A far better Dropbox

[David Ells]

I'm sure a lot of you are already aware, but I couldn't find any other posts about this on DVinfo so I figured I'd start a new thread. Barracuda Networks has just launched an impressive new service called Copy with a promotion that gives 15GB plus 5GB with a referral code to each new user. Then for every additional referral, you get an extra 5GB. There's one guy I've seen on Twitter with over 10TB of free space!

I'm just tired of telling my clients to make sure they download my Dropbox files before I move them out of my DB folder. I'm now already at enough space to keep every client's file online for years.

I also love the Copy player. Dropbox re-encodes the video files and plays them back at lower quality. Copy just streams the files so they're full quality.

https://copy.com/?r=2sW0Hn

There's my referral link. You'll get 20GB instead of just 15GB if you sign up and install the app through that link.

[Andrew Smith]

I had 2GB on Dropbox and then this got bumped up to something ridiculous because I have a Galaxy 3 phone. I barely use enough of it as it is.

On the other hand. I find it much easier to put large proofs on a DVD data disc and post it. It will take an extra day but it gets there.

Andrew

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

Didn't know about this... Thanks for the tip!

[David Ells]

Thanks Mathieu. I just hit 100GB!

[Ervin Farkas]

Have you read this in their terms of service???

"We may also need to share your data, information, files and folders with third parties who assist us in providing the service. You hereby consent to such sharing".

[David Ells]

In context of the rest of that section, shown below, I saw no cause for concern.

"When you use the Product, you agree that Copy may duplicate and store your data, information, files and folders in accordance with Copy’s policies and these Terms. As between You and Copy, all information You provide to Copy remains your property.

We may also need to share your data, information, files and folders with third parties who assist us in providing the service. You hereby consent to such sharing. In addition, Copy may contain links to third party websites or resources. Your use of the third party materials is governed by their terms and not this Agreement. We are not responsible for or endorse these third parties.

You are responsible for maintaining and protecting your data in Copy and Copy is not responsible for any loss or corruption to your files or information or for backing up such information."



To me this is the (minor) risk that is run with any cloud service. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Kevin Spahr]

Thanks for the heads up - I gave you a click.
I can always use more off site storage!

[Kevin Spahr]

Oh now I see - they give you lots of storage but you can't sync any large files. They don't seem to mention the size limitation anywhere that I could find - but it didn't sync any of my audio files from a CD I'm working on. Looks like there is a one megabyte limit. I guess the strategy is to give away a crippled service and hope people pay to make it useable.

[David Ells]

1MB? I've synced 1GB files no problem so I don't know what you mean.

Since they are in the first stages as a service they have had short outtages from time to time but they don't have any size restrictions at all.

[Kevin Spahr]

I left it sync all night and every large file (over a megabyte) was marked by a folder named something like "LgFile". The entire backup was just a couple gig and only 700kb was backed and the Copy menu said "backup complete".

that's all I know...

with all the options available today - if something doesn't work, I'm not going to trouble shoot THEIR PROBLEMS. Especially when it concerns backup and sync services.

[David Ells]

That is very frustrating, but since I haven't shared that experience I am hesitant to agree it's all on Copy's end. For me, having 150GB for free with only one service interruption that put me out for an hour, I am very satisfied with Copy.

I maintain my Dropbox account in case Copy has any longer service interruptions during this start of their business and I would suggest others do the same.

I'm just saying that if I experienced something similar as you I would feel it was worth troubleshooting for the potential gain.

[Chip Gallo]

One of the drills I try to do with new vendors is open a support call. Even if they are free, no support can equal trouble. I no longer use Youtube for anything because they could not help me get logged back in after they were bought by Google and combined the logon credentials.

[David Ells]

Chip, that is good advice. I contacted Copy support during that hour that their servers were down and they promptly got back to me informing me that they had taken care of the problem and that my service would return shortly.

They also have a twitter account that is monitored carefully which I discovered after I tweeted at them and received a response within 3 minutes. They mostly just refer people to their customer support, but it's handy to see people tweeting at them with the same issue you're having so that you know it's system-wide.

[Panagiotis Raris]

this sort of thing would have been more useful 5-10 years ago; i just keep everything on our website now and have it all arranged so its sorted and individuals have to log in to access their data, i keep it for one year free, after that its $5 a year unlimited space. i actually make some (very little) money doing this for clients, and since my hosting provider gives me unlimited space and bandwidth, i give my clients 1TB of space and unlimited bandwidth.

Costs us $10 a month, end of last year we actually made $100-something, and its not like we don't have the site for a reason. i also keep my own data shadowed on there, as well as on my own personal server. my biggest issue is being sure that i and only i own the data and have exclusive rights to it, and this way i have zero data outages or issues.

[Steven Digges]

Originally Posted by Ervin Farkas

"We may also need to share your data, information, files and folders with third parties who assist us in providing the service. You hereby consent to such sharing".

A couple of years ago this would not have bothered me so much. Today, forget it! I am not a conspiracy guy but these days even the legal stuff is driving me crazy. "Your information" is valuable and important to a lot of organizations. I used to be a Google fan, not any more. The targeted advertising is bad enough. But Google+ is over the top in outright privacy invasion. I am not about to give anyone the right to GPS monitor my phone!

Here in recent months in the United States the news has been mind blowing about what has been taking place between the government and Microsoft, Google, and other tech company's. And now we just found out that those companies are allowed to bill my government millions of dollars for providing that "private information". So the tech giants are screaming "we had to do it". While they are reaping big money profits the whole time.

Steve