Yet another plug for Dropbox

[Semper Fidelis]

Dropbox - Secure backup, sync and sharing made easy.

I use this all the time. I keep my Seminary work in this folder as well as Reformed confessions and many other things I know I'll need to be able to get at from any computer I own that has Dropbox installed. I'm also able to pull down files from my Droid (using Droidbox) or from the web at work.

What it does is install on your computer and then links a My Dropbox folder to your Documents folder. Anything copied or moved to this folder is then uploaded to your Dropbox account. You get 2GB of free space. It's a great way to have an online copy of files in case of system crash as well.

 

[matt01]

I use this all the time...

I use it as well, and am very grateful for it. It makes working at diverse locations much easier. Feel free to enroll through my link, so that I can earn the extra space.

Dropbox

 

[VictorBravo]

I enrolled when it was offered in Beta back in 2008. I like it pretty well, but have had problems with it syncing through our firm's firewall. Sometimes I save to dropbox and it gives every indication it's there, only to find later from a remote computer that an earlier version of what I was working was actually saved.

That issue has burned me a couple times, so I use Dropbox and save whatever I'm working on to a 16 gig flash drive that I carry with me everywhere.

 

[sastark]

I also use Dropbox extensively. It is a great resource, and in addition to letting me have access to my files where ever I go, it also allows me to share files publically, when I need to.

 

[Curt]

I concur with all the positive comments. I use it, too, with both Macs and PCs.

 

[fredtgreco]

I love dropbox. I use it as a server in our church. I don't have to worry about offsite storage of our documents, or accessing church files when away. It also keeps all of us (secretary, associate pastor and me) on sync. And I can share certain folders to let others have access- like our VBS coordinator.

It is perfect for a small business or church.

 

[VictorBravo]

I should add for clarification that my negative comments had nothing to do with a failure on the part of Dropbox. It has to do with our peculiar firewall. My workaround is crude but effective. I have a work computer connected to the work network. I save my work both to the network and to a flash drive.

I also have a personal netbook that connects directly to the internet but not to the work network. I synch my flash drive with my netbook periodically, and use the netbook to synch with Dropbox.

That way I have simple and no-cost redundancy of critical files in three locations: my netbook, the flash drive, and Dropbox. And that isn't counting the weekly backup I do of the netbook to an external hard drive.

It's a little cludgey, maybe, but it works for me. There is no way I can get my firm to improve their network. It was tough enough to get them to implement a solid back-up system.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

For me, it's not simply backup (as I use Carbonite for that) but the ability to work on certain files from different computers. I have a notebook I do most of my work on but then I have another notebook at work that has access to my Dropbox folder. I also have access to the same Dropbox folder on a computer in my home office. Consequently, if I save something in my Dropbox folder I know I can walk right upstairs and get to it. Or, if I scan something to PDF and then save it to the Dropbox folder, I can access it on my Notebook immediately. It is very convenient.

If you have friends, you can share certain folders between each other that will appear on each of your systems. If Sonya needs a file, I can copy it to our shared folder and it's now on her hard drive. It's very slick.

It sounds like Fred is getting maximal use for it in his Church office situation.

 

[VictorBravo]

I agree completely, Rich. Dropbox gives you the ability to share files or work from other locations without the hassle of maintaining a network.

I don't really think of it as a backup but more as a personal cloud system. As we hear more about "cloud computing," the questions about data availability in the event of a failure of the cloud provider come up. Dropbox addresses this very simply: the files it stores are also stored on whatever local device you have it synced to.

 

[JonathanHunt]

I love dropbox. My fellow elder and I work on common planning documents all the time.

Also worth mentioning is that if you have iphone, there is an app, and you can view anything, any time you have wifi, or make anything permanently available by uploading it.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

I agree completely, Rich. Dropbox gives you the ability to share files or work from other locations without the hassle of maintaining a network.

I don't really think of it as a backup but more as a personal cloud system. As we hear more about "cloud computing," the questions about data availability in the event of a failure of the cloud provider come up. Dropbox addresses this very simply: the files it stores are also stored on whatever local device you have it synced to.

Well it's sort of a backup for me. I use Quicken and when I "backup" my Quicken file it is backed up to a file in My Dropbox folder. It's technically on the local hard drive but it's also redundantly available elsewhere in case the HDD crashes.

I love dropbox. My fellow elder and I work on common planning documents all the time.

Also worth mentioning is that if you have iphone, there is an app, and you can view anything, any time you have wifi, or make anything permanently available by uploading it.

There's also a Droid app. It's just nice all around.