ADrive offers 50GB of completely free online storage

If you’re unwilling to pay for an off-site backup solution, then a new beta service might be just what you are looking for.  ADrive offers up to 50GB of free online storage but you’ll have to deal with a couple ads; which do not interfere with the operation of the service, currently in beta.

The first step is to create an ADrive account.  You will need a valid email address, give your name, address and create a password with at least eight characters which must contain one capital letter and one number.

Once you’ve done that, the second step is to activate your account.  The activation info will be sent to the email you provided, simply click the link, login to your account and start using the service.

Surprisingly there is only one limitation, an upload cap of 2GB per file which is very reasonable and trounces every other free service I can think of.  You can even use it to share files; so no more large email attachments.  Once you’ve uploaded your files, you can organize them to your liking.

The service was fast enough, uploading a 3MB audio file took about 20 seconds over a 6Mbps Comcast connection.

It’s failing is the Java browser interface which can be slow the first time you load it and it’s not exactly pleasing to the eye.  It is functional and for 50GB of free storage is well worth putting up with.  Currently there is no FTP functionality or desktop application, it must be accessed through your browser.

That being the case, any file uploaded to the service can be accessed anywhere in the world where there is an Internet connection.  The company claims your data will be safe (but they all do – even paid ones),

“ADrive is extremely fault-tolerant, allowing our users to feel safe when using our services. We know you need your data on demand, so we have designed the most highly available infrastructure to ensure your ADrive experience is simple, secure and enjoyable.”

Additional features include:

Enterprise Level Environment
We maintain climate-controlled, secure data centers to ensure our infrastructure is always up and running.

Snapshot Technology
We protect your valuable data by utilizing the most current snapshot technology available. We have routine snapshots scheduled to ensure your data is protected.

Redundancy
We boast redundancy on all levels to ensure our backend infrastructure is completely fault-tolerant, from climate and power to software and hardware redundancy.

High-Availability
We boast a highly available experience to all ADrive users by utilizing load balancers to distribute high traffic on our site.

I can neither confirm nor deny their reliability claims.  For those interested in more storage or no ads, a “Premium” ADrive service is in the works.  If it’s all the same, I’ll take the “free” 50GB plan, thank you.

The “Premium” plan will probably remove the upload cap or at least, increase it.  It’s too early to tell if it’s 100% reliable but for free, it is worth checking out.  I think I’ll backup my music and picture collection on it.  What will you use it for?

When the service comes out of beta, I hope they release FTP functionality, a desktop application, or both.  Those are the only real improvements this service needs.

• 

• Free online storage – where to find it and how to get it
• Free accounts available at Filedropper once again
• Filedropper retracts offer of free 250Gb lifetime accounts due to demand
• Google Docs adding file storage
• Google offers 16TB storage and a Microsoft Office plug-in