Which Companies Give Free Cloud Storage?
Many companies offer some free cloud storage to consumers as a way to allow them to test out their service prior to buying. For users with minimal storage requirements (just a few GB), these zero cost service options are sometimes all they require. It is important to understand the limitations involving most free storage before you decide on making it a part of your company's longer-term model, however.
What are Some of the Disadvantages of Free Online Storage?
Because free online storage providers earn the majority of their income from bigger clients who pay for storage space on the same network of virtual servers utilized by their non-paying customers, they often put several restrictions on free usage.
Minimal Storage Limits
Free online storage service providers generally limit your overall storage to less than 5GB, though some will offer more (e.g. ADrive allows as much as 50GB) and others less (Google Docs limits non-paying customers to 1GB). By decreasing the quantity of storage space offered, these firms want to entice free users to upgrade to standard, paying accounts after impressing them with the caliber of their service.
Caps on File Size
For an additional measure to control the amount of storage space allocated to free customers, most companies will place limitations on file sizes that can be stored on their servers. This limit ranges from extremely small (Amazon CloudDrive caps free customers' files at 2GB) to relatively big (Windows Live Skydrive and OpenDrive both permit as much as 100GB files).
It should be pointed out that file size limits are only associated with certain free online storage companies. A few companies place no size limits on individual file uploads.
Required Use of Web Portals
As an added security measure, certain providers force their free clients to use a portal to gain access to their account. In the absence of a desktop client utility, these users are forced to log in through a web page whenever they need to gain access to their files.
Advertisements on the Portal Page
Among the tradeoffs of utilizing a free storage service is that part of your web portal page gets used as ad space by the provider. By making money with these pages, the provider is able to generate some income from free clients. The downside for the user is only cosmetic, but might be an issue for some people.
No Dedicated Customer Support
Perhaps the biggest disadvantage to being a free client is that you simply don't receive the same amount of product support as standard customers. If you encounter problems with data loss and other service breakdowns, your free account could leave you at a complete loss when seeking a solution.
The Upside of Free Cloud Storage
Aside from the cost advantage (it's difficult to top a product that is free), free online storage services also afford customers something that is extremely rare in business today - the opportunity to test the actual service before purchasing it. For customers with limited storage requirements, this sample size may even be adequate to satisfy their needs. If you like the service offered by a specific company and your business' needs change, you can always upgrade to a paying account in order to satisfy your requirements.
What are Some of the Disadvantages of Free Online Storage?
Because free online storage providers earn the majority of their income from bigger clients who pay for storage space on the same network of virtual servers utilized by their non-paying customers, they often put several restrictions on free usage.
Minimal Storage Limits
Free online storage service providers generally limit your overall storage to less than 5GB, though some will offer more (e.g. ADrive allows as much as 50GB) and others less (Google Docs limits non-paying customers to 1GB). By decreasing the quantity of storage space offered, these firms want to entice free users to upgrade to standard, paying accounts after impressing them with the caliber of their service.
Caps on File Size
For an additional measure to control the amount of storage space allocated to free customers, most companies will place limitations on file sizes that can be stored on their servers. This limit ranges from extremely small (Amazon CloudDrive caps free customers' files at 2GB) to relatively big (Windows Live Skydrive and OpenDrive both permit as much as 100GB files).
It should be pointed out that file size limits are only associated with certain free online storage companies. A few companies place no size limits on individual file uploads.
Required Use of Web Portals
As an added security measure, certain providers force their free clients to use a portal to gain access to their account. In the absence of a desktop client utility, these users are forced to log in through a web page whenever they need to gain access to their files.
Advertisements on the Portal Page
Among the tradeoffs of utilizing a free storage service is that part of your web portal page gets used as ad space by the provider. By making money with these pages, the provider is able to generate some income from free clients. The downside for the user is only cosmetic, but might be an issue for some people.
No Dedicated Customer Support
Perhaps the biggest disadvantage to being a free client is that you simply don't receive the same amount of product support as standard customers. If you encounter problems with data loss and other service breakdowns, your free account could leave you at a complete loss when seeking a solution.
The Upside of Free Cloud Storage
Aside from the cost advantage (it's difficult to top a product that is free), free online storage services also afford customers something that is extremely rare in business today - the opportunity to test the actual service before purchasing it. For customers with limited storage requirements, this sample size may even be adequate to satisfy their needs. If you like the service offered by a specific company and your business' needs change, you can always upgrade to a paying account in order to satisfy your requirements.
About the Author:
Are you looking for free cloud storage? Then visit the author's site and find out more on who offers the best cloud storage!
You are receiving this because you signed up for it on 2011-10-03 from IP 203.109.66.181
To fine-tune your selection of which articles to receive, just login here
using your username:
To unsubscribe please use the following link:
Unsubscribe
No comments:
Post a Comment