Box.net now gives users 5 free gigs of storage, up from 1 GB. This is enough space to store 328 appraisal files or 500 real estate photos. This assumes that your appraisal files are around 3200 KB each and that your photos are 4 megapixels. You would be able to store around 285 photos is they were 8 megapixels each.
Business users get up to 500 GB of storage. This 500 GB is the total amount of storage, not a per user amount. The enterprise plan will continue with unlimited storage.
Today, we’re announcing 5GB of free web storage for our personal subscription plans. Not only that, but we’re making a major change to how our business plan works – instead of paying to incrementally add more storage for every user you have (15GB each), we’re going to start the plan out at 500GB. via Blog.Box.net
Most of us need to be able to to access our important files no matter where we are. A market analysis for a home buyer, real estate photos or videos, a real estate appraisal, or maybe the blog post that you need to finish while working at your local Starbucks. Whatever the content, we need access to more data than ever before no matter where we are.
That is what makes cloud storage a great option for many people. Store your content in the cloud and access it from anywhere and on almost any device.
Box.net doesn’t just offer storage. They also have many great features:
- Organize and view all of your content online in a familiar file and folder structure.
- Share content with direct links to files and folders.
- Turn any folder into a public webpage in one click and create widgets to share files on a company web page or blog.
- Turn any folder of content into a shared online workspace and invite others to view, edit, or add their own files.
- You can view and share files on-the-go using your mobile device. Box.net has a free iPhone/iPad and Android app. You can also use your mobile browser to view and share files through Box’s mobile site at http://m.box.net.
The service also integrates with applications such as Gmail, eFax, Docusign, FedEx, and Twitter.
The business plan offers additional features that include that ability to sync desktop files and offers additional security with 256-bit SSL encryption.
You can view the complete list of features here.
It is also important to note that even though free accounts now come with 5GB of disk space, there’s a file size limit of 25MB unless you sign up for a paid account which lets you upload larger files.
Meanwhile, the company is working on what Levie described as a “new crop” of open-source, distributed file systems that the company hopes will improve how much the current system can scale. The end goal is to continue to bring costs down and push out additional storage boosts like today’s to Box’s customers. “We’re moving toward a future where storage isn’t an issue,” Levie said. “You should never have to worry about how much storage you use.” Via: cnet news
The cost of data storage continues to drop while the capacity continues to increase. It is pretty exciting to think that pretty soon you will not have to worry about how much storage space you will need.
{ 8 comments }
Bryan,
This looks pretty good. Just yesterday, I checked out a number of backup services…finally settled on SugarSync. Never even looked here. However, SugarSync has 30 Gig of storage for $5 a month….a little better price. Some of the features on Box are pretty nice, though.
Gives me something to think about! Thanks!
Jonathan, SugarSync is a great service. 30 gigs for $5/month is a pretty good price. You have to have an Business account with Box.net if you want to sync your computer. I’d be interested to know how SugarSync works for you after a few months. I really like your website name, LivingInMacon.com. It looks like your new website is just about ready.
Bryan,
I use Carbonite. Is Box.net a similar service? I pay just under $5 a month for it. It is basically used for back up. Thanks for the helpful info.
Hey Tom, Carbonite is focused more on backing up your data while Box.net is more about storing, managing, and sharing your content. You can easily share the data you have on Box.net via an email link or turn any folder into a public webpage so anyone can access the data. You can also collaborate on documents you have stored on Box.net. You have to pay for the business plan on Box.net if you want to sync your desktop files so this feature is not included with the free 5 gigs.
Do you ever access your data on Carbonite from your smartphone or another computer?
So I guess this would be like Google Docs? I see. I have accessed some info. from my iPad. My appraisal files are backed up in both their native format as well as a PDF copy, which I can view on the iPad. I cannot view the other format however. I can see the value in having the cloud storage as opposed to what Carbonite offers, because you have more flexibility and can collaboratem as you noted.
Bryan,
Thanks for checking out my site! I still have a long way to go on it, but looking forward to the results!
Tom, I use Carbonite and have enjoyed it, but they aren’t adding features too quickly. They seem to spend their cash on advertising on very expensive radio shows. Mozy is the same. Both are solid companies, but SugarSync is quietly doing what Carbonite does, plus a whole lot more for the same price. And…the kicker for me is that SugarSync lets me backup more than one computer on the same plan. My wife and I are able to sync the folders we want on both our computers, and then can backup each of our individual files.
SugarSync took on the challenge and has upped their free space to 5GB as well!
Thanks for the tip Jonathan!