Review of Box.Net Online Collaboration Service
Review of Box.Net Online Collaboration Service
Overview and History - Since 2005, co- founders Aaron Levie and Dylan Smith in addition to their ever expanding team have carved out Box.net as one of the most fashionable and reliable web-based services for accessing and distributing projects from anywhere. Right now, more than 2 million individuals, small businesses, and large companies from all over the world use Box.Net to simply unite with the information and resources that matter most. Box.net is based in Palo Alto, California.
Security - Box.Net provides 256bit encryption for files being transferred to and from it's storage servers. Box.Net host their servers at multiple high-grade data centers with ongoing audits, continual monitoring and recording surveillance, on-site security staff, mantraps, and exacting access controls. All power & environmental systems are in an N+1 redundant setup to insure fault tolerance. Many power feeds, UPS devices, and onsite blackout generators ensure continual action and stalwart infrastructure. Information is automatically backed up to a physically distant location. This ensures that they always have multiple copies of your files.
Backup Options - Box.net is not a backup solution, notwithstanding, you can make 5 separate versions of files if you are using the Individual account or upto ten versions if you have the business account.
Restore Options - Apart from the file versioning detailed above, there is no restore functionality.
Control and Analysis - This is a web-based service with nothing to install on client devices, as such CPU and bandwidth throttling will not apply.
Logging and Reporting are accessible but only in the Enterprise edition.
Interface - The interface is beautifully simple to use and offers painless uploading and collaboration of files and folders via the web portal. The Business and Enterprise editions utilize an Admin Portal and the ability to manage multiple accounts.
Device Support - If your device can get to the net, then you can use Box.Net.
Limitations
- The Lite and Individual editions cannot be used for business.
- The Lite version has an single file size limit of 25 Megabytes while the rest of the versions have a 1 Gigabyte limit on
- There is nonetheless, no limit on the amount of data you can upload or download.
- File retention for removed files is 30 days which is the industry standard.
File Sharing and Collaboration - In all editions, you can invite individuals to work via email and you can import your email addresses via comma-delimited files or directly if you have an Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail Account.
- Uploaded files can be saved in folders or directly in your home page. Once you have a folder you can:
- Request collaborators to share the files in the folder.
- Connect to the folder
- Share the folder
- Embed the folder in a website
- Add comments and tags
- Enter a description for the folder
- Monitor activity in this folder via email notifications
- Set the access level for the folder:
- Private, Collaboration, or Global
- If sharing globally, you can assign a Vanity name to the folder
- One added nifty feature is the ability to set an date on the folder share.
Synchronisation - There is no file or folder synchronisation.
Web 2.0 Integration - This is where Box.net shines most bright! Box.net uses the OpenBox standard which means it is totally compatible with an ever growing amount of Web 2.0 applications. Everything from iPhone apps to Online Office apps suchas Zoho and EditGrid to eFaxing via eFax to managing CRM with SalesForce and all your chosen Social Networking sites. You can even include Google Analytics to your account so you can find out how people are accessing your files.
Customer Support
- Telephone support is available but not on a toll-free number and only in business hours.
- Email Support is accessable via a webform on the contact page.
- Non-interactive support is good: There is a good FAQ section; a Knowledgebase; a forum and a blog. A demo and case studies are also provided.
- A free trial is offered for the Business edition.
- We found the support staff to be friendly, knowledgeable and willing to help in any way they could.
Ease of Use - Box.Net is very comfortable. Once you have uploaded or created some content then you really start to see how easy it is to use. Collaboration is really easy and it becomes a a pleasure to work online with others when you have a straight-forward, streamlined and clear environment to work in.
Cost
- Box.Net offers 4 packages as shown below:
- Lite: free
- Individual - $9.99 / month
- Business - $15 / month
- Enterprise - Price on application
- Initial setup on all packages is free
- There are no options for added storage.
- There are no limits to the amount of devices that can be used with the service
Initial allowed storage allowance
- Lite: 1Gb
- Individual: 5Gb
- Business: 10Gb / user
- Enterprise: no limit
Conclusion - If you are searching for an online backup solution then this is NOT the package for you. If you are searching for a very intuitive,easy to use and simple to manage online collaboration service then you're in the right place. The ability to setup email notifications when files are updated or added in one of your project folders is a especially useful feature.
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