Box.net

Box.net is a very useful web based application, which provides on line data-storage facilities, allows sharing of files with people around the world, and enables collaboration on projects. It remains true to its name it works like an online box in which users can put their important files and can have access them anywhere, anytime. Uploading files on Box.net is a breeze as one can uploaded them simply clicking on the upload button. Once uploaded, files can be sorted, viewed, filtered, deleted and searched accordingly. It also has a seamless 'Drag and Drop' feature, which ensures an efficient and instant uploading of files. It enables editing of online documents through integration with Zoho which incidentally is a leading editing provider. Further features like mobile-support, public sharing, box-widget, email-support etc makes it multi-purpose utility. Box.net is a private enterprise with its headquarters in CA, Pal Alto, and is backed by US Venture Partners Box and other venture capital firms. It was founded in March 2005. There are 1.4 million users of Box and more than 1 million files are served daily. In December 2007, OpenBox Platform was launched by the company, which facilitated the connection of data from Box.net with other services and applications on the web. Unlike many other file sharing websites in its class, it has provisions for different types of users like individuals, businesses and enterprises. But it also has some limitations such as its high cost when compared to other file-sharing websites. Still, it is reliable and secure and being used by individuals, small enterprises and many of the Fortune 1000 companies. Box has an elegant and understated appeal and is very easy to understand. There is nothing specific about colors and designing. The background is white and text appears either in blue or black with some imagery. The symbol Box appears on the top-left area in simple text without any special effects. Navigating the website is so simple that even a novice user can operate it without much hassle. To experience virtually flawless sharing of audio/video files, pictures and other documents on line, one is required to register with Box.net. The registration process is extremely simple and finishes in quick time. Users are required to fill in some general information including name, email, passwords etc. Box offers three different types of accounts to its users which gives them the liberty to choose the appropriate one. Once users are through with the registration process, they are directly moved on to their homepage, where they can start sharing files and folders. Box provides three types of accounts, which are Lite, Individual, and Business. Lite is a small Box for a single user, which has limited features. It is available with 1GB space to upload files with a bandwidth of 10GB/month. It is absolutely free with a file-size limit of 10MB. Individual Box has a space of 5GB with unlimited bandwidth. Its price is $7.95/mo with a file-size limit of 1GB and it includes no sub users. Business Box, as the name suggests, is a prime construct for professionals. It has a space of 15 GB and comes with unlimited bandwidth. Its file-size limit is 1GB with a price of $19.95/mo. Besides all this, it also has the facility to serve10 sub-users. Mobile support is available in all these except Lite Box. A 14 day free trial is offered for individual and business versions of Box so as to extend a chance to users to try out the services. The different options that Box provides are designed for different category of users. Lite Box is advisable for individuals with very general and limited use. Individual is recommended for persons who want some more space with add-on features like mobile-support etc. Similarly, businessmen and companies can use Business Box. It comes equipped with many remarkable features like more space, mobile-support, public sharing, box-widget, email-support etc which enhance its overall competence substantially.