Online Backup Roundup

Everywhere you turn, there is some sort of back up solution. The online storage companies are growing quickly. I remember the days when online storage would consist of storing a few megabytes at a very high price because there just wasn’t much competition. Now you can store thousands of megabytes for a few dollars and sometimes even free! It seems like each year, a slew of online backup services pop up. Of course I am not going to tell you about every single one, but I’ll tell you about the few that I have tried out.

Over the years, I have tried out quite a few online storage services and there are some I like, and some I don’t like. Most of them are fitted with a Web2.0 look, featuring cool effects, a nice simple interface, quick upload speeds, and more. Pricing is all over the place for the backup services. I think most of theses services will settle down as competition knocks out some of the others. Streamload is a service that not many (if any) can compete with, offering an astonishing 25GB for free for signing up. That is not bad at all. Here is a list of a few more services that I have tried:

1. Mozy- An online backup system for your PC that safely and automatically backs up your files online. For the free version, it goes up to 2GB, but you can pay $4.95/mo to get unlimited storage. Mozy isn’t the best way to store your files online to share with your friends, or to post around the internet, but if you want online backups, then you want Mozy.
2. Box.net - A friendly looking storage system that is more geared towards sharing. It’s mainly a paid service, but you can try them out with 1GB space for free. Upon paying $7.95/mo you get 5GB of space. Box.net has some cool features, like setting up sub accounts for other people to view certain files, backups of certain files, or being very easy to share. Very nice interface as well.
3. OmniDrive- Store your files online and access them from anywhere at desktop-storage-speeds. The free version offers 1GB storage and 5GB bandwidth, but the paid options come out to be much cheaper than the competition. First paid plan is $40/yr for 10GB storage and 20GB bandwidth.The things I liked most about OmniDrive were its cross platform compatibility. Not only do they have an application for both OSX and Windows, but they have a web version for Linux users or other users who feel like it.
4. eSnips- A file uploading and sharing community where you can share, drive traffic to your site and join communities. You start off with a nice 5GB storage for free.The thing that bothers me about eSnips is the fact that they have less than 4000 hosted files and few users so if they were to have an increase, could they handle it? I would not want items to be accidentally erased.
5. Xdrive- This site had one of the better first impressions, on a design based judgment. You can conveniently upload, share, backup and access from anywhere your files with Xdrive. The free plan comes with 5GB of storage space. If you want to upgrade, it’s $9.95/mo for 50GB. Xdrive has one of the better looking interfaces, so it’s safe to say that AOL has a thing for design. As far as features, its very similar, but what sets it apart is its Pro Package, where you get 50GB for $99.50/yr or $9.95/mo. A little pricey for some, but a great program with some really cool features.

There are many more out there I just haven’t tried yet. I am sure there are newer ones, and some that I just haven’t heard of. So if you want to share some services that you use, or some you think are pretty good, please share it with us!