With the recent emphasis on cloud computing, the spotlight has been shone on mass-online storage.  Many people are unaware to the fact that many services already exist that provide freely available online storage in large quantities, with excellent features.  Let’s take a look at where to find it, and what to look for.

Many paid services also offer a free version, which should offer the same features, just with limited storage capacity.  Still, there are certain things you want to make sure are included before signing up.  For instance, FTP support is very important.  If a service doesn’t offer FTP, it means you’ll have to manually upload all your files, folders and directories by hand.  FTP may be harder to find, but there are plenty of services that include it with a free version.  If not, many services offer a good alternative to FTP, such as Ajax-based uploaders and Web-based “file manager” solutions.  Just make sure they provide something other than single-file uploads.

You also want to look at the maximum file sizes allowed to be uploaded to the service.  Many offer a cap of around 100 to 150MB, which could be a problem if you plan on storing video or other large files frequently.  Finding free online storage services that will allow you to store massive amounts of video and other large files are far and few between, but they do exist.

It’s important to look for what the service will allow you do to with your files.  For example, is it purely for backup purposes?  Will it allow you to share the files easily, or make them viewable online for others to interact?  It all depends on what you plan to do with your files once they’re stored online, but these are questions you should ask.  If you want to purely backup your files, there are tons of services out there to do it, but if you want to be able to share them, access them from mobile devices, etc. look for ones that offers more “social media-centric” features.

Last, but most important, is obviously the amount of storage you’re able to use via any service.  Most nowadays are offering at least 1GB, which isn’t a lot, but should suffice for smaller files, word documents, music, etc.  Again, if you’re looking for pure file-backup, you can probably find larger amounts of storage, but you’ll sacrifice features and accessibility in the long run.  Let’s take a look at the top picks when it comes to free online storage.

ADrive – ADrive is a great choice if you want sheer storage, as it gives you 50GB of storage with a free account- a massive amount when compared to other services.  The only downside is that with a free account, you don’t have FTP access, but the good thing is that ADrive incorporates an easy-to-use file and folder upload interface.  It’s not true FTP, but still makes things easier than doing it all by hand.  Beyond that, ADrive features everything else you’d need, such as “Remote File Transfer,” file history capabilities and even Zoho integration.  The only other problem with ADrive is that it can only be used for “personal use,” so if you plan on storing business and highly-sensitive files- you’re out of luck.

File Qube – File Qube is more of a “Web 2.0”-type of online storage service, meaning it not only allows you to store your files online, but also do a variety of things with them once they’re stored.  The free version gives you 2GB of online storage, which may not seem like much, but also gives you a slew of features.  Instead of FTP, File Qube uses a Web-based “File Manager” which serves the same purpose, just quicker and more intuitive.  The key to File Qube’s solution is the ways you can share and make public, the files you store online.  For instance, you can setup various RSS feeds for files or folders to allow guests to track updates and contribute.  You can also use a variety of included widgets to share your files and media on your Web sites, blogs, social networks and more.  If you’re wanting to share your files and help people interact with it, or if you’re a Webmaster or Blogger, File Qube is an excellent solution.

Humyo – Humyo provides a solid all-around solution.  For starters, you get 10GB of storage, which is a healthy size for a free service.  Beyond that, Humyo offers a unique desktop-based client that allows you to use the service as if it were a drive located on your computer.  When you want to save files to your computer, you use the “C:” drive, but when you want to save them online, you can choose the “H:” drive- which is sent directly to your Humyo account.  You can drag-and-drop files or upload them directly to the Web site as well, it’s the easiest of them all to use and upload files to.  Humyo goes above and beyond most, with capabilities like synchronization of several desktops, mobile and iPhone-specific access, and social network sharing and linking.  The only downside is you’ll have to put up with some advertising, but it’s well worth it.

These are the cream of the crop for the time being, but as I said before, cloud-based computing is making huge strides these days, and these types of services will likely multiply in the near future.  Rumors are already circulating about Google and other major players introducing mass-online storage services which could change the way we interact with computers all together.  Until that day comes, there are still several good alternatives to paying high prices for online storage, just make sure to look closely at the features and limits.

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Entry was posted on Sunday, February 8th, 2009 at 7:37 pm under Internet, Storage, Tips and advice.

Read more entries by Justin Montgomery.
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