Online storage services are a great way to store off-site backup copies of your most critical information. I have written about such services a number of times. In the prestigious Extreme Tech web site, Michael W. Muchmore describes six such services. There is one difference between my articles and Muchmore's: his review discusses only the online storage services that are available free of charge.
All of these services will work with Windows and Macintosh computers. However, some of these services are a bit fussy about which web browser you use. All the services except for one support encrypted file transfers and also store your data in an encrypted manner to insure the privacy of your data. However, if your file contains sensitive information, I'd suggest that you first encrypt it on your own system before sending it anywhere else on the Internet.
Some of the services reviewed also offer an option to make specific files publicly available, if you wish. Most of the online storage services are very easy to use.
I noted that Muchmore liked DropBoks, a free service I wrote about last November 28 (you can read my article at http://tinyurl.com/2t8py7). He went on to describe five other free online services that I have not yet used.
This is an interesting article, and I highly recommend it. You can read it at http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2099014,00.asp.
I was surprised that author Muchmore missed Xdrive. This online file storage service has been around for a long time and is well developed. Xdrive offers 5 gigabytes of free storage space, and even more storage space is available for modest fees. Windows users can install software on their systems that makes Xdrive look like a disk drive, connected all the time. You can even access your files from a web-enabled cell phone. However, Macintosh and Linux/UNIX users can only access Xdrive by using a web browser. More information about Xdrive can be found at http://www.xdrive.com target="_blank".
Do you have your most important data backed up off-site?
