alternative to dropbox

[rmcellig]

My Dropbox subscription is up for renewal in a couple of weeks. I am thinking of changing to another service. Any recommendations? I have tons (GB's of files that I need to back up in a safe place. I currently use Crashplan and Google Drive as well. I'm looking for a low cost alternative if there is such a thing. All suggestions welcome. Cloud or no cloud. I know I can back up to HD but HD's fail eventually. :)

[Dr. C]

Ubuntu one https://one.ubuntu.com/

[haqking]

My Dropbox subscription is up for renewal in a couple of weeks. I am thinking of changing to another service. Any recommendations? I have tons (GB's of files that I need to back up in a safe place. I currently use Crashplan and Google Drive as well. I'm looking for a low cost alternative if there is such a thing. All suggestions welcome. Cloud or no cloud. I know I can back up to HD but HD's fail eventually. :)

http://lifehacker.com/5818908/dropbox-vs-the-alternatives-which-online-syncing-service-is-right-for-you

http://www.cio.com/article/716487/5_Enterprise_Alternatives_to_Dropbox

https://www.informationweek.com/storage/reviews/5-dropbox-alternatives-for-cloud-storage/231000787

http://www.mspmentor.net/2012/12/18/box-and-dropbox-alternatives-logmein-anchor-vembu-weigh-in/

[ugm6hr]

I only use free services, but sugar sync is pretty good, and easily accessible from Android (and presumably iPhone) phones / tablets as well.

[forrestcupp]

I don't think they have a Linux syncing app, but Microsoft Skydrive is pretty nice. They give you 7GB free. The have Windows, Android, and iOS apps, but I don't think they have a Linux app.

Edit: Here are some older instructions (http://www.liberiangeek.net/2011/12/mount-map-microsoft-skydrive-in-ubuntu-11-10-oneiric-ocelot/) to mount a Skydrive in Ubuntu.

[roten]

There's also Cloudme http://www.cloudme.com (http://www.cloudme.com/)

[mamamia88]

Or you could get an external harddrive. What's the chance of both your internal and external drive dying at the same time? the gb to $ ratio is better for local storage

[PhilGil]

My Dropbox subscription is up for renewal in a couple of weeks. I am thinking of changing to another service. Any recommendations? I have tons (GB's of files that I need to back up in a safe place. I currently use Crashplan and Google Drive as well. I'm looking for a low cost alternative if there is such a thing. All suggestions welcome. Cloud or no cloud. I know I can back up to HD but HD's fail eventually. :)
Crashplan Unlimited is cheap ($4-$6/month depending on contract length). Why not use that for backup and Google Drive, Ubuntu One (free) or Dropbox (free) for file syncing?

If it were me, I'd also be backing up to a local USB drive (belt and suspenders FTW). The nice thing about CrashPlan is you can use it to backup locally as well as offsite.

[montag dp]

Or you could get an external harddrive. What's the chance of both your internal and external drive dying at the same time? the gb to $ ratio is better for local storageI was going to say this. Plus it's easier and faster to transfer your files over USB instead of the internet.

[Dragonbite]

Look into setting up your own OwnCloud (http://owncloud.org/) either locally or on Amazon so it is accessible over the internet while away from home?!

[mag1strate]

Google Drive is pretty good too, but it isn't integrated with the desktop. However, if you use google chrome or chromium frequently, then it has great support.

[ssam]

another option
http://sparkleshare.org/

[forrestcupp]

Or you could get an external harddrive. What's the chance of both your internal and external drive dying at the same time? the gb to $ ratio is better for local storage
Fires or other disasters are what worry me there. I back everything up to an external drive, but I put my most important things on Dropbox and Skydrive.

[Dragonbite]

Fires or other disasters are what worry me there. I back everything up to an external drive, but I put my most important things on Dropbox and Skydrive.

CrashPlan is pretty good and works with Linux. Neat thing about the client(s) is that you can have your system backup to another system on your network AND to cloud storage.

Could even have your laptop backup onto your desktop, and your desktop back up on your laptop and both backup to the cloud, as an example.

[forrestcupp]

CrashPlan is pretty good and works with Linux. Neat thing about the client(s) is that you can have your system backup to another system on your network AND to cloud storage.

Could even have your laptop backup onto your desktop, and your desktop back up on your laptop and both backup to the cloud, as an example.

Sounds interesting. Do they have a Windows client?

[Dragonbite]

Sounds interesting. Do they have a Windows client?

OS X
Windows (32/64)
Linux
Open Solaris

I think it runs on Java.

[renwklo]

I suggest Copy, a new player in cloud storage but definitely a great Dropbox alternative. Unlimited file size, delta sync, "fair storage" when sync with friends, sync out of folder via shortcut. And a Linux client from the start is nice.

You can get 20GB out of original 15 with this link: https://copy.com?r=DtLCDR

[Dragonbite]

I have a Copy account, but am not sure how much I trust it at this point. Dropbox has been around for a while and so is likely a fairly stable service but if Google Reader being closed in the next few weeks has shown me, careful about trusting any service no matter how big the provider. At least with Google Reader there has been fore-warning, Mega Upload didn't when it was closed by the courts!

ownCloud is looking like a viable alternative.

[Roasted]

I have a home server running Ubuntu Server 12.04.2. I have ownCloud (among several other services) running on it. To say I prefer ownCloud over alternatives like Dropbox and whatnot is an understatement. I still use Dropbox, but really only for auto-syncing my Android pictures over wifi. That's the extend of my usage with Dropbox. ownCloud gives me full control and I know all of the data is on my own server. I've had no issues with it and it's been quite a treat to use. Plus, space-wise I'm limited only by what's in my server. 3TB cloud, anybody?

:guitar:

[ttkk]

I am using new service, alternative to Dropbox - Copy.com.

On this link ( https://copy.com?r=zPku0e ) you will get 20GB free space on Copy.com - very good alternative to Dropbox, Sugarsync... Very easy to use, and fast, with mobile application, platform like Windows, Linux, iOS.

Dont forget to install the application for synchronization...

[C.S.Cameron]

I've tried Ubuntu One, Google Drive, Drop Box and Box.
I like the free 50GB that comes with Box rather than the puny free offerings of the others.
It seems to work well and syncs reliably.

[Dry Lips]

Look into setting up your own OwnCloud (http://owncloud.org/) either locally or on Amazon so it is accessible over the internet while away from home?!

+1 for OwnCload. I've got a server set up at home with OwnCloud, the only thing I use Dropbox and the likes for are file sharing.

But if the OP wants a "traditional" Dropbox alternative with tons of space for free, then I recommend MEGA! I think they give you 50 gigs for free, and additionally they market themselves as "the privacy company", something which surely is a good selling point these days.

https://mega.co.nz/

[3Miro]

I have a dropbox account from my job, there is a team of us that shares files on a corporate drop-box account.

I have an Ubuntu One for personal needs. Ubuntu One comes with clients for other OS as well (although I don't use them).

[PartisanEntity]

+1 for OwnCloud. Currently have it running on my Linode hosted vps.

[rmcellig]

+1 for OwnCload. I've got a server set up at home with OwnCloud, the only thing I use Dropbox and the likes for are file sharing.

But if the OP wants a "traditional" Dropbox alternative with tons of space for free, then I recommend MEGA! I think they give you 50 gigs for free, and additionally they market themselves as "the privacy company", something which surely is a good selling point these days.

https://mega.co.nz/

I'm still not quite sure what owncloud is. Is it strictly for cloud storage? How much stuff can I store? How much is it? I went to the web site but am not quite sure what it is for. I have a lot of stuff (over 2TB of stuff that I would like to store safely. Mostly my 6000 digitized LP's as well as all of my archived radio shows since 1992.

[ana551]

I always curse dropbox for its limited space but have been sticking with it mostly because of the fact that its most commonly in use

[Dry Lips]

I'm still not quite sure what owncloud is. Is it strictly for cloud storage? How much stuff can I store? How much is it? I went to the web site but am not quite sure what it is for. I have a lot of stuff (over 2TB of stuff that I would like to store safely. Mostly my 6000 digitized LP's as well as all of my archived radio shows since 1992.


Owncloud is just the software, you need to install it on your own server. So basically you need to have:

a) a server at home (could be an old computer with a couple of 4 TB HDD set up as RAID.)

or

b) a server (VPS or dedicated) that you rent elsewhere, which you could install owncloud on.


The storage space of owncloud depends on how much space you've got available at your server. (Yes, it's cloud software, you have to install it on a server, and then you install clients on the local machines in order to access your files. (There's a web interface too, but I find I've rarely used it.)

2 TB is a lot of space, so I think it would be a bad idea to rent your own server just to install owncloud. I'd say a home server is your best bet if you want to use owncloud, to rent a server would be a waste of money considering the amount of storage space that you need.

If your own server isn't what you look for, you could have another look at MEGA. They've got a 2 TB as well as a 4 TB plan. https://mega.co.nz/#pro

[Dragonbite]

I've started using my Copy account (127 GB and counting) which is handy since it is cross-distro (and cross-platform) but Dropbox includes options for accessing files with various editors and applications.

[Dry Lips]

Hey, this is really interesting:



BitTorrent’s serverless P2P sync software hits beta, adds Android support

"Because BitTorrent Sync is based on the principles of the BitTorrent protocol, you can sync as many big files as you want," the company said. "Transfers are encrypted, and information isn’t stored on a server in the cloud; data is protected by encrypted keys. Data is never passed through a stranger's computer or is stored on a server. Your files belong to you, and stay on the devices."

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/07/bittorrents-serverless-p2p-sync-software-hits-beta-adds-android-support/




BitTorrent Sync is free, unlimited, and secure file-syncing. It’s designed for fast file transfer: between users and machines; between editors and collaborators.

http://blog.bittorrent.com/2013/07/17/now-in-beta-bittorrent-sync/



Get it here: http://labs.bittorrent.com/experiments/sync.html?utm_source=bittorrent&utm_medium=web&utm_content=banner&utm_campaign=general