In this cloud computing era, cloud storage is becoming cheaper and more affordable. But there is a debate going on whether storing everything online is a good idea or not. Well, let’s not delve in all this discussion. If you’re searching for a cheap online storage, then your search ends with Insync. Consider Insync as a real alternative to Dropbox, which is way cheaper than Dropbox.
Dropbox uses Amazon S3 for their storage whereas Insync uses Google Docs. Dropbox costs 8X more than Google Docs storage.
Insync provides 1GB of free storage space and more space can be purchased from Google Storage. The plans are really affordable, for example you can purchase 20GB storage for just $5 per year. Below is a detailed chart on Google Storage pricing:
- 20 GB ($5.00 USD per year)
- 80 GB ($20.00 USD per year)
- 200 GB ($50.00 USD per year)
- 400 GB ($100.00 USD per year)
- 1 TB ($256.00 USD per year)
So basically, we can say that Insync is just a client for Google Docs storage, it syncs your Google Docs to various machines. Any changes you make locally will be synced up and any changes on Google Docs will be synced down.
How Insync Client Works
Visit the site and then click on “Download Insync”. This will download the Insync client for Windows. After downloading, install the client. When the installation process completes, Insync will fire up the browser and will prompt you to link the computer to your account. Complete the step and you’re done.
Now that the client is installed, you can see Insync icon in system tray. Right click on it to see more options.
Click on “Open Insync Folder” to open folder. In this folder, you can find the guide and also a folder/directory with your Gmail address. You need to place all the files to this folder. While it is syncing, it will show a blue badging icon on the file and folder. Once synced, it will show a green checkmark, which indicates that file is successfully synced.
Insync guide which can be found in the root folder should definitely help you out, if you’re starting out for the first time.
On right clicking any file, you will be able to see a new Insync menu which will have different options like: Open in GDocs, Share, Get Shareable link, Versions and Recent Changes. This “share” option allows to share this file with some other user and you can also allow write access to this new user. The “get shareable link” option is like “Copy public link” option in Dropbox through which you can share this file with anyone. When using “recent changes” and “versions”, a new page opens in the browser that says “coming soon”. Insync shouldn’t have provided these options, if they don’t actually work.
Files that are placed in the Insync folder can also be accessed via the Insync online interface or by logging in to Google Docs.
Insync Features
- Cheap online storage space
- Read/write + read only sharing permissions
- File sharing publicly or with any particular user
- Google Docs collaboration
- Leave/uninstall Insync anytime and all your stuff are in your Google Docs account
- Insync can sync any file type, the only limitation is that the file size should be under 10GB
Insync can be real Dropbox alternative, which is super cheap. You just need to purchase space from Google Storage and you’re set. If you’re already using Google Docs, then this might be an interesting way to sync cloud documents to the computer.
Leave a Reply