders, share your files and print
those files. But the startling part is that you can make your important files
offline. It means normally when you store a file, you can only access it
online; however here you will find an option called “keep on device” which will allow you to make that file offline
means you can access that even if you don’t have any internet connection. It
will help students having no internet connection when they need to access to
pdf or doc file stored in drive.
It’s
quite easy to use because of its integration of multiple google services like
mail and google plus; therefore you can store your mail documents directly from
there to drive. In desktop or mac drive will be available as a folder. To store
data, all you have to do is drag and drop your files to your drive folder. It
is that simple!!!
Pros:
Offline file browsing; single account for all services, two step authenticated
security.
Cons:
No referral option.
OneDrive (Previously known as
Skydrive)
Microsoft’s
cloud storage is constantly grappling with the other big services in the
industry. Although they named the file hosting service as skydrive, later they
changed it to onedrive.
Like
google and dropbox, they offer the same facilities with their own styles.
In
availing a free account, you can store up to 15 GB data.
In
this free package, you will also get an additional 15 GB storage for your
camera roll folders means that you can store your photo up to 15GB in your pc.
This additional 15GB will always be free and pre added to the account you use
or upgrade.
If
you consider more storage, there is an option of 100GB for $1.99 per month.
However,
the best cost effective storage plan from them is 200GB for which you have to
pay $3.99 per month. Compared to other services, this plan is good for small
business owners.
Their
special offer includes office 365 plus 1TB storage for $9.99 per month which is
the cheapest among others in case of 1TB space.
Perhaps,
any new cloud user would love to avail OneDrive because of its desktop integration.
Just like Google drive, you can copy and paste your files to your onedrive
folder which will automatically update your data in other devices which you
use.
Source: Onedrive in IOS
It
comes with applications for android, ios, mac, mac os, windows, windows phone
and xbox.
Pros:
Cheapest storage option for $9.99; Microsoft 365 integration.
Cons:
No third party application integration
Box
If
you don’t bother about familiarity and is looking for the cheapest option, box
should be your choice. Although they provide individual clouding service, their
main focus is on business and enterprise solutions.
You
will get 10GB once you create a free account although you will be restricted to
upload maximum 250MB. The upgrade to 100GB will cost you $5 per month and it
increases the size limit of file to 2GB.
In
business account, you will have unlimited storage access with $15 per month and
again it increases file size limit to 5GB. However, to avail this account,
three users are required.
Box
is made for applications of ios, android, blackberry, mac os, windows and
windows phone.
As
for privacy, you can password protect your each file and folder. Moreover, in
business organizations, you can decide who can access and edit your file.
Pros:
Simple,
secure file sharing; controlling content; tracking, reporting and managing of
your content; instant file activity alerts; high file transfer rate; third
party integration
Cons:
No 1TB option for personal account.
To
help you deciding, here’s an easy view of the four storages:
Storage Options
|
Free Storage
|
Paid plans
(per month)
|
|
Dropbox
|
2GB
|
$9.99
for 1TB
$15
for unlimited
|
Windows,
Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Blackberry, Kindle Fire
|
Google
Drive
|
15GB
|
$1.99
for 100GB
$9.99
for 1TB
$99.99
for 10TB
$199.99
for 20TB
$299.99
for 30TB
|
|
Onedrive
|
30GB
|
$1.99
for 100GB
$3.99
for 200GB
$9.99
for 1TB + office 365
|
Windows,
Mac, Android, iOS, Blackberry
|
Box
|
10GB
|
$5
for 100GB
$15
for unlimited
|
Windows,
Mac, Android, Blackberry, iOS
|
At
the end of the day, which cloud storage option you choose is totally depends on
you.
If
security is your priority then, either Dropbox or Box is your option. While Dropbox
provides two step authentication and various level encryptions which make it
invulnerable to break, Box users can track their files and controls the limit.
If
space is your main consideration, then google drive would be a suitable choice.
However, if you want your files and storage service to be integrated to many
third parties, dropbox would a solid pick.
Onedrive
should be your consideration when your platform is most of time is windows and
your activities are revolved around Microsoft documents.
Considering
all the pros and cons, which one do you like the most? Share which one do you
use and why in the comments below.
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