What software can I use to store and transfer large files?
With increasing bandwidth and lower web storagecosts, file sharing is becoming easier and inboxes around the world are becoming less clogged-up. Internet users trying to get around the attachment size limits put in place by most e-mail providers today can send increasingly large files, either HD video recordings or an archive of several files of more than 1GB in size, thanks to both free and paid facilities.
Some offer storage space only, while others have personal size limits and some only allow you large file transfers by first installing software on your computer.Many of the paid services can also be helpful for businesses and can be branded with a company logo, give download pages custom domains, and control how many times any particular file is downloaded.
Tatiana Antonelli Abella, founder of Goumbook, said that at work she found storing documents online meant they could be retrieved from any computer with an Internet connection, on any day of the week, at any time of the day or night.
"Therefore we started very soon using simple online tools such as Dropbox and found out that many of our clients and partners used it as well. Other online solutions are WeTransfer and GoPaperless, but the way to choose [the service] depends on how savvy you are with technology and also assessing the needs of the company," said Abellla.
"One way to start understanding what kind of technology you need is to make a list of all the tasks that you do involving paper. For example, taking notes during meetings with clients, whether over the phone or in person, printing bank statements, or invoices and statements for mailing," she said. "Once the list is ready, you can start surfing the web for technology that will help you turn your office into a paperless one!"
So with all these choices, which software or technology is going to provide the most features, at no cost, or for the best value for your money?
Free file storage services allow you to dump large files in a number of places. One drawback is that there tends to be a lot of on-site advertising and your files may not be saved for very long. Here's a breakdown of what's out there:
Dropbox (2GB capacity)
Dropbox is a file storage and synchronization service. Free users get 2GB, which can be upgraded to 50GB and 100GB for USD10 or USD20 a month respectively. If your file is exactly 2GB, or just a little smaller, you can store it on Dropbox free of charge.
File Dropper (5GBcapacity)
This is one of the largest services handling 5GB files right in the browser and free of charge. Files are kept 'forever', and best of all there's no registration required. Instead, when your file is done you get a URL that links directly to the file.
Humyo (10GBcapacity)
Humyo has both a free and a paid plan, and the free plan is very generous at 10GB of free storage. There are basically no set-in-stone file size limits, just a cautionary message that encourages files that are over 10GB to be split into smaller segments.
WeTransfer (2GBcapacity)
WeTransfer is extremely user friendly and has a very slick and stylish site that keeps the number of things you have to fill out to an absolute minimum. You just pick the file (or files) you want to send and drop in an e-mail address for both you and the person you're sending it to. It then starts the transfer and gives you a simple status meter with an estimate of how long it's going to take.
Mailbigfile (2GBcapacity)
There is a free version of this service, but maximum uploads stand at 200MB. Going pro costs USD15 a year and increases the upload size to 2GB, as well as adding an address book and keeping files up for 28 days once they've been uploaded. The service also offers a 'business' account for USD50 a month, or USD300 a year, which can be branded, and given a custom subdomain, but it has a cap of 2GB on individual file sizes.
YouSendIt (2GBcapacity)
YouSendIt's free service is limited to 100MB uploads, whereas the pro and business plus plans, which start at USD10 per month per user, bring that limit up to 2GB. One big downside here is the total storage on the pro plans stand at 2GB. To send more than one large file at a time, you need to sign up to the business plus plan, which comes with 6GB of storage.
© Zawya BusinessPulse 2013
