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File Repositories Online (Storing & Sharing Files using the Web)

The last couple of months a common question has been coming up on how to share large files with other people. In a previous post, I shared about a resource called “YouSendIt” which allows you to send file too large for your e-mail client to handle using e-mail to let the receiver know where to find the file. But what people have been looking for lately is a way to share large files with a team (or other group) of people so they can access these files when then need it; in essence a virtual server of files.

In the “YouSendIt” post I mentioned several other tools that do just this thing and I need to add two more. No doubt many of you have other that you use, but these are the ones I have used in the past.

• drop.io – As Drop.io puts it, “Use drop.io to privately share your files and collaborate in real time by web, email, phone, mobile, and more.” It in essence creates temporary web spaces (can be laid out as a blog or other format) that allows you to TEMPORARILY share files, text, pictures, audio drops etc. in a convenient location. There is a free service and a paid service. Uploaded files has a maximum size of 100 MB per drop. These drops can be password protected. One thing that can be difficult but also a feature is that each drop is deleted from the system after a pre-determined number of days after the last drop. This way, you don’t have old files sitting around at different sites forever because you forgot about it.
• 4shared.com – 4shared is  a free file hosting system that the ISI DFW team uses to share files. It has a 100 MB upload limit. 4shared allows you to store up to a total of 5 GB of data stored in as many “folders” as you want to organize your files. You can decide to share your folders or files with individuals or to the public in general. You can also password protect your files. There is also a desktop interface to upload files.
• Windows Skydrive – Skydrive is a part of the Microsoft Windows Live system and you use your Microsoft Live/Hotmail sign-in to log into the system. You receive 500 MB of free online storage (max 50MB file size) at no cost. You can store things private, public or shared files. In contrast to Windows Live Mesh which exists to synchronize your files across several PC’s using the internet.
• Microsoft Office Live Wordspace – For MS Office users, you can store (and share) your files on Microsoft Office Live Wordspace for free. IT comes with 5 GB of storage with individual documents as large as 25 MB. The strength of this service is that it has an interface with all the Microsoft Office products such that you just have to go to the file interface of that product and you can save or open files as if your files were on your hard drive. If you are only on the web, you can still read your files using a online reader of MS Office files.
• Box.net – Box.net is a very popular service to share files. While the free account only allows 1GB of data storage at a time, its strength lies in the variety of platforms that can access your file “box.” I can store folders on my box and I have a application on my iPhone (or blackberry) that allows me to upload, access and read those files any time ON MY PHONE. Of course we can read the files online and access them via the web too. You can even e-mail your documents directly from your phone.
• DropBox – While I haven’t used drop box yet, I have been alerted to this by a dear friend who works with international students. In many ways it is not too different than other file sharing sites like box.net and 4 shared. One of its biggest strenths is that while the free account comes ONLY with 2 GB total storage space, there is not a max file size to contend with.

As I shared before, there are many of these types of file sharing/storage sites around. I guess the most basic way to do this too is to set up an FTP site through your web hosting service. Still, short of that, these are great options to share files with your teams, students, volunteers, etc.

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