The Stor-Age

While I was sitting here at my computer, getting ready to start my blog, Jimmy was on the step stool reading a serial number off of our new network storage, as we try to get it working.  It will be the new housing for all of our design folders.  And while we currently only use about a tenth of the 500 gigs of storage, it's exciting to know there's plenty of room for our future creations - as well as a completely empty slot to hold another 500 GB hard drive! 

Storage devices have come a very long way in just the past 10 years.  From floppy disks to zip-drives to flash drives, these bad boys are getting smaller and smaller while being able to hold more and more.  I've also found some nice sites that you can use to transfer files from computer to computer.  Here are a couple of my favorites:
 

• drop.io - This site is extremely easy to use and quite handy for transferring files 100MB or smaller.  Typically, emails usually tap out at about 10MB, so having an option that's a little larger is perfect for sending a lot of pictures, pdfs, etc.  With drop.io, you simply name the drop, upload the files, and choose options like if you want a password, when to delete the drop, and what others can do with the folder.  Then you let your storage buddy know where to go for the files and that's about it.  One drawback is that it can take a while to upload larger files.  But hey, it's free, so you won't hear me complaining!
• Dropbox - If you're looking for a great way to send your files to any other computer, check out getdropbox.com.  This site allows you to have a folder on your computer that you can drag files into.  They quickly get uploaded and can be viewed on any computer by logging in to the site with your account information.  You can also upload files to the web site and they will appear in the folder that's on your computer.  You get 2 GBs for free, which should be plenty for most users.  This is a great way to keep up with files without having to carry around a flash drive or send files through your email.  
• Basecamp - This is actually project management software, but it does allow you to do some nice things with files.  You can upload files to your project and then attach comments about them or assign to do items to anyone that is associated with that particular project.  We use this at BlueTone Media every day.  It's a great way to stay in touch with clients and allows everyone in our office to reference conversations with our various projects.  Plus, there are tons of applications you can use with it.  For example, I use Project Recon, which connects to Basecamp and assists in keeping track of my hours spent on projects and shows me to-do lists for all of them.  Basecamp has been an asset for the company.  I'm not sure where we'd be without it.