Review of DropBox Online Storage Solution

Overview and History

Dropbox has been around for a couple of years and they have done amazing things in that limited of time. In particular their VoteBox idea that invites you to choose which developments they work on first. There are 3 packages: 1 free and 2 premium or pro version. The free version allocates 2 Gb whereas the pro versions give you with 50 or 100 Gb. Backup and synchronizing are simple to initiate and work constantly unnoticed making this system a genuine "set it and forget it" utility. They additionally give the option for limitless file versioning as an option to the Premium versions.

PDA devices are fully supported with apps for iPhone and iTouch and a website for online enabled devices. Collaboration features include public and private file sharing as well as commenting on files and folders. There are more features in on the way. Photo albums and video streaming are currenlty supported. And how is this for customer facing: If you follow the 'getting started guide' and complete most of the steps you get an bonus of 250Mb of storage! Brilliant! If you need even more space, just invite friends and you get another 250Mb for each referral up to a limit of 8Gb.

Dropbox was founded by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi back in 2007, and was founded using seed funding from Y Combinator. As of now, Dropbox is well-funded by Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, and Amidzad. After launching publicly in September of 2008, they have taken on over 3,000,000 customers and are growing swiftly. They have been featured in the New York Times and on TechCrunch, and have won awards from PC Magazine and CNET. Their enthusiasm is making a program that really delivers and putting it in millions of people's hands.

Feature Set

Security

DropBox has good security: The web portal is SSL encrypted and you need a username and password to access your account. Files in transit are protected with SSL encryption and when on their servers, your information is encrypted with 256 AES encryption. Also, they use the Amazon AWS service which is supported by the Amazon name and quality stamp.

Backup Features

Continuous and 'Block Level' backups are used to guarantee your files are constantly protected. Even open files are backed up on a continual basis by using 'Block level Incremental Backups' which means that DropBox only backs up the bits of a file that have been amended, instead of the entire file.
Attaching files and folders to the DropBox backup schedule is really straightforward: Simply select the files you wish to backup and choose 'backup with DropBox'. Alternative versions of files are saved so you can always get back an earlier edition of a document if you deleted it. There is also a status indicator to show how the backup is progressing.
Unfortunately network and removable drives cannot be added to archives and professional databases such as exchange and SQL server are not supported directly.

Restore Features

Restoring your data is really straightforward. There are two main choices: Restore by way of the web site: log in to your account, tunnel down to the file you wish to restore , then choose how you wish to retrieve it. The secondary approach is even simpler: Simply use the DropBox Manager to restore any desired edition of a file.

Control and Analysis

There are processor and bandwidth throttling available from the DropBox client software. Reports and logging can also be read from the client software.
Proxy servers are supported with options for HTTP, SOCKS4 and SOCKS5.

Interface

The interface is uncluttered and straightforward to use. There are only a few options available thus keeping everything simple and easy to use. There is client software to configure and once setup, the software provides a DropBox folder where all protected files are listed.

Device Support

There is currently support for every device under the sun! If your devices can get access to the internet then they can make use of DropBox.

Limitations

The web portal is limited to file uploads of up to 300Mb in size however you can get around this by using compression tools like WinRAR or WinZip which let you to break large files into manageable chunks. The restriction is not present if you make use of the client software.
File retention (before deletion) is one month unless you invest in 'Pack-Rat' which is available as an bolt-on to the Premium editions and costs an additional 39 dollars per annum and allows you limitless file versions and file retention.

File Sharing and Collaboration

Files can be shared publicly - which allows anyone to view them - or privately where you allocate access rights to specific files and folders for each user or group.
Photo Albums are supported and can be shared either publicly or privately.
Comments can be appended to each file that is shared and individuals can be allowed to make additional comments to create a discussion about a particular file or folder.

Synchronization

Synchronization is supported between different devices and between devices and the web site. A really good feature is the LAN synchronization. This permits users on the same network (home or work) to quickly synchronize changes locally without going to the internet first. This greatly reduces your internet bandwidth load.

Web 2.0 Integration

At the time of writing, there was no direct integration with online services to allow editing of documents, etc.

Customer Support

There is no phone, online chat or direct email customer support available. There are however, loads other ways to get advice available: You can contact support with a web form on their site; there is an extensive knowledge-base and FAQ section; the documentation is detailed to a sensible level. There are also tutorials, a demo and case studies available. However, by far the most useful resources for do-it-yourself support are the forum and blog. These are full of handy advice and support from both the DropBox support crew and customers using the service.

Ease Of Use

Extremely straightforward to get started with: Signup, login, download the software on all your devices and start protecting your files. As of December 2009 there is now a LAN sync feature which is great for devices in one location. Both the desktop and web interfaces are light, elegant and simple to use. All things considered a very easy package to use.

Cost

- Initial setup: free
- Monthly: Basic: free; Pro50 - $9.99 / mth; Pro100 - $19.99 / mth
- Yearly: Basic: free; Pro50 - $99 / mth; Pro100 - $199 / yr
- Initial allowed storage amount: Basic: 2Gb; Pro50 - 50Gb; Pro100 - 100Gb
- Cost of additional storage: n/a
- Cost of additional devices / PCs / users: n/a
- Referral Program: 250Mb per referral up to a max. of 8Gb
- E-billing facility: Free - n/a; Pro: yes

Conclusion

DropBox is really simple to install and use. It provides almost all the features of a fully rounded online storage solution: Backup, Web site, multiple device sync, file-versioning, online photo albums and file sharing. The only functionality not present is integration with web programs to permit you to alter and create files directly in your DropBox. The pricing is reasonable yet there are better options available if you want more than 100Gb. The security is very good and the customer support is good, although the lack of telephone, web chat and direct email support is a bit restrictive. The forum and blog are excellent arenas to get your problems discussed. If you want an all-round online storage solution then DropBox is an excellent choice.