You create a video but aren’t ready to show it to the world yet. Perhaps you’re in the middle of planning a product launch and won’t use it until it goes live.
You record a webinar or write an e-book and want to turn it into a product but aren’t sure where to store it..
Do you wonder where to store files? Perhaps you want to keep them safe but private. Or you may just need a storage platform for selling them.
This is a common situation, so I thought I’d introduce you to some storage solutions.
Privacy settings
Many platforms that store videos or PowerPoint presentations have a setting that keeps the file secret to everyone or available only to people who have the URL. In other words, they can’t search for and find your video or presentation.
A good example is YouTube’s settings:
- Private videos: When you set a video to private, only you and up to 50 other people can view the video. You have to invite them — use the field under the Privacy Settings menu and you can add usernames or email addresses; they have to have a YouTube account.
- Unlisted videos: When you make a video unlisted, only you and people to whom you give the link can view it. However, if you give someone the link, that person can share it on another website.
Other video and presentation sharing sites have similar settings.
Storage sites
There are a number of sites that you can use to store files for safekeeping, collaborating, or product delivery. Here are a few of the most well-known;
- Amazon S3: This site has a great reputation for safety. You can control whether a file is public or private. It used to be difficult to use, but they’ve improved the interface a great deal. The cost is very low. I use it for many videos and usually pay between $2 and $9 per month.
- Dropbox: This well-known service offers great integration with your computer.
- SkyDrive: This is Microsoft’s cloud-based service and integrates well with Microsoft Office.
- Google Drive: This is Google’s service and used to be called Google Docs.
Are you looking for a storage solution? Or perhaps you have a great solution and would like to share it. Leave a comment!
1 Response to "Safe places to store files online"
Hi Ellen
I did a review of such services a bit ago. Another thing to note is longevity. Some sites are designed for sharing. They offer lots of free space but delete the files after a time. mediafire.com would be an example. Sharing sites are also not known for privacy. If you’re using it as a backup, also not great.
Dropbox is decent but is designed for online file sync. So it requires you install some local software. I prefer on demand. But setting up key files to save to Dropbox creates an automatic online backup.
Different services also have different max files sizes. So if you want to store video, that number needs to be large. Usually you can use a paid upgrade for more space and larger files.
Divshare had a notable feature that allows embedding web site content. So if your web site file storage is modest, that might help. (many local Internet providers include some free web space that can be used for this also)
I ended up using Box, partly due to a promotion that gave me a large amount of space free and partly I’d seen it in action. No software is required plus it has a business orientation. A musician friend shares his music with Box. It includes the option to play it in a browser or download.