dacs.doc electric

I RECENTLY STUMBLED across a Website that lets you use up to 25 megabytes of storage space on its server for free. This storage is not for building your own Website but for, well, storing any of your own computer files you might want to archive. You can store Web files (html) or any other files, but surfers cannot access your files as Web pages. Having an immediate need for such storage, I took a look at the site, www.Xdrive.com, read the advertising, and decided to try it.

Application and login

First I had to fill out an application form and choose a screen name and password. The application form was straightforward and did not require any credit card numbers. And there was no long marketing questionnaire to fill out. However, Xdrive did ask for the names and e-mail addresses of some friends and potential new users. I give them a name or two. The next day I got a returned, undeliverable e-mail, which they had sent to one of my friends using my e-mail address and name. Because it was returned, I got to see the hokey letter Xdrive sent. It cured me of ever again giving out my friends' e-mail addresses.

Promos and Charges

At first it wasn't obvious to me how Xdrive makes money. A look at their Website showed that they have several promotions. A user can get the use of increased amounts of disk space by signing up friends. And you can lease additional space, which is the primary way they make money. The lease rates for additional space are $4.95 per month for 25 MB, $9.95 per month for 100 MB, and $19.95 per month for one gigabyte of disk space. I'm not aware of any other services available from Xdrive, but their FAQ alludes to future availability of Website hosting.

Software to Manage Files

Xdrive has a Windows Explorer-like interface. You can download from their Website the software that is used to manage your storage and install it at any time. The installation software is only 1.22MB. The installed software is 1.23MB. The software for managing Xdrive, which uses Windows Explorer, shows your C: drive and also Xdrive. So you can drag and drop or copy and paste files from C to X or back. The software is easy enough to use, and uploading and downloading times were reasonable.

Why I need this service, and how I've used it so far

I have two PCs-a laptop and a desktop. I can log on to AOL from either one. The 3.5-inch floppy drive on the laptop doesn't work, so I can't move files to or from it. Xdrive now gives me the option of moving files between the laptop and Xdrive, and then to the desktop. Let's say I want an address book file on both machines. I can log onto AOL and then to Xdrive. I can copy the address book file from the laptop C: drive to my storage area on Xdrive. Then I log out of Xdrive and AOL on the laptop. I can then log back into AOL and Xdrive using the desktop and copy the address file from Xdrive to the desktop. This will help me a great deal in making backups.

Suggested uses

Advertising copy promoting Internet accessible storage targets students or anyone else involved in doing research. You can store research notes and papers on Xdrive and access them from any Internet connection. I can envision small companies using Xdrive to store files for short periods of time. Larger companies generally have their own servers for such purposes.

Security

Xdrive claims that the files stored on their drives are secure. This isn't an issue for me because I don't have any sensitive files.

Competing Services

Another service that seems to specialize in file storage over the Internet is named @Backup. This company's advertising is catchy: "A secure hard drive in the sky." The pitch is for system backup off-premises. Their rate is $99 for 100MB per year. Another company, Visto.com, bundles 15MB of storage with its personal management software. Visto recommends file storage for photos and/or music or any other files. Their storage is sharable with other members of Visto. Visto.com, being a personal management organizer service, is not oriented toward large corporate storage. Initial membership in Visto is free, and the first 15MB of storage are free. Additional storage can be leased in 25MB blocks at $25 a year.

Conclusions and recommendations

It will be interesting to see how this service develops. Will companies and individuals archive huge libraries of files in Internet storage? Can information be shared by using online storage? Who gets custody in a divorce or company restructuring? And can online storage be examined without a subpoena?

Back to the real world, I would be interested in hearing about anyone who has tried online storage and how they are using it. I recommend trying Xdrive. It has ease of use and, of course, a free promo. After one recent file transfer, I received an e-mail from Xdrive that said because I had accessed my Xdrive ten times, I would be getting an additional 5MB of storage. Maybe I can sublease.