As I work towards a Paperless Workflow, I need to find an easier way to manage my documents between my laptop and my iPad than Apple's File Sharing.
There are several cloud storage solutions that one can consider (MobileMe, DropBox, Box.net, FirstClass WebDAV, Personal WebDAV, etc). They all have different strengths and weaknesses:
| Service | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| MobileMe | • Integrates well with Apple products • Mail sync • Contacts synd • Calendar sync • Web hosting • Gallery hosting • Find my iPad/iPhone • Sharing of documents and other data • Syncing of documents |
• Relatively expensive |
| DropBox | • Cross platform • Free service for 2 GB of data • Less expensive than MobileMe • Sharing of documents • Syncing of documents |
• Not as many services as MobileMe • Only two levels of expansion (50GB and 100GB) |
| Box.net | • Cross platform • Free service for 1 GB of data, no files greater than 25MB • Unlimited storage available • Sharing of documents |
• More expensive than DropBox • No document syncing • Requires network connection • In addition to storage limits, each plan comes with different maximum file size limitations |
| FirstClass | • Free • Integrated workflow • No syncing required if you author/store content in FirstClass • Sharing of documents |
• Requires network connection |
| Personal WebDAV | • Free if you already have • No storage limits |
• You maintain service • No document syncing • Requires network connection |
| iWork Online | • Web editing | • No document syncing • Requires network connection • Focus on sharing with others • Only works for Word, Excel, PowerPoint • Still cumbersome import/export |
| Google Docs | • Sharing • Collaboration • Free |
• Not as fancy editing features • No document syncing • Requires network connection |
| AFP | • No document syncing • Requires network connection |
When considering Cloud Storage, you want to look at costs as well:
| Service | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MobileMe | 20 GB = $99.00/year or $8.25/month = $4.95/GB | 40 GB = $148.00/year or $12.33/month = $3.70/GB | 60 GB = $198.00/year or $16.50/month = $3.30/GB | • Full Sync • Mail/Contacts/Calendar • Web hosting • Gallery • Find my iDevice |
| DropBox | 2 GB = Free | 50 GB = $119.88/year or $9.99/month = $2.40/GB | 100 GB = $239.40/year or $19.99/month = $2.39/GB | • Full Sync |
| Box.net | 1 GB = Free (limit 25MB file size) | 10 GB = $119.40/year or $9.95/month = $11.94/GB | 15 GB = $180.00/year or $15.00/month = $12.00/GB | • Unlimited option available |
Once you start looking at cost and storage limitations, you start to ask yourself how much storage do I need. Here are my stats:
| Directory | Size |
|---|---|
| Entire Home Folder | 162 GB |
| Desktop | 27 GB |
| Documents | 31 GB |
| Downloads | 3 GB |
| Music (not my main iTunes library) | 49 GB |
| Pictures | 45 GB |
I wanted to do an analysis on the file size of documents I opened in the last 365 days, but I can't find a view that will calculate the total file size in my results. I would guess around 100 GB.
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