Overall Rating
Box.net is a splendid social and collaboration based data online backup and storage and sharing utility service for your individual and business needs. Their no cost version comes with 1 GB of data backup online storage (10 GB/month bandwidth, 10 MB file size limit) and their basic plan (unlimited bandwidth, 1 GB file size limit) includes 5 GB of online storage for $7.95 per month ($1.59 per GB). Features include mobile phone access, an embeddable sharing widget, bookmark synchronizer, collaboration tools, web based editing of documents, photos, spreadsheets and more with their OpenBox Services (integrated third-party services: Zoho, EditGrid, Picnik, eFax, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), and integration with standard applications (Adobe Reader, Photoshop, Autodesk, Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.Org) via Box Enabled Applications plugins. Box.Net also offers business (15 GB, $19.95 per month, up to 5 users) and enterprise (15 GB, $15 per user, 9 or more users) plans.
Box.Net gets one of our better ratings among internet backup services that allow file sharing. It comes in four packages. A Lite account allows up to 1 GB of storage for at not cost, but there’s a file size limit of 25 MB. An Individual account gives you 5 GB (*est. $8 per month) and is intended for one user only. If you need extra space, you can get a Professional account, which gives you 15 GB (*est. $20 per month). For multiple users, such as in a small business, Box.Net has a complex pricing structure in which you pay $15 per user and storage space varies by quantity of users. Pricing clearly isn’t up to the standards of Mozy or Carbonite, but Box.Net’s strength is in allowing online access to files rather than intricate data backup procedures.
Box.Net is completely web-based, so there’s no software to install. This also means there’s no automated data backup process. You physically upload files you want stored in your “box.” There’s 256-bit SSL encryption during data transfers, and they allege to store data at multiple facilities. Box.Net provides a spoofed URL, which the service claims won’t be indexed by search engines, where your data/files can be found. You can then e-mail the URL to business associates or your social colleagues. The pages are free of advertising. Box.Net is PC- and Mac-compatible and works with some mobile devices, including Apple’s iPhone.
A unique feature Box.Net offers is its OpenBox architecture. This makes it doable to edit files with data backup online services such as Zoho for Word and Excel files and Picnik for images. You can also post Box.Net files to popular blog sites like Blogger, TypePad and WordPress, send online faxes, sign documents electronically and link others to files from Box.Net on social networking web sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. This is especially suitable for travelers who don’t have access to a laptop, but needs to have access to files away on the road. A very neat feature is the capability to create a widget on a blog or website that allows visitors to download files from your “box.”
Reviewers like Box.Net’s simple and easy-to-use interface and seamless use of Web 2.0 technology, but it’s probably not the perfect solution if you have lots of information to backup and are searching for an automated solution. However, its setup, can provide an additional storage option for valuable documents and files, especially those that can need some last-minute editing.
How Box.net Works Videos:
