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Review of Box.Net Online Storage

By: Stephen McGovern

Overview and History - Since 2005, co-founders Aaron Levie and Dylan Smith in addition to their ever expanding team have entrenched Box.net as one of the most hot and reliable internet services for storing and sharing information from anywhere. Today, at least 2 million individuals, small businesses, and Fortune 1000 companies from all over the world use Box.Net to simply connect with the content and staff that matter most. Box.net is situated in Palo Alto, California.

Security Features - Box.Net provides 256bit encryption on files whilst being transferred up and down to it's data servers. Box.Net host their servers at multiple enterprise-grade data centers with current audits, round-the-clock monitoring and recording surveillance, on-site security staff, and demanding admittance controls. All power and environmental controls are in an N+1 redundant setup to ensure fault tolerance. Redundant power feeds, UPS devices, and onsite emergency generators ensure sustained performance and hardy infrastructure. each file is automatically backed up to a geographically separate place. This ensures that they always have duplicate copies of your data.

Backup Options - Box.net is not a backup solution, notwithstanding, you can hold five separate versions of files if you have the Individual account or upto 10 versions if you have the business account.

Restore Features - Apart from the file versioning detailed above, there is no restore functionality.

Control and Analysis - This is a web-based service with no software to install on the desktop, therefore CPU and bandwidth throttling do not apply.
Logging and Reporting are accessible but exclusively in the Enterprise edition.

Interface - The interface is beautifully polished and offers easy uploading and sharing of files and folders via the web portal. The Business and Enterprise editions have an Admin Portal and the option to manage multiple accounts.

Device Support - If your device can get to online, then you can use Box.Net.

Limitations
- The Lite and Individual editions cannot be used for business.
- The Lite edition has an single file size limit of 25 Megabytes while the rest of the versions have a 1Gb file size limit on
- There is nonetheless, no limit on the amount of data you can upload or download.
- File retention for removed files is 30 days which is the industry standard.

{File Sharing and Collaboration - In all editions, you can invite people to work via email and you can import your email addresses via comma-delimited files or directly if you have an Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail Account.
- Uploaded files can be stored in folders or directly in your home page. Once you have a folder you can:
- Ask collaborators to share the information in the folder.
- Link|Attach|Connect} to the folder
- Share the folder
- Embed the folder in a website
- Add comments and tags
- Assign a comment for the folder
- Monitor activity in this folder via email notifications
- Set the accesslevel for the folder:
- Private, Collaboration, or Global
- If sharing globally, you can assign a Vanity name to the folder
- One additional nifty feature is the ability to set an date on the folder sharing.

Synchronisation - There is no file or folder synchronisation.

Web 2.0 Integration - This is where Box.net shines most brightly! Box.net uses the OpenBox standard which means it is completely compatible with an everdeveloping number of Web 2.0 applications. Everything from iPhone apps to Online Office apps suchas Zoho and EditGrid to eFaxing via eFax to managing CRM with SalesForce and all your chosen Social Networking sites. You can even setup Google Analytics to your account so you can track how people are accessing your files.

Customer Support
- Phone support is available but not on a toll-free number and only in business hours.
- Email Support is available via a webform on the contact page.
- Non-interactive support is good: There is a fairly detailed FAQ section; a Knowledgebase; a forum and a blog. A demo and case studies are also provided.
- A free trial is offered for the Business edition.
- We found the support staff to be warm, knowledgeable and willing to help in any way they could.

Ease of Use - Box.Net is really {easy|comfortable|effortless to use. You are up and running almost instantly. Once you have uploaded or created some content then you truly start to see how easy it is to use. Collaboration is really simple and it becomes a so simple to work online with others when you have a easy to use, streamlined and clear environment to work in.
Cost
- Box.Net offers 4 packages as shown below:
- Lite: free
- Individual - $9.99 / month
- Business - $15 / month
- Enterprise - Price on application
- Initial setup on all packages is free
- There are no options for additional storage.
- There are no limits to the number of devices that can be used with the service

Initial allowed storage space
- Lite: 1Gb
- Individual: 5Gb
- Business: 10Gb / individual
- Enterprise: unlimited

Conclusion - If you are looking for an online backup solution then this is NOT the service for you. If you are hunting for a logical,uncomplicated and simple to manage online collaboration tool then look no further. The functionality to creaet email notifications when something changes in one of your project folders is a especially useful idea.
Box.Net is the best online collaboration tool we have reviewed so far.

Article Source: http://www.onlinearticlessite.com

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