First the pros:

SugarSync (IMHO) does have some advantages over Dropbox (for my uses):

1. the ability to sync any folder (not just one designated folder)
2. the “SugarSync” File Manager
3. “Share folders with permissions and password” – haven’t tested this
4. Like Dropbox, they offer bonus space if you refer people to their service, this means that you could potentially get up to 7GB free space (more than Dropbox) if you refer 20 people.

There’s a full comparison page on the SugarSync website: www.sugarsync.com/sync_comparison.html

Now the cons:

• I think that although it’s a good feature to be able to sync any folder, this makes the system more complicated, and makes it more difficult to keep track of which folders are synchronized; the file manager therefore becomes a necessity (for Dropbox a file manager would just be a non-essential feature).

  For advanced users this isn’t a problem of course, the file manager makes it all quite clear, and there’s a visual indicator on files/folders too (as with Dropbox).

• No Linux support

• Now the big one (disadvantage): presumably because they want to push as many people as possible to paid plans, the free account is feature limited This page shows how “You can only backup & sync up to two computers“, and there are a couple of other limitations too.

Of course, limiting features for the free plan is a strategic decision for SugarSync, but as I have more than 2 computers, if I were to consider a paid plan, currently I would favour Dropbox as I can already test all the features with all of my computers (obviously I would look at the value £s to GBs).

I also think that providing the same service to free and paying customers (other than storage space) improves the adoption of the Dropbox service, which means better brand recognition, presumably leading to greater take-up of paid plans.

Verdict

I will keep SugarSync installed, and test out some of the features.  If you only have 1 or 2 computers, SugarSync may be the best choice for you.

However for simplicity and ease of use, and being able to use all of the features even with the free version, I am happy to stick with Dropbox as my primary ‘Cloud’ sync/backup system for now.

If you want to sign up to SugarSync, please consider using my referral link: https://www.sugarsync.com/referral?rf=minj5qmy6ohd

These excerpts from the Dropbox website should help explain…

Dropbox uses Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3) for storage.  Amazon have a robust security policy, which you can read about in their Overview of Security Processes document.  Apart from physical security, there are also other technical security precautions in place to prevent unauthorized access to data.

Back to Dropbox… they say:

Nobody can see your private files in Dropbox unless you deliberately invite them or put them in your Public folder. Everything in your Public folder is, by definition, accessible to anyone. Otherwise, the only way to access the files in your Dropbox online is with your username and password.

Here are the key points in their “Advanced Users” section:

Dropbox uses modern encryption methods to both transfer and store your data.

• All transmission of file data and metadata occurs over an encrypted channel (SSL).
• All files stored on Dropbox servers are encrypted (AES-256) and are inaccessible without your account password
• Public files are only viewable by people who have a link to the file(s). Public folders are not browsable or searchable
• Dropbox employees aren’t able to access user files, and when troubleshooting an account they only have access to file metadata (filenames, file sizes, etc., not the file contents)

This was enough to satisfy me, although I don’t store my most important files on there. (Perhaps I should!)

To answer questions I posed at the start…

1. Can the guys and gals at Dropbox read what’s inside your super-secret file? No (see above)
2. What happens if you, or someone you’re sharing a folder with, accidentally deletes something important?
   Dropbox keeps snapshots of every saved change in your Dropbox folder over the last 30 days.  So you can restore deleted files with a few clicks.
   Dropbox also keeps a hidden collection, or cache, of your files (in your Dropbox application settings) as backup storage . Files in the cache folder are stored there often after they are moved or deleted after syncing. If you can’t find your file using all other practical methods, you can try to recover the file from Dropbox cache as a last resort. The Dropbox cache will keep files for up to 3 days after they have been moved or deleted.
3. Where are your files actually kept?
   If you’ve installed the Dropbox desktop application, your files are stored both on your computer (in your Dropbox folder) and on Dropbox’s secure online servers in data centers located along the east coast of the United States.

I logged into my Dropbox account and moments later a balloon pop-up in my System Tray informed me that I had another 250 MB space.  I hadn’t yet referred another friend, although I was thinking about doing it.  So assuming that Dropbox weren’t giving me extra space just for *thinking* about referring someone, I had a look around my account to find out why I had been given the extra space.

Once you have logged into your account there’s a Recent Events tab.  I clicked on that and the latest message informed me

You became a Dropbox Guru and earned 250MB of bonus space!

I had no idea how I had become a ‘Dropbox Guru’ so I did some digging and found out that if you click on the Getting Started tab, there’s a message at the top:

Welcome to Dropbox. Complete these steps to become a Dropbox guru!

It gives a list of things to do; after you’ve completed each one, you get an extra 250 MB!

I had managed to cross everything off the list without even realizing it!

Edit: If you’re interested in how secure files stored in a Dropbox are see Dropbox Security.

I investigated some of the options and narrowed the choice down to:

• Mikogo
• Yuuguu
• TeamViewer
• CrossLoop

Each of these is free, they all have pros and cons for me.

I didn’t install each one, but read others’ reviews and the product websites.  Finally I thought I’d reduce the choice to TeamViewer and CrossLoop, simply because I didn’t want to have to keep spelling out the website address over the phone!

Finally CrossLoop won out (although the first person I used it with did ask me to spell it!), as it appears to be more suited to remote support than having a primary focus of “online meeting” which is the case with some of the others.

You do have to register, giving your name and email address, but other than that it appears pretty simple.  The downside in contrast with Logmein Free is that you can’t access a remote computer without someone being there.  But for remote support, and screen sharing, it looks pretty good.

In my next post about CrossLoop I’ll explain exactly how download, registration and connection is done, and then point clients to it, to help them get connected.

You can pay to increase this space to 50 GB ($9.99 per month) or 100 GB ($19.99 per month).

Another way to get an additional 3 GB (5 GB total space) is by accepting a referral, or by referring up to 12 people.

If someone refers you, and you use the link they sent when signing up, then you instantly get 2.25 GB on signup.  The person who referred you also gets an additional 250MB of space.

You can then refer other people, and for each person who signs up, you get an extra 250MB, up to a maximum of 3GB extra space (5GB in total) with a free account.

Here’s how to refer someone:

1. Sign into your dropbox account at www.getdropbox.com
2. On that page you should see:
   
3. Click on the ‘referring your friends’ link and you should then get a page with 3 options (A, B and C).
4. Options B and C involve you entering someone else’s email address into a website – not something I’m ever comfortable doing – so I would use option A:
   
5. If you copy the whole link then paste it into an email, you can then send it to whoever you like.
   If you have a Facebook or Twitter account you can click on the links provided to share your referral link that way, or you can just paste the link into a blog or MySpace page etc.  That’s what I did on my earlier blog post.

The link is unique to you, so when your friend uses it to sign up, Dropbox know you’ve referred them and will give both of you some extra space.  I haven’t got the maximum space yet so here’s a handy referral link for you to use: https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTE3MTg4ODM5

To find out how to share a folder with someone, see Sharing a Dropbox folder.

Yes, it reduces the irritation of having to email things to myself, or remembering to save onto USB key when I want to take a file somewhere, great

Possibly the best thing about it though, is being able to use it to send/share large files with others (https://www.getdropbox.com/tour#3).

My sister wanted a video she saw on my computer of one of the children the other day, and when I looked it was around 97 MB – too big to email.  Now, we could have found a USB key and copied it to that, but we decided to test out sharing on dropbox.  Here’s how we did it, and how you could too:

1. I created a new folder called “Aunty” inside my dropbox:



2. I right-clicked on the newly created folder and selected Dropbox > Share this folder…



3. This took me to the dropbox login page in my browser, where I entered my email address and password to log in.
4. After logging in I was presented with a page headed “Share Aunty” (the name of the folder) where I could enter the email address of the person I wanted to share the folder with.  So I entered my sister’s email address.

   

   Ideally the email address you type would be the one they used to sign up to dropbox.  However, I think you can use any email address that you know they’ll receive (I haven’t tested this yet).  In fact, I don’t think they even need to have signed up to dropbox yet, they will just receive an invitation to do so if they haven’t.  I’ll post a comment when I know for sure.

5. I then copied the file she wanted into the folder and after a few minutes uploading, we could see that it was synchronized on the dropbox server (the green checkmark shows that it’s synchronized).



6. As my sister had her dropbox set up already the “Aunty” folder just appeared in her dropbox.  Her computer downloaded (synchronized) the files in the folder automatically, so now we can just drag any file we want to share into that folder, and dropbox does the rest.

   As you can see this works with any type of file, large or small, so it’s great for sharing documents and photos too.If she’s using a different computer, without the dropbox client installed, she can just sign in to the website and download any files through the browser.

Try it out with your friends and family, and let me know how you get on!  If you register on this blog, you can post your comments below.

If you find that you need more space, see: Get more Dropbox space.

A folder on your desktop works like all your other folders, but a little (green) icon tells you whether the version in your Dropbox is synchronized.  You can then access that file on any other computer, either in the same way – through a folder – or by logging in using a web browser.

You can also share folders with other people, which makes Dropbox an easy way to share large files with friends and colleagues around the world.

Edit 28/9: If sharing files with others is what really interests you, this post shows you how to share a Dropbox folder.

I’ve heard about similar services before (like SugarSync and drop.io), but not investigated.  This looks pretty good, particularly as it is cross-platform (Windows, Mac and Linux) unlike Ubuntu One, which seems to be similar, but only for Ubuntu.

…by preference I’d probably prefer to use something written by Linux/Ubuntu programmers, but cross-platform support is a real advantage.

Mozy gives you 2GB of free backup space (for home users), and you can upgrade if you want/need more.

As I’ve mentioned before, backup is a must.  If you’re comfortable about having your data on a remote server somewhere (as with Dropbox etc.) then this service might be worth considering.

I didn’t want to link to one of my websites and give away more information than was necessary to eBay, so I looked for something that would give me a temporary web page and here it is.

You can create a page quickly, without giving away any personal information (obviously your IP address is logged etc.).  It lasts for up to 90 days (plenty for an eBay auction) and then disappears.  Exactly what I was looking for.