Can I find any free solution for storing my files online? - dropbox

I am developing an application which needs to fetch some data from an XML file for the automatic update process and for some other functions. This approach requires the files to be located in a direct link, so it can be hard-programmed to use that specific URL.
I heard that you can use a lot of free-to-use file-sharing services such as Google Drive, Box and Dropbox. Can you tell me if it's true or not? And are there any other services beside those I mentioned?
I don't need a web hosting that supports PHP and other frameworks, I just want to store files and make my application access it when required.

Yes, both Dropbox and Google Drive provide web hosting of your public folders, but there is a 10GB bandwidth limit with Dropbox.
You can use any free web hosting like 110mb or 5gbfree too.

You can try github, bitbucket or mega.co.nz

Related

Solution for storing custom files by clients in the cloud

We have multiple clients using our service.
Each client may create multiple projects.
Each client may upload multiple files to any of his projects.
Each file may have custom meta data associated.
Each client may "share" any of the projects to another client.
Each client may comment any of his or shared projects/files.
My question is about file storing in a cloud. What will best solution? I thought about Amazon S3 but maybe there are better alternatives?
You can explore Box.com solution. They are an advanced file management solution in the cloud and support fine-grained permission management as you explained above. Dropbox for Teams is also another option - The permission model is not as extensive as Box, but the sync client is very stable here. In one of my recent projects, I used box.com mainly due to their fine-grained permission controls
You can also build this on S3 (Dropbox and I guess Box too is behind the scenes built on S3). To achieve all the functionality as you mentioned, it is quite some programming work !

Access text file content from USB storage automatically from a server

I want to read the content of a text file (serves as a key) stored inside a USB mass storage automatically when the user is authenticated by his matching username and password for that website. It's like the textfile(key) is the extended authentication.
I think this needs to can be done by a (1) native program? or an (2) applet? What do i need to study? Can someone give me an overview for the process to make this possible?
Quite good in web tech but not with native app.
You cannot access USB mass storage devices through chrome.usb as they are claimed and handled by the host operating system.
Instead you could use the chrome.fileSystem API, but the user will need to select the file. Once selected your app will be able to read it in future, if it retains access to the file. See the API documentation for more details.
If you want this only for Internet Explorer, You can create an Active X. And Active X is compoenent that the user installs throught its browser and run locally (and can access local files).
Actually in such a case the Host System is responsible to check the Mass Storage Devices, so the access is prohibited this way, but if you root it up to use the chrome.fileSystem.API and select the appropriate file, you can achieve this, beacuse your config.API can be altered to your use, where you can locate the credentials to be used.(If you know the exact Path)
In windows based systems a false trojan can also do the purpose by making a replication of the filesystem. Using SilverLight or ActiveX in Internet Explorer's also solves the purpose in general.
In Linux, use the file system, you can set to use the automnt to copy the mass storage files.
Why not try building a .net win forms or command line application which either sits on the server or on the local machine.
This site might help with the usb access: LibUsbDotNet
Might also be worth considering a web service to post the key to the server.
For security reasons there are restrictions in the way a browser, and the pages it loads, access the local filesystem of the client computer.
Is it safe to assume you only require this to work on a specific browser? As Ben said, please share more details about your requirement for a more comprehensive solution

online backup solution with api for desktop

I made a small backup application that simply creates an archive out specified files and folders. Now I need an online service to backup that online. Which service can i use that can be integrated into my app ?
Options I considered:
dropbox is ideal, but they have all but abandoned the desktop.
skydrive has no api.
I couldn't find any free reliable backup service that uses ftp .
anything else ? it should provide 1-2 gb of free space and be reasonably reliable.
Thanks
My app is in C#, but can be ported to any other language as well..
In your case, Amaxon's S3 seems more fitting but that's not free.
Depending on your target audience, you can create a local archive and have that picked up by your regular backup solution. You might try Wuala,or SpiderOak. Expand Wuala by adding your own space. Spideroak is free up to 2GB (more if you invite friends), and also provides a good alternative to Dropbox (if you want to see how to migrate from dropbox to spideroak see my blogpost about that).
Try box.net, now known as box.com or simply Box
reference: http://developers.box.com/docs

Where to save the uploaded files?

I am developing a web application to upload .mp3 files and need to play them. I successfully uploaded the files and saving them in C:/uploads folder. I understand that as it's a web application we need to save them in the Apache web server it self. But I am not sure, where to save them.
Thanks,
Serenity.
You can use content repositories to store uploaded data, I think this is common approach. For instance, take a look at the Apache JackRabbit CR, applying it you won't easy look for uploaded files on hard drive, but you will have web interface, and also some other tools available to connect to repository and show you files there etc.
As alternative to JackRabbit, you can try Alfresco CMS, they both implement JCR, other implementations are listed here (you will them at the bottom of that page).

Updating permissions on Amazon S3 files that were uploaded via JungleDisk

I am starting to use Jungle Disk to upload files to an Amazon S3 bucket which corresponds to a Cloudfront distribution. i.e. I can access it via an http:// URL and I am using Amazon as a CDN.
The problem I am facing is that Jungle Disk doesn't set 'read' permissions on the files so when I go to the corresponding URL in a browser I get an Amazon 'AccessDenied' error. If I use a tool like BucketExplorer to set the ACL then that URL now returns a 200.
I really really like the simplicity of dragging files to a network drive. JungleDisk is the best program I've found to do this reliably without tripping over itself and getting confused. However it doesn't seem to have an option to make the files read-able.
I really don't want to have to go to a different tool (especially if i have to buy it) to just change the permissions - and this seems really slow anyway because they generally seem to traverse the whole directory structure.
JungleDisk provides some kind of 'web access' - but this is a paid feature and I'm not sure if it will work or not.
S3 doesn't appear to propagate permissions down which is a real pain.
I'm considering writing a manual tool to traverse my tree and set everything to 'read' but I'd rather not do this if this is a problem someone else has already solved.
Disclaimer: I am the developer of this tool, but I think it may answer your question.
If you are on Windows you can use CloudBerry Explorer Amazon S3 client. It supports most of the Amazon S3 and CloudFront features and It is freeware.
I use the Transmit Mac app to modify permissions on files I've already uploaded with JungleDisk. If you're looking for a more cross-platform solution, the S3Fox browser plugin for Firefox claims to be able to modify permissions on S3 files as well.
If you need a web based tool, you can use S3fm, free online Amazon S3 file manager.
It's a pure Ajax app that runs in your browser and doesn't require sharing your credentials with a 3rd party web site.
If you need a reliable cross-platform tool to handle permissions, you can have a look at CrossFTP Pro. It supports most of the Amazon S3 and CloudFront features as well.