ONLINE FILE HOSTING
“Fine then, just email me the project when you're done."
How many times has this line been uttered in some form or another in your workplace? It used to be that to transfer files (not just music or image files keep in mind) over the internet from computer to computer, email was the best bet. Yet, there were constrictions to this medium such as speed, and size limitations on both the actual email package AND on the inbox of the recipient.
Online file hosting services are not new. In fact, the same general idea is the basis of how webpages work on the internet. The webpages are ‘hosted’ on a server somewhere in the world [source]. Users can run anything they want on these servers; they can even choose to host more servers. File hosting itself is a type of internet hosting where the content stored is static, meaning it never changes despite who requests use of it and in what environment [source]. Think of online file hosting services as storage lockers for the internet- where you can grant access/keys to many or just keep access to yourself, should you choose. Photobucket and Flickr are two examples of online file hosting services, but they are restricted to just image files. Online file hosts that are referred to in this post are those such as yousendit.com, box.net, megaupload.com, rapidshare.com.
Organizations should put this service to more use- the advantages are numerous and can help increase speed, productivity and ease of communication between members of the organization.
One of the advantages to an online file host is that instead of being limited to such document formats as images (on Photobucket/Flickr) or media types (.mp3, .m4a, .wma), one can upload any file of one’s choosing- even whole software programs. Various sites do have size limits on the size of the upload, but oftentimes the limit is so large that it is unlikely the limit would be tested/be a real constraint problem [source]. The size issue helps bypass the need for a large inbox- the user can just download from the internet straight onto the computer hard drive. This is another issue online file hosts help to overcome- the site is easily accessible from any computer with an internet browser anywhere in the world. There is no need to buy/download/install a third party plug-in. These sites often offer an option for a paid account, for faster downloading speeds and not that many ads to deal with, but the free accounts option is just as viable. Not only that, but most of the online file hosting sites are quite easy to navigate and use. Lastly, many of these sites have a user-account feature which allows easy file management and collaboration between different users. Organizations that use such online file hosts will surely benefit from the ease and convenience of such a method of data transfer/storage.
Of course, there are valid downfalls to this technology: some sites do have time limits on how long they will host the files which can be a hindrance. Also, the sites/servers themselves are sometimes ‘down’ and unreliable. Then, there are the many ads that pop up, but those are mindlessly dealt with easily. And lastly, the very real issue of security. One can never be completely certain of the security of the actual file on the server and how many people can access it. And when dealing with the internet, there is always a security threat in the form of malicious spyware and viruses whenever you download something to your computer. Nevertheless, I believe the pros of using such a tool outweigh the cons.
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (Sept 16 2007) Internet Hosting Service. Retrieved Oct 1, 2007 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_hosting_service]
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (Sept 25, 2007) Static Web Page. Retrieved Oct 1, 2007 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_web_page]
Box.net, (2005-2007) Sharing on Box. Retrieved Oct 1, 2007 [http://www.box.net/info/public-sharing]
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