I did this two weeks ago when I read about it online somewhere (???) so I explored the site a bit and signed up. After all, 50 gb would hold almost all of my genealogy stuff! And the material is available on mobile devices also - there are apps for both iOS and Android devices.
Note: The current Personal account signup is now for only 5 gb - still nothing to ignore.
I already have a free Dropbox account (2.75 gb) and a free Goggle Drive account (5 gb), so why would I want another Cloud account? Well, I am not able to put all of my important genealogy files and photograph files onto the Dropbox and Google Drive accounts. I figured that 50 gb on Box would cover those items that I don't have on the other cloud services.
I signed up, downloaded and installed the Box software, and the Box Sync software. Once you log in, the "All Files and Folders" screen appears. I created Folders using the "New" dropdown menu (shown below):
Then, within the newly created folder, I used the "Upload to this Folder" in the "Folder Options" dropdown menu (shown below) the files I wanted to put in the folder:
The uploads from my computer files (I did entire file folders) to the file folders on Box.com took a really long time to complete. It was uploading a megabyte every 4 seconds, and for 11 gigabytes of files that took about 12 hours - I just let it run in the background overnight. I don't know if this is a restriction caused by my computer system or the Box.com system.
When it had completed, the file structure in one of the folders looked like this:
It looks just like the files on my desktop computer! That was the goal, of course.
The Box Sync program keeps the two systems in synchronization - I see a small popup window from time to time on my desktop computer that tells me they are in sync, especially after I've added to, or edited files in, the file folders in question.
I can go to any of the folders and files on Box.com and "Download" them to the computer I'm using - my desktop, my laptop, a friend's computer, etc.
Box.com has another program to download that permits creation or editing of office files (word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, etc.) stored on Box.com.
Box.com says that groups and companies can share files using Box.com. This may be a good solution for genealogical societies who want to share resources, or want to backup their material to the cloud. I haven't tried this yet.
I'm still in the process of adding files to Box.com, and I need to install Box.com on my new laptop computer so that I can access my files on Box.com anywhere that I have an internet connection.
Dick Eastman's acronym is LOCKSS - Lots of copies Keeps Stuff Safe...I agree with this and am trying to practice it.
The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/02/technology-tuesday-5-to-50-gb-free-at.html
Copyeright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver
1 comment:
Bitcasa offers 10GB storage for free.
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