I worked from different computers, I have several machines, not counting the ones I have to use at school labs for printing purposes. Last week, I had a wonderful invention of bringing my USB key everywhere I go by attaching it to my key-chain. Of course, I have a habit of needing my files everywhere I go and always have to have the most updated version of each and every files… I am a picky bastard when it comes to usability and efficiency in file storage.

For years, I have relied on Gmail to store my files due to the my habit of having GMail opened at all times… And for years, I have had the trouble of digging up my files under my large amount of spam and useless emails.

I came across this wonderful software called Dropbox that offers just what I need. A very simple All-In-One production tool. Can’t think of any other method of combining SVN, WebDAV, Online File Storage, Network Storage, Music & File Sharing, FTP Server, Google Docs.
The idea is pretty simple, having a folder of files, that stay sync on all computers. Sweet, isn’t it?

image from dropbox blog

Dropbox is an online storage, data backups, file sharing, data synchronization which is simple enough that I have easily convinced my non-tech girlfriend to have her folders synced with mine to share files with ease. Even though she sits next to my desk at home, the idea of having to “dig through my mess, find a flash drive, copy the file onto it, eject it, plug it in my girlfriend’s pc and eject it again”…. thrilled me.

Without the hassle of emailing files to myself and/or having files transferred onto a flash drive to have it traveled between computers. All you need to do is click the sync button, or better yet, do nothing at all and let it auto-sync. The file in that folder is accessible through different computers on different platform and also, available through the web interface provided my dropbox. Other than that, the sync folder acts just like any other folder on your computer.

With the free plan, Dropbox offered 2GB of storage without a limitation of file size. You can subscribe to a higher storage plan (up to 100GB), but 2GB is sufficient for me and my daily usage. Although if you upload files through the web interface, the file size is capped at 350MB.

Dropbox is available on Windows, MAC, Iphone and Linux. I have an ipod touch 2G and the functionality of dropbox also let me view/edit files on the dropbox folder as well. Pretty neat.

If you accidently deletes or modify a file, dropbox is just there to help. Dropbox is not only a storage service, it’s also utilized a version history function to recover lost or deleted data. Files deleted from the dropbox folder may be recovered from any of the computer in synced.

I am very pleased with this software service and will be using it for my daily use from now on. Unless something cooler happens