A number of companies currently offer free storage, and with so many to choose from, which is the best option for your needs? The answer depends on what your needs are and you can use this guide as a starting point to narrow down your options. Below are my top picks, along with their optimal use.
Dropbox – Dropbox is a simple and very easy to use cloud storage service. You simply sign up and download the application to keep your files synchronized locally, or you can use the web interface to download/upload individual files. The advantage of using Dropbox over other providers is its popularity among end-users and software developers alike. Developers are creating desktop and mobile applications that will save your documents, pictures, music and settings to your Dropbox folder. If one of your favorite apps uses Dropbox for storage and you lose your smartphone, you can re-install your app on the replacement phone and point it to your Dropbox account where all your files are safely stored.
Dropbox currently offers 2GB of free space when you sign up and an extra 500MB for every person you refer who signs up and uses the service. The maximum free space can go up to 18GB, and if history is any indicator, I would expect that figure to climb as time goes by. Remember back when free email accounts only had 3MB of free storage? I do. Today 10GB or more is common.
Ubuntu One – Ubuntu One offers 5GB of basic storage for free with the option of adding 20GB increments for $2.99 a month. They offer iPhone and Android apps as well as desktop clients for the Ubuntu Linux OS and the Windows OS. I originally started using this service in order to move files between Linux and Windows. Since I have those operating systems installed on virtual machines that are not always on at the same time, this seemed like a worthwhile option especially since it offers more initial storage space than Dropbox.
I tried this service for a few months and eventually stopped. At the time that I was using Ubuntu One, the Windows client was very unstable. Despite my background in systems administration, I had a hard time getting it to work properly. I looked through forum posts and looks like others were having the same issues as well. However, the client for Android and Ubuntu worked flawlessly and I did not notice any complaints about the iPhone/iPad clients while checking the forums. This is probably a great option for those who primarily use Linux and do not want to play the referral game with Dropbox in order to get extra space which Ubuntu One offers right from the beginning.
Skydrive – Skydrive currently comes in two flavors. Skydrive and Skydrive Synched Storage (Windows Live Mesh). Microsoft currently offers 7GB of free space for Skydrive and 5GB for Mesh. Both services allow you to store documents just like you can with Dropbox and Ubuntu One, but they take it a step further.
For those who are familiar with Sharepoint, Skydrive bears some similarities to what you might find in your mysite. With Skydrive, you can use stripped down versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote to edit your files right from the web browser for free. You can also choose to open those files directly from MS Office if you have it installed. They also offer a desktop application which could be compared to Sharepoint workspace, in that it synchronizes a local copy of your data for offline use. You can use the desktop client, called Microsoft Skydrive, just as you would Dropbox or Ubuntu One. The one difference being that if you don’t have MS Office installed, you can still edit those documents. When you double click on the file, instead of giving you an error, it will direct you to the Skydrive website where you can make changes.
Skydrive Synched Storage, also called Windows Live Mesh is also free, but separate from Sydrive. Windows Live Mesh has more of an emphasis on synchronizing data between computers. Although you can synchronize folders just as easy with Skydrive, Windows Live Mesh allows you to synchronize settings from Internet Explorer such as your favorites and MS Office customizations such as signatures. It also has the ability of easy remote desktop connections to your other computers. Some vendors such as Symantec PC Anywhere charge for this, and others offer free remote access with limited functionality such as logmein.com
Google Drive – Google Drive used to be called Google Docs, and it still has the same features from before. Google offers 5GB of free space and the web version is very similar to Skydrive. You can edit documents and share them with others. They also offer an android client for offline viewing of your files. Files created on Google Drive use the same open standard as Open Office and Libre Office. It can also handle MS Office files and do basic conversion of read-only PDF files into editable text.
Unfortunately, Google Drive does not have a desktop client available right now. There are third party programs that claim to be able to cache your files offline, but I have not had much luck using them so far.
Sysform – Sysform is an innovative and relative newcomer to the cloud storage landscape. If your primary concern is having the largest amount of free space for robust backups, then look for no further. Sysform currently offers 200GB of free storage plus 10GB for each referral with unlimited referrals. Although the free space is a bit of a misnomer, it is an exciting addition to the list of providers.
With Sysform, you don’t truly get free space in that you have to contribute to the pool of storage space at a rate of 150% of your total use. In other words, if you use 100GB, then you have to contribute 150GB. Your net effect is that you actually end up with less space depending on your point of view. If you were to configure your own RAID system at home, you would have to contribute 200% of your actual use with RAID 1 (mirroring). With RAID 6, you would need a minimum of 4 hard drives. If you look at Sysform from the perspective of redundant backups, then you are getting free space compared to configuring your own RAID system at home. However, if you look at Sysfrom from the perspective of shared storage across your computers, then you are losing storage space.
