Dropbox is a file hosting service operated by Dropbox, Inc. that offers cloud storage, file synchronization and client software. Dropbox Inc. was founded in the year 2007 by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi.

Dropbox exists as a free service that allows you to store any documents, videos or photos in the cloud so they are available anytime and anywhere. This means that any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, phones and even the Dropbox website. So, it gives you access to your files no matter what computer or device you have at hand.

Dropbox is a downloadable product, with a version for every major operating system like, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, BlackBerry. Every user also gets a Dropbox Web account with file access. Dropbox can be downloaded from the company’s website using this link.

Dropbox operates as a freemium service. It offers a few different pricing levels.

• Dropbox Basic – It gives you 2GB of storage at no cost.
• Dropbox Pro 50 – It comes at the price of $9.95 per month for 50GB
• Dropbox Pro 100 – It is available at the price of $19.99 per month for 100GB
• Dropbox Teams – This plan is for small businesses. It is priced at $795 per year, which provides up to 1 terabyte of storage for five users, and includes telephone tech support too.

While Dropbox functions as a storage service, its focus is on synchronization and sharing. The Dropbox client enables users to drop any file into a designated folder that is then synced automatically with Dropbox’s Internet service and to any other of the user’s computers and devices with the Dropbox client. Users may also upload files manually through a web browser.

Dropbox supports revision history, so files deleted from the Dropbox folder may be recovered from any of the synced computers. Dropbox also supports multi-user version control, enabling several users to edit and re-post files without overwriting versions.

OneSync is an open source synchronization tool created by CodeDroids team. This tool is based on the concept of using portable and free online storage (such as Dropbox) to synchronize files and folders between computers. OneSync allows your personal files stored in your computer to be very easily shared and synced with another computer in several ways: syncing through portable drive, thumb drive, Windows Shared Folders or even Dropbox. Thus both offline nd online synchroniztion are very well supported.

OneSync is based on two important concepts. These are the concepts that distinguish OneSync from other sync tools such as Live Mesh, Sync Toy and so on.

The first concept is called the Light-weight Sync. OneSync tries to make optimal use of the intermediate storage. Hence, only your modified files will be uploaded to or downloaded from the intermediate storage. This will not only prevent the storage of duplicated copies of your files on the intermediate storage but also make the whole sync process faster.

The second concept is known as Half Way Sync. Instead of doing synchronization directly between two PCs, there is an intermediate storage that plays an important role during the sync process. When a user syncs his folder, he must first choose the location of the intermediate storage. The storage can be a folder in his portable drive, a Windows Shared Folder or a Dropbox local folder that is stored on his computer. When he does the sync on one PC, his files (or patch) will be sent to the intermediate storage. After that, he has to do the sync again on his other computer in order to download the patch from the intermediate storage and complete the sync process. It is important that the user chooses the same folder as the intermediate storage in subsequent rounds of synchronization for these couple of folders on the two different PCs.

OneSync is available for free and does not have any complex system requirements for installation and use. Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 are the recommended operating systems. You will also need Microsoft .NET framework 3.5, this is installed for you as part of OneSync installation package.

OneSync has been quite carefully designed with users in mind. So, it is very simple to operate and does not require any complex configuration. Once you have installed and set up OneSync on your computer, you can achieve the required file/folder synchronization in just 3 easy steps:

• First step: Right click folder that you would like to sync and choose “Sync with OneSync”.
• Second step: Name your syncjob and choose your intermediate storage.
• Last step: Click sync and you are done

OneSync can be an add-on for Dropbox to enhance online sync experience. Dropbox is also available for free.

The latest version of OneSync can be downloaded here – OneSync4