AOL to provide 5GB of online storage for free

Most people probably know, but it's probably nice to give full disclosure about the ownership of this site when you post something that's basically a blatant advertisement ("This industry leading move...").

Whoops, ha, you did! Still a little press-releasey.

Actually, I didn't think it was more press-releasy than the majority of postings. I also think it's not too unfair to call this an "industry leading" move, since it does have the potential to have a very big cascading effect throughout the industry. That said, AOL is hardly the first to do this -- AMD Live! offers 25GB of free space, for instance -- though they would be the first major player I've seen to offer free storage space without traffic limits (if that is, in fact, the case -- not entirely clear).

people and businesses especially should be aware of the fact that once they make use of a third party for storage of data, that data is no longer protected from the government. simply put... you don't get the chance to challenge a government inquiry/seizure etc.... the 4th amendment is thrown to the wind. so... if the government wants to go on a fishing expedition through your records... it can do so without court supervision etc....

I'm not sure how this isn't "industry leading." For one thing, does anyone know of a company outside the Bay area offering 5 gigs online for free? OK, include SF and surrounding... How about now?

I used Xdrive back in the wild & wooly days of the .com boom, and it's good to see a great idea finally come back in style. Props to AOL on this one!

And yes, I happen to work for them. But I also teach part-time and can tell you that every single one of my multimedia and game students can use this service. Not even ITT Tech gives them this much storage (they get a couple of CD-R's at the beginning of their school career, no joke).

What I want to know is, is there a limit on the size of the uploads? What use is 5 GB if you have a 10MB size limit per upload. Also, what will be the bandwith limit per day/week/month.

Just asking.....

It is great to see some nice FREE online storage server. However, I am quite skeptical when it comes to AOL, especially with the possibility of files being accidentally wiped out...etc.

However, I do hope there will be more of such online service. Is there a size restriction per file?

Major props for editing the post.... awesomeness in transparency!

Whoa, talk about your Web 2.0! Good to know readers can make a difference.

No offense intended certainly--and the subsequent comments are valid, it will most likely spark a rash of Mr. Me Toos. Not that surprising, though, given the recent announcement of the switch to an ad-based business model... gotta serve those ads somewhere, better there than here :).

From the way I read it, correct me if I'm wrong, it is free for a month. If this is true, then your article is misleading, and considering your parent company, it could be seen as intentional.

From the post on AOL site, it looks like the 5GB service is a loss leader to get people to upgrade to the 50GB service. My question is, I've been paying for the 5GB service for years, now. As an existing, loyal Xdrive Customer, what's in it for us? Our 5GB better turn free at the same time, or we should get the 50GB at a huge discount for all our years of paying the freight so that this deal could even happen at all.

Where does it mention that it is only free for a month? I've seen nothing to suggest anything of the sort. Perhaps it is your post that is misleading!

From the way you read *what*, exactly? The wording is almost directly from AOL's own press release, linked to above:

"AOL today announced that, starting in early September, it would make 5 GB of online storage available for free to all Web users."

No 10. You will have to read the article before you post. Ciz the post clearly states that they will be giving 5 gb in Soetember. Thats about 3 1/2 weeks from now!

So I tried to post a question about this on the Xdrive Forums, but I forgot that they are TIGHTLY MODERATED over there at Xdrive ... they have censored and stamped out my posts before. If Xdrive continues this policy of not letting customers talk to one another, describe problems, seek and find solutions, then Xdrive could well go down with AOL. So this X-AOL deal could be down right prophetic in name.

Letting customers rant, rave, complain, and HELP one another is an absolute must feature of Web2.0, every bit as much as AJAX/DHTML/Drag-N-Drop page content.

http://INBOX.com/ is already offering very competitive bundled mail and storage service that starts at 2GB free with some active INBOX users reporting recent bump to 5GB, recently. INBOX has a huge head start on this and odds are it will take years for Xdrive and AOL to even come close to such an integrated service.

X-AOL: "You've Got FAIL?"

We'll see.

Can anybody clarify whether there is a limit on file size?

Clearly #10 clicked through to www.xdrive.com where the current promotion is to try the 5GB account for free for 30 days, then $10/month afterwards.

"You can backup practically any file you want. Xdrive's maximum size for an individual file is 2.5 GB. You are also limited by the total space available in your account. If you need more space, you can easily add space to your Xdrive at any time by going to Manage Space in your account. There is no other limit on how much you can backup."

See http://www.xdrive.com/support/faqs/backup_faq.jsp

The real limiting factor to all this online storage business -- as I've ranted since before the internet was born -- is lack of UPSTREAM BANDWIDTH and failure of networks to correctly architect and provision symmetric bandwidth.

Of course, if you misbehave with their bandwidth, in their sole discretion and on-the-fly definition of the term, you shall be summarily executed.

See http://xdrive.com/terms.jsp

I wonder what (if) the bandwidth limits will be.