Dropbox: File synchronization across your computers
If you’re like me, you’ll probably have many forms of external storage: external hard drives, multiple USB flash drives, various memory cards, and several computers. With so many storage devices, sometimes remembering where exactly a particular file is gets a tad troublesome. Wouldn’t it be good if you had those files synchronized automatically with your notebook? That would mean no physical transfering will be required, and would certainly make things much more convenient.
Convenience for the user is what Dropbox is about. Dropbox provides a service where they act as the “middle-man” for your computer systems. When you first install Dropbox, a Dropbox folder will be placed in your home directory. Essentially, whatever you put into this folder will automatically be uploaded to Dropbox’s servers. You are now able to access your files via the Dropbox website by logging into your account, even if your computer is switched off!
Let’s take it one step further. You can register multiple installations of Dropbox to the same account. Now, whatever you placed in the Dropbox folder above will also be downloaded onto your other installation of Dropbox, and vice versa. This allows for multiple computers to have files synchronized among them; a useful function, regardless of whether you’re into design, business or IT.
Personally, I use Dropbox to synchronize small files; such as school work, photos and other miscellaneous documents. Since I usually work on my desktop at home and my notebook in school, I need an effective way to keep my documents on both updated. Dropbox does this beautifully, entirely negating the need to constantly shift data via a USB flash drive.
Dropbox is a offered as a free service with 2GB of storage, though premium services are available where up to 100GB of storage is permitted. Dropbox is available on Windows, Mac (OS X) and Linux too.
Never knew there was such thing as a dropbox, is this how the digital dropbox in ole works?
Heh. You should give it a shot.
I’m pretty sure this works differently from the Digital Dropbox in OLE, despite sharing similar names.
drop boxes are definately useful for everyday life but i was wondering if sharing folders are also counted as a sort of digital dropbox.
I guess sharing folders are sort of like how Dropbox works. The main difference is that Dropbox has a centralized server where your data is stored; while a sharing folder requires both users to be online for synchronization to take place.
Also, Dropbox has a web-UI (user-interface)! So even if you don’t have Dropbox installed on a particular computer, you can still access your files by logging into your account on the Dropbox website.
Sounds very useful! And it’s free?
Definitely!