Drop it like it’s hot...with Dropbox

By Devang Joshi
joshid@mytjnow.com 

Everyone has had the “uh-oh” moment, when the sudden realization of file loss strikes you. The paper, the presentation you spent all night working on has been taken away by those nasty computer elves, never to be seen again. Impossible to prevent, computer failure can put a serious hamper on your productivity, especially considering just how much of our work is dependent on these little magic boxes. 

What is the solution to our file loss woes? Well conventional wisdom tells us to ALWAYS save a copy of our work somewhere safe so that in case of computer failure we have a copy to refer back to. But when your “in the zone,” who has time to stick in a jump drive or email yourself a copy of the file in question? Fortunately, there is a wonderful little program that can help us with all of these problems.

Dropbox is a multiplatform (meaning it works on Windows, Mac & Linux) data syncing program that automatically backs up files to the internet. What seems like digital wizardry is actually an eloquently simple system that keeps your files nice and safe. 

So how does it work?  Once you install Dropbox onto your computer, a folder called “Dropbox” will appear inside your user files (you can place this folder whereever you would like, such as inside your “my documents” folder). At that point, the folder acts like any other folder on your computer. You can simply drag and drop files to and from the Dropbox folder to other locations on your computer. Files and folders inside the Dropbox folder will automatically sync to your online account. So rather than working on your paper from the Desktop, save the file to the Dropbox folder, and every time you hit save, the most up to date version of the file will sync to your account. Files can be accessed via the web, by simply logging in to your Dropbox account. 

From the web GUI you can download files you need and, if you are not on your computer, upload files that will automatically sync the next time you log on to your machine! You can even share files and folders with other Dropbox users, so collaboration is very straight forward. 

If you have multiple computers, you can sync critical files among them (regardless of OS) by installing Dropbox on each machine. 

How much does it cost? Well a free account gives you 2gb of storage (with no limit on individual file size).     

You can get up to 8gb of free space by referring others to Dropbox, and paid plans start off at $9.99 a month and range from 50gb of space to 350+gb of storage, depending on your needs.  

What do I think about Dropbox? Well I LOVE IT, plain and simple I use it personally and it has saved my tail on more than one occasion. (TJ also uses Dropbox don’t ya know). 

Want to learn more about Dropbox or ways to add security to Dropbox? Email me at joshid@mytjnow.com.