Free Web Storage for Files

Sometimes it's necessary to add a download link to a file related to a post or embed a doc in. The simplest way would be to store files in a place like web-site directory which usually comes with Internet connection from ISPs (Internet Service Provider), but my ISP gives out only 10 MB for that purpose what is not too much. I checked out some of web file storage hosts and found that most of them have serious limitations.

My wish list of features would be the following:

• Personal account on the host to have control over files;
• "No delete" after certain period, my files should be stored forever unless I delete them myself;
• Storage capacity should be more than 1 GB;
• Public sharing should be available - many hosts limit their file storage to personal use only;
• Files should be accessible via direct link - that would give a possibility to embed the files into a web page;
• All those for free of charge would be nice too.

It is not easy to find a web-hosting which would meet all of the wishes, but there are some pretty close I've managed to find:

1. ADrive - with the free basic subscription stored files are kept forever but public sharing (links to the files) expires in one month. This limitation was not very clear from their description of service, only when I made a file shared it showed such a notification. Also a share link from public domain leads to a page with "Download" button but not to the file itself, so embedding is not possible.
   
   
2. MediaFire is pretty similar to ADrive besides there is no limitation in time for sharing link. A sharing link leads to a "Download" page - same as ADrive, their "Download" page shots out a pop-up every time you're there.
   
   
3. FileFront is another one of the same kind, but its target group is gaming audience.
   

Those sites represent the same approach for free file storage. As declared these services really work for those who wants just to transfer files to others or to store personal files, but unfortunately it is not possible to get direct link to stored files.

5. HotlinkFiles was recommended by some people and as the site name suggests it supports direct links. The site has been giving out "too many connections" error for pretty long time, now its response is more informative: they claim been "under attack from malicious hackers that have managed to destroy a large portion of user database". That sounds sad and reveals the danger of storing your info in one place - let's wish them good luck to recover quickly from the disaster.
   
   
6. It seems that a real solution for file-hosting comes from web-hosting services, so I ended up with Google Sites. It's appeared to be a well working variant and I don't see any drawbacks so far. 10 GB of storage per account, direct sharing links, etc. - you can check the list of features.
   To get direct link to a file just copy the address from Properties of the Download link from the Google site page, then paste it into a web browser address field and press Enter - it will show the file and its address will change, this changed address I use as a direct link to the file. As an example below is an embedded PDF - a copy of the Google Sites Overview page:

As a quick update I'd like to add some more sites (I have not tested them yet, I hope I'll do it in the next round of search for file hosting services):

7. Thanks to the visitor suggested SigMirror.com - with free account you can get there 2.5GB of storage space with 7GB bandwidth.
   
   
8. MyDataNest seems to be an interesting file hosting site. Basic free account gets 2GB of storage and 20 GB of monthly transfer.
   

I'll keep updating the post with fresh info - it would be interesting to hear suggestions regarding the topic - please, share your experience. Read more...

Free Web storage for images - Curb your ICO!

Nowadays there are many free web hosts of different styles for image storage. For now I needed the one which accepts ICO files for favicon, but also had checked out some other popular sites I'd like to make a note for the future.

1. Picasa from Google - provides 1 GB of free storage (have to upgrade and pay to remove the limitation). One good news is that if you are using Blogger you are already using Picasa. All the blog pictures you upload are stored in Picasa and you can see and control them after signing in Webpicasa with Google account login and password. Another good news - it is not necessary to install Picasa on a home computer (at present I don't want anything else but a web-browser). Still there are some complications like, for example, URL assigned for a picture in Blogger is different from Picasa direct link for the same picture - but none of those I find problematic besides that Picasa does not accept ICOs. Some more about Picasa storage for Blogger images is here.
   
   
2. ImageShack - seems to have no limits for free storage; accepts JPG, JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG, TIF, TIFF, PDF, but ICO files are not accepted.
   
   
3. Photobucket is a very popular site; main disadvantages for me are that it does not accept ICO files and user name appears in direct link to a file (I have a feeling that is not very necessary information to be exposed in reference to a picture).
   
   
4. Tinypic renames files, accepts JPG, BMP, GIF, PCX, PNG, PSD, TIF, no ICO.
   
   
5. 1PixelHost has a very simple interface, accepts ICO files among others (JPEG, JPG, GIF, PNG, ICO, BMP). It renames file name to a random mix of letters and numbers. Registration is required for uploading files as large as 15MB and unlimited bandwidth. This site was my choice for ICO file storage, so far it works quite well. It's a pity the site disappeared and it does not look as a temporary problem. Nevertheless I'll keep an eye on the site for a while.
   
   
6. Google Sites can be used for files storage as it described in the post "Free Web Storage for Files". To get direct link to a file just copy the address from Properties of the Download link from the Google site page, then paste it into a web browser address field and press Enter - it will show the file and its address will change, this changed address I use as a direct link to the file. Due to the problem with the site of my previous choice I moved the favicon.ico to Google Sites.

I'm pretty new to this kind of issues and it's just the first impression of the free image storage I found available on the Web, so something definitely could be missed - I'll be updating the post while I'll be facing and solving other similar problems. Read more...