Web Worker Daily has done quite a bit of coverage of online sites you can use to back up and share files. I’m always looking for new and different solutions, though. Lately, I’m impressed with Drop.io, Xdrive and Box.net–each of which has some unique advantages. It’s worth taking a look into all three of them.

Recently, I did a post on Box.net’s new OneBox offering. While Box.net offers only 1GB of online storage with a free account, its free OneBox service seamlessly exposes files that you store to a slew of useful, free online applications. These include online editing with Zoho, document signing with EchoSign, CAD previewing with Autodesk Freewheel, working within the ThinkFree productivity suite, cropping photos with Picnik, and more. If you want to work with the files you store online, take a gander at this. But what if you need more storage space?
For those who want significantly more than a gigabyte of online storage at no cost, Xdrive is a good choice. With a free account, you get 5GB of online storage—more than a Gmail account gives you. If you do ever need to upgrade, you get 50GB of storage for $9.95 a month. On the fun side of this service, Xdrive Shows make for a very easy and slick solution for sharing photos with others.

If you’re really looking for an unusual solution with some unique advantages, consider Drop.io. When you upload files to Drop.io, the application creates a web site to store them in (a drop). You can assign passwords to the files you store, and you can provide a link and passwords to those you want to share files with. This adds up to the service’s biggest advantage: Nobody you share files with on drop.io needs to register in any way—including you—and you don’t even have to provide an e-mail address.

Drop.io also has easy features for letting collaborators add notes to posts, and it automatically converts most popular file formats, including video and audio formats. If you regularly share files with clients where you want a truly quick-and-dirty way for everyone to get at them, it’s worth a try. One caveat about it, though, is that beyond using passwords, you don’t get the level of security that online storage sites usually provide. It’s worth remembering that there are so many good, free online storage solutions that you don’t have to use just one.
Do you have any good tips on online storage and file sharing solutions?
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