Best Free Online Storage Sites

  Storage is necessary issues when we work on computer. Do you know when the absolute worst time to think about backups is? It’s the moment when the tech support guy tells you your hard drive has died and your data is lost.

  One error that the free online backups will not help is recovery of a file a split second after you delete that important presentation or cherished photo. Most free services do not save deleted files but write over the old file.

  The free online backup services will save your files off-site to the cloud. If your hard drive crashes your files are not lost. Your first line of defense should be an external hard drive to back up your hard drive or a jump drive for your documents.

  An online backup provides 24/7 access to your files from any Internet connected computer, smartphone, or tablet style device. Data storage in the cloud is one of the quickest means to data archiving and recovery.

The requirements to judge the online backup are listed below.

• Storage Size: More free storage is obviously better. Our photo files are larger and we are taking more photos. This requires more storage.

• Document Synchronization: Documents and files created or changed need to automatically be uploaded to the “Cloud.”

• Long Term Reliability of the Site: Will your files be there available a year from now, five years from now? This is subjective. If I have heard of the service before I became editor of this category or one of our readers makes a compelling argument, the site will be considered reliable.

• Security: It should be assumed that security is minimal for the free sites. If the files you upload will not be encrypted, there's nothing to stop someone from looking at your files. This includes law enforcement officials who can serve papers from a judge requesting copies of your files. The services I have checked do not have encryption on the fly. Spideroak has pre-egress or pre-internet security. Your files are encrypted before they are uploaded.

• File Location: Ideally the files should be able to be located anyplace on your hard drive. Instead many online backup services require a special folder to be created. All your files will have to be stored in that folder. Also, the files will have to be stored on the local drive and copied to the online service.

• Ease of Use: The service should be menu driven and intuitive when selecting the files and folders to be backed up. These are two primary ways to do this:

          1. The first way is the service creates a folder and all the files in the folder are backed                   up. Skydrive does it this way. It creates a Skydrive folder and everything in this                       folder is backed up.

          2. The second way is you select folders or files inside the program. Using Spideroak, a                  tree of your files and folders is displayed and you select the files/folders to back-up                  by clicking a check box.

  There are a number of products and vendors that promise you online data storage and backup. The following is a list of this site.

1. IDrive.

IDrive's parent company IBackup has been in business since 1999 and therefore meets the long term reliability requirement. The service has 5 GB of free storage. While not a lot by today's standard it is better than 2 GB. IDrive does provide pre file transfer encryption. You provide the private key which will be known only to you. This will secure your files from being read by others without your permission.

IDrive has both scheduled and continuous backup. The default is scheduled backup. IDrive also has versioning. In this way if you accidentally delete a file, it can be retrieved.


Your files can be stored in any place on your hard drive. This allows you to keep your current file structure. It will not be necessary to move your file to a special folder for backup.
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2. Google Drive.

  Similar to other file storage mediums Google drive also allows cloud storage and file sharing as well.Google drive is one of  the safest place for all your files.The free version of Google drive gives you 5 GB of storage space,moreover Google drive is a challenging medium for companies like ‘Dropbx‘ ,’Box‘,’Microsoft SkyDrive‘.
Google drive provides applications  for most of the devices for syncing files.It’s fast as you’d except,Google makes easy file search.
Apps available :-Android, iOS, Windows, Mac
Free storage :-5 GB
Paid plans:-$4.99 per month for 100 GB
$9.99 per month for 200 GB
$49.99 per month for 1 TB

$799.99 per month for 16 TB
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3. Skydrive.

  Microsoft has changed Skydrive. It is now 7 GB if you are a new subscriber to the service. If you are an old subscriber and had 25 GB of storage you get to keep your 25 GB.

I dropped Skydrive's ranking from #1 to #2 because of its reduced storage space, no encryption and the annoying Skydrive folder you have to use. It is built into Windows 8 and the service is expected to be around for a long time as it's provided by Microsoft.

Skydrive's storage size is 7 GB. This is not very large by today standards. Skydrive originally was 25 GB. A new user can't get 25 GB free anymore. If you have an old Hotmail account you may have 25 GB.

Skydrive is easy to use. Once installed just move your files you want to backup to the special Skydrive folder.

One of the Skydrive's negatives is no security. Do not put files on Skydrive that care and other people could see. It is not open to every one on the Internet but law enforcement could obtain copies of your files without your knowledge.

Another annoying negative is that it will sync only your files in the Skydrive folder. All the files you need to backup will need to be moved to the Skydrive folder.

A combination of back-up solutions may be the best strategy. Use Skydrive for your photos and non critical documents like kids homework, your non-financial files, and family pictures. Then use Spideroak or IDrive for your taxes and financial files.

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4. SpiderOak.

  

  SpiderOak is an online backup service which allows share,sync and backing up of  files.Security makes SpiderOak common ,as it uses encrypted cloud storage and client side encryption key creator.The free account allows to store files up-to 2 GB,and subscription pack allows to store maximum of 100 GB.

SpiderOak avails wide range of mobile apps, these apps integrates with Hive and let you manage to view files.

Apps available: Windows,Mac,iOS,Android

Free storage: 2 GB

Paid plans: $10 per month for 100 GB.

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5.  Dropbox.

  It offers 2GB free storage to start while multiple paid options are also available. Dropbox offers file syncing between the PC / Mac / Linux and the cloud. Load the desktop client or upload through the web interface and begin adding folders to the Dropbox folder. Once in the folder, Dropbox synchs the file between the PC and the cloud and any other devices that you have enabled with Dropbox including mobile and tablets. Quick, light and in the background, Dropbox is a must try and is my preferred Online Backup Solution. One drawback to Dropbox is a folder named "Dropbox" which has to be created, then all the folders and files have to be moved to the "Dropbox" folder.

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6. Mozy.

  Like most of the online backup providers, Mozy offers 2 GB for free and the option to add more through paid services. Mozy comes with PC and MAC clients, schedule backups and even file encryption. The encryption capabilities provide some peace of mind to those looking for an Online Backup Solution but concerned about privacy.

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7. ADrive.

  This site has been tested for the past month. It meets one of three off-line backup requirements. The storage size is very large at 50 GB. The down side is that it does not sync files. Longevity of the free service needs to be proven.

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8. Wuala.

  I am a Wuala to the list.  It has 5 GB free storage, Wuala does provide pre-file transfer encryption.  It is a LaCie product.  LaCie a hard drive manufacturer has been in business since 1987.  Therefore the it has longevity.  I am listing it at #8, but further comments and testing could change its ranking.

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9. Box.

   Box is an online file storage and sharing service which offers 5 GB of free storage.It allows data sync through its mobile apps or website, like most other services. Other credit  of box are password protected sharing and faster uploads.For paid customers Box allows mobile device management and group based access.Box is available for multiple as well as single user .Although  all functionalities are available,  mostly they are preferred by professional users.

Apps available:-Android, iOS, BlackBerry

Free storage:-5 GB

Paid plans:-$9.99 per month for 25 GB

$19.99 per month for 50 GB

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10. SugarSync.

  

SugarSync is a cloud service which synchronize files across  all devices connected through SugarSync. SugarSync is available for wide range of devices.This service will automatically refresh and sync files.

SugarSync is one of the most reliable online storage available,so it’s favorite for professionals .It’s also an alternative to Dropbox.

Apps available:-Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux, BlackBerry.

Free storage:-5 GB

Paid service:-$7.49 per month for 60 GB

$9.99 per month for 100 GB

$24.99 per month for 250 GBOpenDrive

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11. OpenDrive.

  

   is an online storage medium which helps in keeping data secure.OpenDrive  offers multiple standard plans,the basic plan which offers 5 GB of storage for free.Like most of other online storage mediums OpenDrive  seems to provide a single file source in the cloud,with the abilities to access them from multiple devices.

OpenDrive support live streaming and music playing online.The data’s are protected using high level of physical and logical security.

Free storage:-5 GB

Apps available:- iOS,  Android,Windows, Mac

Paid plans:-$9.99 per month for unlimited storage

$99 per year for unlimited storage

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12. Syncplicity.   

  Syncplicity is an online backup and synchronization service which offers 2 GB of free storage space.And for additional storage $15 per month for 50 GB.It allows sharing of files through its native apps for Windows,Mac,iOS,Android and other tablet devices.Files can be shared with a single click and cloud storage utilize 99.99% data resiliency.

Apps available:-Android,iOS,Mac,Windows

Free storage:-2 GB

Paid storage:-$15 per month for 50 GB

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13. ElephantDrive.

  

ElephantDrive is another option for securely store your date online.ElephantDrive has an ability to upload files simultaneously from different computers.ElephantDrive is powered by ‘Amazon’ which offers high end security with its 256 Bit AES encryption.And choosing your own key provides even more security as, not even the employees cannot access our content.

It allows 2 GB of data storage and automatically provides backup, for free.

Apps available:-Android,iOS,Mac,Windows

Free storage:-2 GB

Paid plans:-$9.95 per month for 100 GB

$85.95 per month for 1 TB

$169.95 per month for 2 TB

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14. HiDrive.

  

  HiDrive powered by ‘strato AG’  enables  us cloud storage and file sharing as well.It’s software offers security,password protection, file sharing for users and public.

HiDrive avails us sync software which is easy for cloud data management.And it offers 5 GB of free storage and maximum of 500 GB for 19.43$ per month.It also enable us scheduled backups and can edit office documents online.It’s high security through 256-bit encryption and FTP/Web-Dav access support makes more reliable.

Apps available:-Android,iOS,Windows

Free storage:-5 GB

Paid  plans:-$9.00 per month for 100 GB

$19.43 per month for 500 GB

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Wish You Success.