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DropBox - pyramid scheme? — Parallax Forums

DropBox - pyramid scheme?

W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
edited 2012-02-04 09:27 in General Discussion
So I've been using DropBox for a year and a half now. Just today I found out that for every referral, both parties get an additional 250 MB of storage space. Up to a max of 8 additional GB.

The free account starts at 2GB but if you use the link above you (and I) will get another 250 MB - providing you are a new user.

DropBox creates a folder on your computer which is sync'd with "the cloud". Any file saved into that folder will within a couple seconds appear on any other computer that has DropBox installed. After a year and a half of use I have not found a downside to using this free service.

Comments

  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2012-01-20 19:40
    Yeah, I'm up to 7.750gb of space.. I've also be using Dropbox for about a year now.. I'll be signing up for the 50gb account soon.

    OBC
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2012-01-20 19:50
    I thought of trying DropBox, but I bought a used Pogoplug off ebay and plugged a 250 GB drive into it. It isn't off site, but I don't have to worry about disk quotas.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-01-20 19:50
    I hope you guys have got local backup for when the cloud evaporates.

    -Phil
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2012-01-20 19:52
    @Phil,

    Dropbox keeps local backups on all "sync'd" computers, so even if the online portion dropped off, you'd still have your local copies.

    OBC
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2012-01-20 19:54
    Phil, that is the other reason I went with a Pogoplug. They can, go poof, but I always have the drive.
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2012-01-20 20:00
    Right OBC, I'm not relying on "the cloud" to maintain the backups, the backups exist on all my computers.

    If you only have one computer then it might not be as useful... although you can share you DropBox folder with anyone else that you trust with your files.
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2012-01-20 20:55
    My experience has been that the PC evaporates first and then the flash drive evaporates. Any off-site storage helps that.

    Redundancy? The more the merrier!
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-01-20 21:02
    But then there's been the experience of legitimate users of MegaUploads whose "cloud" files are now in the hands of the feds and inaccessible:

    -Phil
  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2012-01-20 21:10
    Still, DropBox is very handy for files that I want to share among my various computers / tablet / phone. I happen to need access to a bunch of manuals / articles / other references. I don't keep anything personal on it unless it's independently encrypted (by me) or such that it would be annoying, but not embarrassing or awkward or costly if it were read by others. Also, I only put copies on DropBox. The master files are on my desktop and that has regular backups to separate hard drives.
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2012-01-20 21:11
    People who have things to hide or are blatantly stealing should probably avoid saving things on the net :)
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2012-01-20 22:36
    so files saved to a particular folder get spread around your machinesvery quickly.
    What about deleted files?
    Do the deletions get propagated around instantly as well?
    I can see room here for a bit of heart ache if you are not carefull with this.
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2012-01-20 22:41
    Yes they get deleted as well. However if a file is opened on the remote machine it won't get deleted. If it is saved while remotely opened a copy will be made.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2012-01-20 23:10
    Ok. I was just getting at the point that when using systems like dropbox one still has to be mindfull of how things are backed up and not forget that one little mistake can blow away everything.
  • stamptrolstamptrol Posts: 1,731
    edited 2012-01-21 04:47
    Been using Dropbox for a couple of years now.

    Besides the points that have been brought up, another neat feature is the ability to customize which files are sync'd on each computer. For instance, even though all my computers have Dropbox installed, the netbook doesn't have its local hard drive load all the photos that I put in the Photos cloud file. But, everything is accessible anytime the netbook can get a wifi connection by going to the Dropbox site.

    Its a neat application and well worth the price of admission.

    Cheers,
  • Invent-O-DocInvent-O-Doc Posts: 768
    edited 2012-01-21 05:39
    Dropbox is great. I use it for all my work stuff. Get the benefit of local storage and cloud. Now it does not matter which computer I use. Still using free version. Not sure why other online storage outfits still can't match it.
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2012-01-21 06:57
    jazzed wrote: »
    People who have things to hide or are blatantly stealing should probably avoid saving things on the net :)

    But the problem with a site take down is that all users both legitimate and illegitimate are effected equally. This exact scenario happened with Mega Upload. There's also the ownership issue of files in cloud storage and if you own them.
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2012-01-21 08:13
    If'/when there is an issue of file security using Dropbox (and related cloud services), the addition of TrueCrypt is a good idea. At that point, it really doesn't matter if the information is my MP3 library or my tax returns.

    OBC
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2012-01-21 08:58
    The encryption thing brings up an interesting point. I assume that DropBox and programs like it do some file compression before transmitting stuff to the cloud, in order to reduce bandwidth and storage volume. If a file is encrypted before compression, though, it won't compress by much. So it would be better if the encryption were done after compression by the backup utility. Can DropBox do this in a secure fashion, so that only the user has access to decrypted information in the cloud? Otherwise, zipping the files and encrypting the archives manually could get a bit cumbersome.

    -Phil
  • max72max72 Posts: 1,155
    edited 2012-01-21 14:08
    With dropbox you can restore deleted files or previous savings (in synced). Or you can permanently remove all this stuff.
    The free version can go back 30 days, while the payed version offer for an extra unlimited restore. All this can be accessed from the web interface, and it saved me a couple of times. Moreover it doesn't affect your quota..
  • SRLMSRLM Posts: 5,045
    edited 2012-01-21 14:29
    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    The encryption thing brings up an interesting point. I assume that DropBox and programs like it do some file compression before transmitting stuff to the cloud, in order to reduce bandwidth and storage volume. If a file is encrypted before compression, though, it won't compress by much. So it would be better if the encryption were done after compression by the backup utility. Can DropBox do this in a secure fashion, so that only the user has access to decrypted information in the cloud? Otherwise, zipping the files and encrypting the archives manually could get a bit cumbersome.

    -Phil

    Additionally, encryption is more secure when you compress the data before hand. Compression reduces the redundancy in the data representation, and so brings it closer to a perfect (minimum) representation of the information. So regardless of bandwidth, you should always compress data before encrypting.
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2012-01-22 09:29
    Correction. If you share a folder with someone else, whatever is in that folder will count towards your allotted space. So if someone shares an entire DropBox folder with you it is a good idea to go into the preferences and select only the sub folder(s) that you need for syncing.
  • MunifTheGreatMunifTheGreat Posts: 20
    edited 2012-01-22 18:07
    Why don't anyone use Syncdocs, it worked for me pretty well. Specially since I'm using google everywhere.
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2012-01-24 08:45
    Ever since I lost my W9GFO YouTube account I don't really like the idea of everything going through one entity. I'm not convinced that Google's infiltration into everything is a good thing.

    If I go look up something related to lasers next thing I know I am being fed ads for a laser machine. I search some amazon reviews for a product, then on different websites I now have ads for the same thing. It's creepy.
  • Luis DigitalLuis Digital Posts: 371
    edited 2012-01-24 13:17
    Cheap hard drives, more storage capacity, ease of moving data, and people now are interested in keeping his things in a cloud???

    Worse, where the United States of China can delete your data, your money, time, and spy / analyze its contents.

    Also, if you are found guilty, can go to a concentration camp.

    No thanks.
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2012-01-24 13:25
    Luis Digital wrote: »
    Cheap hard drives, more storage capacity, ease of moving data, and people now are interested in keeping his things in a cloud???

    My interest in DropBox is not for keeping things in a cloud but for the instant synchronization across multiple computers.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2012-01-25 03:41
    RAID hard drive arrays really do the heavy lifting of reliability - take a look at them if you need such.

    Sychronization is a valid use, but any data really worth keeping should be kept within your own physical world - not out there on the cloud. You never know who the next Megadownload.com is going to be. And the US FBI and IRS seem to have a bit of mad dog SWAT in their genes.
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2012-02-04 09:27
    RAIDs don't sync across multiple computers. Even on the DropBox website they list the "cloud" backup feature last. It's main purpose is synchronizing and sharing files across multiple computers.
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