Tag Archives: cloud storage
Google Offering More Cloud Storage – For a Price
Posted on 02. Mar, 2011 by Daniel Cawrey. 
2 Comments
Google has announced that they will now be offering User Managed Storage for Google Apps. This allows for more cloud storage where you can store documents, and they are citing the new Google Cloud Connect as one of the reasons why people might need to upgrade. The cost is a yearly fee and can be used for additional storage across all Google service such as Docs, Picasa and Blogger. Here is the pricing.
For single users, this is the same pricing that has been available for some time. As it stands right now, Google Account holders get 1GB for free of storage that supports all file types. In Gmail you can store over 7GB of mail and attachments.
I wonder how this will be impacted once Chrome OS is rolled out as widespread commercial devices. It’s likely that the cloud’s ability to store documents will be used more frequently than right now; I usually only use Docs to share or store files I may need when I know I may be at another computer.
Do you pay, or see a reason to pay Google for storage?
Using Online Storage to Collaborate in Google Docs
Posted on 15. Mar, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
In my previous post, I showed an example of a company that decided to make the switch to Google Apps as an enterprise solution. I find this interesting, since for as many years as I can remember there have only been a few companies that have dominated this segment of the technology industry with Microsoft being the bellwether and IBM pulling a distant second.
It’s never a bad thing in an industry to have some competition, but the reality is that we don’t hear too often about companies that have switched over to Google as an enterprise solution. At least, not yet. Fortunately, those of us who just want to use the regular version for now can have some of the benefits of the souped-up business version.
So, all in an effort to help people further understand some of the functionality that exists in the non-enterprise version of Google Docs which is free, here is a way to use online storage to share files with others. You are able to share out 2GB at no cost, and there are some cheap options available for an upgrade. For example, you can get an additional 20GB for just $5.00 a year to share between Picasa, Gmail and Docs.
This is really a good option to use for large files that may not get to a recipient if emailed or if the file in question is one that would be picked up by a spam filter as dangerous such as an archive or a configuration file. To do so, it’s really easy, so here is how:
While in Gmail, click on the Documents link up at the top:
From here, you’ll see Google Docs open up in a new tab. Go ahead and click on “Upload” at the top left:
From here you will be in a window that allows you to upload several files at once:
Once you have chosen your files click 
and your files will be stored on the servers. This may take some time depending on file size. You will then be able to see the file(s) in you main Docs window. You can select a document you want to share, hit the “Share” button:
Then you can invite someone to be able to use your file from their Docs account:
Again, this is very useful for when you need a way to send files that are too big to email or read by Postini as dangerous. Plus, it’s free, integrates with existing Google Applications like Gmail and is easy to use. The business purpose of this would be valuable, and I know in the enterprise edition the feature set is even richer in terms of options available.
