Dropbox, in response to customer feedback, has updated Packrat’s Restore function to work like enterprise document management systems (the restored version becomes the newest iteration).

This feature has saved us a couple of times, but you can only review versions via a Web browser. Version control is supplemented by Packrat, which is Dropbox’s name for maintaining revision history over an unlimited time horizon (30-day file history is standard). This is a very high-end document management feature now available to the masses. Instead of synchronizing entire files, Dropbox only needs to update the pieces of the files that are actually changed, greatly minimizing bandwidth and sync times. What shouldn’t be missed is Dropbox’s incremental (block- or bit-level) replication. If the same file is saved by multiple PCs or users, Dropbox will append the computer name and “Conflicted Copy” to the file, rather than reconciling changes (Microsoft OneDrive does a much better job of multi-user editing). For those using Dropbox on multiple computers running on a network (small business or family household), Dropbox provides the option to sync locally instead of going back to the cloud. The feature allows users to turn on or off top-level directories on a per-machine basis, which minimizes the storage footprint and file clutter across PCs. This makes for an often top-weighted directory structure.ĭropbox has a unique feature called 'selective sync,' which let each of our environments inherit a different persona. We found that full sharing can only be controlled at root-level directories. Creating folders is also very easy, as is sharing those folders with others.

Once installed, adding files through the browser interface is as easy as dragging and dropping them. Memory footprint is also something Dropbox users should be aware of. In our testing on a mix of machines with 8-16GB of RAM, the Dropbox client consumed between 70 and 160MB (the second-largest behind Windows SVCHOST). While it is expensive – especially compared to Google’s 2014 pricing – its bit-level replication, ability to recover deleted files and unlimited version control through Packrat make for an award-winning tool. Dropbox was a pioneer in extending local PC content to the cloud for file sharing. Dropbox was initially a “magic folder” targeted at consumers, but it is now embraced by more than 300 million users, including universities, healthcare systems and other corporations.

Google drive storage pricing uk