# Rentable online storage space? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 22, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668 "2005-07-22T16:27:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/1 "2005-07-22T16:27:23Z")
I _hate_ CDs. Floppies were so much better—you could easily save onto the same one every few paragraphs. I’ll be knee-deep in goddam CDs when I start my next book. So, someone at work told me about online storage space, which sounds ideal: I don’t lose my text if my computer and/or its hard drive dies; I don’t have to worry about goddam “one time only” CDs. And I can just have my publisher access the text, w/o having to e-mail it to them or get them CDs. I use a Toshiba PC and MicroSoft Word. Can anyone recommend a good, easy-to-use, reliable online storage space? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/2 "2005-07-22T16:39:16Z")
I know nothing about online storage services, but if you’re looking for something analogous to floppies, have you considered USB flash drives? Here’s a [link](http://www.sandisk.com/retail/cruzer-mini.asp) to some examples. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/3 "2005-07-22T16:41:23Z")
I can send you an invitation to Gmail, a web-based email address, whcih has 2+ GB of storage. You can periodically e-mail your document to yourself there, and provide your username and password to your publisher so they can get at it as well. Their attachement size limit od 10 MB, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/4 "2005-07-22T16:42:09Z")
Haven’t used it, but I think this has been around a while: [http://www.xdrive.com/](http://www.xdrive.com/) IIRC they used to give you free space, before the dot-com meltdown. Now it charges a fee. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/5 "2005-07-22T16:43:17Z")
ugh! That should be “which has,” and “Their attachment size limit is 10 MB” ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/6 "2005-07-22T16:43:37Z")
I also recommend flash drives. Alternatively you could get a gmail account and mail yourself the document if they are under 10 megs. I have heard people say nice things about filecloud. I personally have not used it. You could let the publisher have read only access I believe. [http://www.filecloud.com/](http://www.filecloud.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/7 "2005-07-22T16:49:18Z")
I’ve never used them, but some of my coworkers recommend WebSafe. Most colleges have special promotional discounts with them. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/8 "2005-07-22T17:58:13Z")
Don’t you have a Web site, Eve? If so, you’re _already_ renting storage space on the Web. You just need whoever set up your site to tell you how to copy things to and from it. You may be able to get to it using [these](http://www.mcuniverse.com/FTP_from_Windows_Explorer.1105.0.html) directions, but only if it’s set up in a way that allows it. If that doesn’t work, talk to your web site person, they’ll know how to get to it. FYI: ‘FTP’ stands for “file transfer protocol”, which is a fancy way of saying “copying files to and from the Web.” (yes, all you techies, I know that isn’t exactly what FTP means, but for this conversation it’s fine!) ---
**Author:** ![Alien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/57b2e6/32.png) [@Alien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alien)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/9 "2005-07-22T18:20:21Z")
I would not recommend online storage unless you do backups up your work. These places tend to come and go, the latter usually quite suddenly. As mentioned, USB Flash is very nice if you don’t have too much data. Small and easy to bring along. But if you’re talking about several CDs of data you might want to look into an external drive. These have become pretty cheap lately. You can choose betwee a drive with a Firewire or USB interace. Firewire is the way to go if this interface is already supported on you computer (probably not), or if your USB interface is version 1.1. Else, a USB 2.0. drive should do it for you. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/10 "2005-07-22T18:32:50Z")
It sounds like all you really need is something to periodically save your work in progess to, yes? If so, then 'll also recomend a USB flash drive. They are so easy to use, that I’m sure even you can do it (not that you’re dumb, or anything, but I remember a thread from some time ago where you lamented your lack of sophisticated computer klnowledge.) There;s no need to install any software or drivers (so long as you have Windows XP…you SO ahve Windowx XP, don’t you\>) You jsut plug it in, and voila, it shows up as a drive under My Computer, and you can save to it just liek a floppy from word, or whatever you use. You can write, re-write, delete, etc… as easy as you did on those old floppies. Of course, I’m sure in your day the closeset thing to compuiter storage was leaving the abacus in the same position you left it in the night before, but us modern folk like these USB drives just fine. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/11 "2005-07-22T18:39:22Z")
Rentable Online Storage Space? But… don’t they all leak? Your data will end up all damp and soggy with digital mildew, and you’ll have to throw it out anyway. Your jpegs will have their pixels run. And finally the door will stick, and you’ll have to use your car jack to open the door, like Clarice Starling in **Silence of the Lambs**. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/12 "2005-07-22T19:08:19Z")
I’m sure this probably isn’t enough space and likely completely inadequate to your needs, but Yahoo give 30 meg with a free Yahoo account. They call it the “briefcase”, [http://briefcase.yahoo.com](http://briefcase.yahoo.com) . ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/13 "2005-07-22T19:11:57Z")
I don’t like the idea of a flash drive—what if it breaks or gets lost? When I saved onto floppies, I would make three copies—two for home and one for work. I _cannot_ lose this stuff. My web site is public-accessible, and I don’t want my writing accessible! Also, it’s a five-page site for promoting my books, with no additional space on it. I’ll check out xdrive, filecloud and websafe, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Zog\_10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c57346/32.png) [@Zog\_10](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zog_10)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/14 "2005-07-22T19:13:07Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > FYI: ‘FTP’ stands for “file transfer protocol”, which is a fancy way of saying “copying files to and from the Web.” (yes, all you techies, I know that isn’t exactly what FTP means, but for this conversation it’s fine!) In the interest of fighting ignorance, [FTP](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTP)😉 ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/15 "2005-07-22T19:25:18Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > My web site is public-accessible, and I don’t want my writing accessible! Also, it’s a five-page site for promoting my books, with no additional space on it. hehhehee, no, the part where you put the files wouldn’t be public-accessible. That just ain’t how it works. As far as no additional space, I can’t answer that, it depends on how it’s set up. But any of those other thingies would work equally well. I just figured that if you were already paying for a web page that piggybacking a few files on it would save you the rental costs. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/16 "2005-07-22T19:27:33Z")
If it cannot get lost then you need to be sure that the online places are not the only place your data is backedup. As alien says they can go out of business with little notice. You can get multiple flash cards. They are cheaper than flopies on a $/Mbyte basis now. A 256 MByte drive is now about $35 that is about 175 floppies worth of data. 128Mbyte drives can be had for $17 get two for home and one for work. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/17 "2005-07-22T19:31:44Z")
Can you explain to me in “backwards five-year-old” words exactly what a flash drive is and how it works and where it plugs in and can I save onto it over and over again like an old floppy? ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/18 "2005-07-22T19:37:14Z")
Here is an online link to where I got those prices. [url=][http://www.supermediastore.com/usb-flash-drive-usb-pen-drive.html?WT.mc\_id=AdWordsUSBDrivesthumbdrive&WT.srch=1](http://www.supermediastore.com/usb-flash-drive-usb-pen-drive.html?WT.mc_id=AdWordsUSBDrivesthumbdrive&WT.srch=1) It plugs into the USB port of your computer. It will show up as drive on your computer. You can save to it over and over again just like a floppy but with a lot more space. I really think you will be much happier with this than online file space. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/19 "2005-07-22T19:46:35Z")
They also have a decent FAQ. [http://www.supermediastore.com/usb-flash-pen-drive-faq.html](http://www.supermediastore.com/usb-flash-pen-drive-faq.html) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668/20 "2005-07-22T19:46:58Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > It plugs into the USB port of your computer. What is the USB port and where is it? [I told you, not “five-year-old,” “\*backwards\* five-year-old.”] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rentable-online-storage-space/313668.md?page=2)