Category: Q & A

Questions, and Answers, from the man himself

Deano’s answer to: “Why is Dropbox space limited to 100GB?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

Update, 4/30/2011:

It is now possible to sign up for Dropbox Teams (http://dropbox.com/teams), a service that allows for pooled storage shared by multiple Dropbox users, which scales well beyond the 100GB individual account limit.

Specific pricing as of today is:

  • 350GB and 5 users for $795/year
  • $125/year per additional user (no additional storage)
  • $200/year per 100GB additional storage

There appears to be no limitation that requires Dropbox Teams be used by a set number of users – a single user could, in theory, purchase as much storage as desired, and use the Teams account as a "really big" individual account.

—————– deprecated, but awesome-for-its-time answer follows ———–

Technically, it's not. In theory, you can PAY for 100GB, and then keep referring additional new users to add to your cap.

Practically speaking, that's just not a viable solution for a business, especially one looking to double the cap, or up it by a factor of 10+.

So, the question then becomes "if I'm allowed to have multiple 100GB accounts, why can't I have one 200GB account?" The answer to that is a bit simpler – you're simply not the target market for Dropbox right now. While Dropbox claims to be looking into solutions in their FAQ ( https://www.dropbox.com/help/160 ), since no movement has been taken on this in over a year, it's clearly not a high priority, and with good reason (for Dropbox).

Dropbox aims to improve sharing and syncing of files for individuals and teams, rather than for the enterprise. 100GB is a good cut off to help dissuade larger companies from relying on Dropbox for their cloud storage needs, since Dropbox storage is NOT guaranteed for backup/disaster recovery/etc… It's running on top of Amazon's S3 storage, and basically at the mercy of whatever Amazon's policies are in that regard.

If you're really interested in cloud storage greater than 100GB, you should read up on "What are Dropbox's major competitors?", which will point you at a few alternatives that operate similarly (SugarSync, in particular, seems to have near-identical features, if clunkier UI).

As a former IT Director, I spent a lot of time thinking about this possibility as a way to "farm out" storage to accomodate the needs of an army of external freelancers. Eventually, I realized I was probably thinking about things a bit backwards – even for a fairly large organization, 100GB can accomodate a great deal of "active" storage. By using Dropbox as the file transfer/sync point for remote and local workers for projects in play ONLY (basically the original intent of the product), and then syncing everything to a secondary server to handle additional versioning/ageing out of older/archive data, you can achieve the best of both worlds – potentially unlimited total storage (even using other cloud solutions if you like), combined with the speed and simplicity of Dropbox.

This type of hybrid setup also gives a nice spread of providers/points of failure, so that if Dropbox experiences an outage, you'll still have access to the data via another local/cloud server… And if you lose your secondary server, it will only affect older/completed projects, not your active working files.

Why is Dropbox space limited to 100GB?

Deano’s answer to: “What specific things get people excited enough to go out and see a live show?”

Posted on by Deano in Q & A

I would like to submit the current ongoing tour of comedian Donald Glover as an example of how to get people to show up at such an event (while some of my points are specific, they should be easy to extrapolate to a rock band, theater company, you name it):

  • Die-hard standup comedy fans might go to a local club regardless of who is headlining – for the laughs, the heckling, the great unknowns and possibilities of what can happen on a given night.
  • Someone familiar with Donald Glover’s standup skills/routines may go to experience the content first-hand, as something more of a known quantity (but with a heavy dose of the first bullet thrown in as well).
  • Fans of Community (TV series) on NBC may enjoy Donald Glover’s performances as Troy Barnes(*), and be interested in connecting with Troy/Donald in person as a fan of the TV Show, even if they aren’t generally fans or attendees of standup comedy shows.

Okay, so that’s a bit on why someone might show up for Donald’s show when it hits town… But equally interesting is how:

  • Standup comedy fans may hear about the shows from club Websites, Twitter account(s), Facebook page(s), listings in a local newspaper’s entertainment section/calendar, posters/flyers in nearby bars or restaurants, or even the marquee out front of the club itself.
  • Donald Glover fans would almost certainly be following his twitter account @DonaldGlover, which references his journey/highlights of performances, and acts as a main “connection point” to rally fans in upcoming cities, including contests/giveaways/restaurant recommendation requests, etc. Fans can connect with each other via various Donald-related Hashtags, like #iamdonald, and #cangetit.
  • Fans of Community, as well, may discover Donald’s Twitter account directly through searches, references on other accounts, such as @nbccommunity or @danharmon (the head writer of the show), the Community Facebook page, etc.
  • Any of the methods/channels above could also contain reviews of Donald’s current tour, as would any number of entertainment/stand-up focused websites.
  • Lastly, the venues themselves may hold promotions or giveaways, and advertise such via local TV and radio stations, newspapers, daily deal sites, etc.

Social Media has been a tremendous boon, not just in the standup comedy space, but as a new form of connection and interaction point between celebrities, actors, bands, venues, and even particular productions/tours.

The combination of the open web, and near instant, viral/asymmetrical distribution of information and recommendations can have a huge influence in putting butts in seats before a show – as well as keeping fans talking, sharing photos, and creating bonds with each other afterward.

(* http://community-sitcom.wikia.co…)

What specific things get people excited enough to go out and see a live show?