Last week I talked about the importance of backing up your files. If you are a person who shares files between computers or isn’t very good at backing up their data then you need to look into DropBox.
DropBox is one of my favourite free web apps. In fact, I’d be hard pressed to find a tool that’s made life easier for me. It’s a software/web portal that allows you to share documents between computers and on the web. You can store them securely for your own use, or share out your folders for other DropBox users to access. Or, you can use your iPad/Ipod/Blackberry to view and share them as well.
So, how does it work? First you have to head on over to dropbox.com and setup an account. While you’re setting it up it will give you the option to download the DropBox software for your desktop machine (Mac or PC) - this is the way I have it configured – or you can choose to use the web interface.
If you chose the desktop install route, the software will create a folder called ‘My Dropbox’. Essentially all you have to do now is save or copy your files to this folder and they are replicated to the DropBox service, and are available to you, securely (using HTTPS which I will be talking about soon), online. Cool right? Create an account, drop a folder, view online. Simple stuff!
It gets better. So remember how I mentioned the iPad app? Well, now that you have the files saved to your DropBox account you can access them with the iPad or smartphone apps, so anywhere you have a web connection you now have access to those files.
Sharing is another great feature. As I mentioned, you can setup specific folders within DropBox to share out to other DropBox users. You have to name a specific Dropbox user to share to so the security is entirely up to you. I have a folder shared to my brothers-in-law that we use to swap files that are too big to email to each other, so when we open our drop box we all see the files there ready for us. The other sharing option is called “public link”, which is a link you can email around to friends and let them access the files without having to create a Dropbox account.
Another of my favourite features is the included Photo Gallery. Dropbox creates a ‘Photos’ folder inside your Dropbox. Using the public link mentioned before those pictures from the cousins wedding can all be shared in a second by everyone who has the link!
DropBox saved our butts on our last vacation – I had printed copies of all of our confirmations, but somehow lost the folder in the airport. All I had to do was go to my DropBox online from an airport kiosk, and I was able to print them off again.
It’s a cheap (free) way to gain some accessible storage space, that I’m sure you’ll love. 2GB is free, and if you use this link you’ll get an additional 250 MB of space.
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