Warning: This blog is a blatant plug for a site I have a referral link to.
I will not lie to you. If you use the link here to access DriveHQ.com you are being referred. Why should you care? You shouldn't, you should be thanking me for referring you.
I found this service over labor day weekend while looking for a place for my IP Kamera to FTP images to so I could create an image sequence with them. Strangely, it will let you capture single snapshots and store them to your local network drive, but it will not do the same for timed image capture (i.e. every 30 seconds).
So I was looking for a cheap or free location to have my camera upload its images via FTP and I came across DriveHQ almost by accident. I have to say I almost didn't stay with them but let me explain why.
When you create an account with DriveHQ if you do not read carefully enough, you will get the free AND LIMITED version that lets you expose your published locations for 20 minutes at a time. This is exactly what I did and I almost went straight to Google to look for another free service (yes, I am cheap). Useless, right? If you use an email address that is a corporate (i.e. paid ISP) NOT free like GMail or Hotmail, you get 1gb of free FTP, a basic website publishing folder, etc, etc. Really a whole lot of cool stuff for free.
I was really impressed with their interface AND if you do need to purchase additional services you will find their prices really reasonable. At the time of this writing $3 a month for 2gb of online file storage. If you are only storing image albums of course Picasa or Flickr or such things are the better solution but if you want FTP access and need a location to store large files, their service seems to be pretty cheap and works well. They even have a free FTP client that shows bandwidth usage so you can predict if or when you will exceed your free service boundaries.
What they offer:
Store, access and share files online from anywhere at anytime. Includes explorer-like web interface and the state-of-the-art FileManager 4.0. Supports any browsers on PC/Mac. Supports group/sub-group file sharing with read-write access.
Includes DriveHQ Online Backup 4.0 automatic backup software, optimized for business and enterprise users. Backup is never so easy, secure and reliable! No device needed, works anywhere. Even if you have local backup, you need offsite backup to prepare for major disasters!
Includes FTP Client, Server & Hosting. You cannot find any other FTP hosting service that has as many features as ours, and for a price as low as FTP client software! Works on PC/Mac/Linux; supports any number of users, groups & sub-groups.
SMTP/POP3 Email Server Hosting
Includes email server software, hardware & hosting. Designed for businesses, works on PC & Mac. Supports: multiple accounts, private domain, SMTP/POP3, Outlook, alias, auto-reply, auto-forward, mailing list, private discussion group, etc.
I like em. I think they are great so far and am really impressed with what they offer for free. Take a look and let me know what you think. I would love to hear from others who may be using them, or have used them in the past. I think they will hook me with the free offerings and I will probably pay as my needs grow.
