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Top 7 best free online storage solutions for professionals

Top 7 best free online storage solutions for professionals

By Roberta Salzano

Updated: 20 May 2020, first publication: 12 August 2019

Free online storage for professional purposes is fundamental to preserve all company data such as files and folders. To do this, you have several options: local, private, external or cloud-based backups.

For those that are willing to save money, there are plenty of free backup software that can easily fit a corporate environment.

With our comparison of the best backup services, find the best free online storage solution for your business!

Backup: Why you should prefer the online version

What to save

A backup solution handles different documents, whether they are reports, photos or videos. Furthermore, a professional will need to protect also his business tools: software, office suites, installed extensions, etc.

Local vs Cloud storage

For your backups, different archiving options are possible. It could be a matter of:

  • external hard disk, on-site or from a service provider. We define this physical, private or delegated backups
  • cloud storage, through cloud computing. In this case, your data is hosted on a dedicated server. We define this private or public cloud

The Limits of Physical storage

By choosing hard disk storage for your data, you are not protected from damage to the devices used for its storage. Following an accident, such as a flood, fire or shock, a hard disk can be damaged and become unreadable, preventing data recovery.

Online backup and freedom of movement

Online backup is cloud-based and eliminates the risks associated with hardware deterioration. By storing content in the cloud, you get permanent accessibility. Through any Internet access, you'll be able to consult, edit or import your items. There is no need to be in the office or to use a particular computer, the accessibility no longer depends on the location and the devices used.

Online backup and sharing

In addition to the mobility advantage of online backup solutions, their access has the advantage of being shareable. Protected by an access code, password or accessible via a specific link, items remain available for users. So, this backup solution becomes a collaborative tool.

Online free backup tools

In the beginning, the free backup market was mostly thought for domestic solutions. Nowadays all the major software houses managed to provide some free versions that can easily be adapted to business. 

Market overview

Among best-known solutions: 

  • HubiC: the OVH hub in Cloud mode, with 25 GB of storage for free  
  • SugarSync offers a 30-day free trial period
  •  VMware, is another well-known American tool
  •  Crashplan is a free solution for private use and paid for companies
  •  SkyDrive, now OneDrive, is the Microsoft solution
  •  iCloud is from Apple

Free often means limited

Some of the most famous online backup, sharing and file transfer solutions are only partially free, to get unlimited storage you need to pay:

  • Google Drive is free up to 15 GB stored and after that is subjected to a fee
  • Dropbox has 2 GB available for the basic version with extra GB in the premium version

Moreover, this kind of solution fits best a company with limited dimensions in terms of documents and employees. 

The possibilities of use

When solutions also exist as applications, you can download the app on your tablet or smartphone. There are also platforms for computers that allow offline access. In this case, the solutions allow you to automate the synchronization between different devices.

The best backup software online for business

In a professional context, challenges associated with data backup do not allow any amateurism. Online backup, because of its advantages in terms of accessibility, sharing and security, is the perfect solution for businesses. However, in order to operate in a secure and fluid IT environment, it is necessary to ask for both service and data reversibility.

Iperius Backup

EaseUS Todo Backup

Uranium Backup

Acronis Cyber Protect

Openbackup

GoodSync

ShareFile Virtual Data Room

For companies with more than 1 employeesFor all companiesFor all companiesFor companies with -1 to -1 employeesFor companies with 1 to 5000 employeesFor all companiesFor all companies
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Paid version from €29.00

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Paid version from €36.00 /year

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Paid version from €15.00 /month

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Pricing on request

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Pricing on request

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Learn more about Iperius Backup Learn more about EaseUS Todo Backup Learn more about Uranium Backup Learn more about Acronis Cyber Protect Learn more about Openbackup Learn more about GoodSync Learn more about ShareFile Virtual Data Room

Solution 1: Iperius

There are several versions of Iperius to better adapt it to individual needs. Here we will talk about the backup tool with online data storage. The cloud platforms used to storage are the most popular on the market: Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Amazon S3 and so on.

Among its most interesting features, we find:

  • incremental backup to FTP,
  • encryption,
  • ZIP compression,
  • automatic backup,
  • secure protocols FTPS and SFTP.

Solution 2: EaseUS backup

EaseUS backup is a solution suitable for both professional and personal purposes. It leverages on reliability and simplicity in usages. The three main activities of this software are backup, clone and recovery. It exists in different versions according to the needs and it is compatible with Windows operating systems.

Solution 3: Uranium

Uranium is a solid and reliable backup service. Over the years, it has developed a certain reputation and has had the opportunity to grow thanks to its experience on the market.

It is a complete solution that can backup a multitude of files (from classic folders to virtual machines) on different types of storage such as hard drive, NAS, server and cloud.

Made in Italy, today it is available in 100 countries and 13 languages.

Solution 4: Acronis

With Acronis, you do not only have a backup solution, but a more general data protection service. Although it offers considerable functionalities, it is very easy to use. The main functions of the program are:

  • backup,
  • synchronization,
  • sharing,
  • disaster recovery,
  • file authentication.

Furthermore, it has native integration with tools such as Odin, Plesk, HostBIll and etc.

Solution 5: Openbackup

Openbackup emphasizes the fluidity of backup processes so as not to damage or compromise the work of your employees. The software ensures that the bandwidth is not saturated, doing its job in the background. The web client guarantees you high availability on all your elements.

Solution 6: GoodSync

GoodSync is also world-famous. It is extremely flexible and adaptable to various platforms and solutions. In fact, it is compatible with the main desktop and mobile operating systems (Linux, Windows, Mac, Android OS) and with the principal cloud services on the market.

  • Among its outstanding features:
  • bandwidth limitation,
  • automatic backup,
  • real-time,
  • block-level data transfer and much more.

Solution 7: ShareFile

ShareFile, by Citrix, automatically performs incremental backups with versioning. These cover all content associated with fixed workstations. The provider commits to data loss insurance and its Service Level Agreement (SLA) of more than 99.5%.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we had an overview of the options you can find in choosing backup software. Cloud or private? free or professional? now you have all the information to choose the best solution.