Where Can I Get Online File Storage? Ten Sources of Remote Data Storage

(all prices are in U.S. dollars)

(I have not personally used these services and cannot vouch for the quality of any. This list is for reference only.)

1) Megaupload

Megaupload offers several pricing schemes, but in all cases with their Premium memberships you get 250 gigabytes of storage and unlimited data transfer. You can pay $10 per month, $50 per year, $70 for two years, or pay $200 up front for a "lifetime membership". This also gives you Premium access to their Youtube clone, Megavideo. In all cases, they say the service is supported by at least a "little" advertising.

2) Dreamhost

Dreamhost has a number of different storage plans. Their least expensive (or at least most economic) plan would give you 145 gigabytes of online storage space for $120 per year.

3) Amazon S3

Amazon S3 offers a "pay-as-you-use" model, charging 15 cents per month per gigabyte of storage used. They also charge for data transfer - 10 cents per gigabyte of all transfer in, and 18 cents per gigabyte for transfer out. For small amounts of storage this is possibly the most inexpensive model.

4) HiWired Unlimited Data Backup

True to their name, they offer "unlimited" data backup for $8 per month or $80 prepay for one year. They require that you sign up for at least four months.

5) Dot5 Hosting

Dot5 offers 300 gigabytes of disk storage, a free domain name, 3000 gigabytes of monthly transfer, additional web and domain features and $50 in Yahoo! Credits for $7 per month and a $7 one-time setup fee. If you select the "one year plan" or "two year plan", the monthly fee is reduced by a couple bucks and they waive the setup fee.

6) HostGator

HostGator has a number of shared hosting plans, ranging from 50 gigabytes ($7 per year) to 500 gigabytes ($75 per year). There are bandwidth limitations on each type of account.

7) AOL XDrive

AOL offers 5 gigabytes of storage for free, and you can pay for additional storage at a rate of 50 gigabytes for $9.95 per month.

8) Box.net

On the smaller end of the scale, Box.net offers 1 gigabyte per month of free storage (10 MB individual files size limit). You can purchase 5 gigabytes of storage for $8 per month, or 15 gigabytes of storage for $20.