StashIt88: private WebDAV storage (in alpha-test)


  1. How to Access
  2. Notable Current Caveats
  3. Reliability & Capabilities
  4. Motivation
  5. About this Document

How to Access

This can be done via most any ordinary web connection.
In your Web Browser or WebDAV client,
create a connection with these settings:
Root URL: http://StashIt88.Dreamhosters.com/s 
--soon to become https://StashIt88.Dreamhosters.com/s
Your personal & private
Username & Password:
<emailed to you>
connection name:
or "https_...." as appropriate.

See http://wiki.dreamhost.com/WebDAV_How-To_Access for details. 

Notable Current Caveats

  1. Intended use nowThis is a service to enable users to store and share any file or folder on the Internet, including having multiple writers, and using the most standard protocol (WebDAV) for this purpose. 
    1. It is especially designed for
      1. all your large files and bulk file storage over say 1GB (such as ones collection of photos, scanned paper, videos, music & software collections, including copies of optical disk (as CD & DVD)) which would expensive (often prohibitive) on via pretty much all other online services.
      2. And stuff which
        1. isn't going to get edited much (else where you don't need to track the versions) (fixable, but not too likely)
        2. and you don't need to index (not offered now, but eventually)
        3. and you don't need high security as you would for passwords & CC#s (not offered yet, but coming soon)
        4. and you don't need fine-grained control over who needs access (okay to share it with all the small group of users here) (not offered yet, but pretty soon)
        5. and you have a backup of else could afford to loose (but that to be fixed very soon)
      And will soon be reliable as your primary storage for these file types, so you will no longer need any large hard drives (on your personal computer nor as an external accessory), and won't have to worry about this storage getting lost, destroyed, or compromised.
    2. For other uses, certain top-notch inexpensive Internet file storage (as Subversion and http://docs.zoho.com) provide more features (as file versioning (which this may never have), plus indexing, and fine-grain security) as long as the the storage is less than about 1GB.   This type is ideally suited for the files you create yourself, as long as they aren't just bulk copies of stuff.
  2. Currently limit your total storage to under 5GB (will increase).
  3. Provides medium privacy & security:
    1. Who's here?
      1. One must have a username & password here to have any access.
      2. The exact list of usernames can be found by the sub-folder names of http://StashIt88.Dreamhosters.com/s/user/
      3. The number people accessing may increase, but will always be limited to what's safe:
        1. For good security, presently limited to about 10 close people (just close family plus a few invited friends), by direct invite only from the service's administrator.
        2.  Once fine-grained access control is also added, security will be increased dramatically and it can be opened to more people, but the folks still must be trusted to limit their storage, so it might grow to no more than say 30.
        3. Once simple quota management is also added (a possibility), it can be opened to 100s of people.  And users could be allowed to automatically add other users themselves (within some limits).
        4. Once the ability to charge for storage & use is added (a remote possibility), it can be opened to up to 10000s of people.  And unknown users can be allowed to sign-up themselves without invite.
    2. If one has a username & password here,
      one has FULL read & write access to everything here and there's NO backup from these changes, so be extremely careful,
      1. Deletes & changes can't be undone, so user errors are an increasing risk as more data is stored here.
      2. Follow the filing standards.
      3. Minimally delete. Including:
        1. Don't delete anything you didn't put there;
          instead request (ideally email) the person who put it there to delete it, including telling them why.
        2. Have a legitimate reason for deleting, which are ONLY these:
          1. Content which now fully copied to another location (which is as-least-as safe & accessible)
          2. Security risk (since the present system say doesn't allow one to limit access to say just 2 or 1 users; plus our hosting company always has access if they wanted or were required by law), including:
            1. Notable illegal content as
              1. child porn (other porn & nude okay provided other tests),
              2. notable copyright infringement (as by notable illegal sharing of copyrighted material )
            2. Sharing of info beyond which the its owner desires
              1. Who is the owner?  The person creating the info or making the recording (or image taking) usually owns the content, and NOT the persons in the recording, unless other arrangements or law exist beforehand.
            3. Sharing of info which inappropriately or illegally puts others at risk
          3. Content which is a poor use of space, as
            1. Duplicated content (replace the duplicate with a pointer to the original, as a .htm file which includes a link the original)
            2. Content which be easily be obtained again (as easily downloaded or regenerated again) --be sure of it, and be sure to leave instructions/links how if not obvious
            3. Low bang-for-buck (for storage size) --likelihood of needing it is small and the size is big, also remembering storage is fairly cheap so, roughly speaking, things under 1MB which might ever be needed you might just want to keep just in case.
        3. Avoid deleting folders (instead delete contents), including:
          1. Never delete a key folder (as a project folder and most especially a user's folder) unless the folder name itself is somehow a security risk.
      4. To change file x (after it's already been released or shared, or just after it hasn't been changed in a while), either:
        1. propose a change by creating YourUserName/x OR
        2. create nested subfolders as _prior/20081130021825Mike2/ (where 20081130021825 is the DateInCompactFormat and Mike2 is your username), then copy x into this subfolder, THEN change the original x.
      5. Don't store stuff (or else just temporarily store stuff) you wouldn't want all other users to get to, say if one started poking around.  For instance,
        1. in the example in the filing standards (a real example),
          1. Marj1 would email Lucy1 saying “Thank you for the files in hhttp://StashIt88.Dreamhosters.com/s/user/Lucy1/Wilma1/photo/ ; I have reviewed them all and make use the ones I needed.  Further, since they are nude photos and this file store doesn’t yet allow us to keep them private to just between us, can you kindly delete them now  Thanks.”
          2. And then Lucy1 would then just delete the files which she added (into photo/), but leave all the folders in case they may ever be needed again (plus as a record of what was done), since the folders themselves (with no such content) are no security risk.
    3. HTTPS isn't yet working, so
      1. don't use this to store highly-sensitive data! (as credit card #s & passwords) --especially stuff that identity thieves may want.
      2. Realize your password and data could be read by a hacker with access to your Internet connection (as nearby monitoring your wifi signal) 
    4. No sharing of select stuff with the public (yet).
  4. Filing standards:
    1. divide things up a lot into small folders,
      including a folder for yourself, a folder for your topic, a folder for your sub-topic, and a folder for your edits to some project.
        For instance,
      say if Marji1 requests Lucy1 to share her photos of Wilma1 (which Marji1 will then edit), we could create the following folders:
      1. <WebDAVURL>/<MyUserName>/<MyTopic>/<MySubTopic>/ as
        httphttp://StashIt88.Dreamhosters.com/s/user/Lucy1/Wilma1/photo/ for Lucy1 to save & share her photos of Wilma1.
      2. <AVURL>/<YourUserName>/<YourTopic>/<YourSubTopic>/<MyUserName>/edit/ as
        httphttp://StashIt88.Dreamhosters.com/s/user/Lucy1/Wilma1/photo/Marji1/edit/ for Marji1 save & share her edits of these photos of Wilma1 . 
    2. Every folder
      1. --should be non-plural (singular) word  (as "photo" or "edit", not "photos" & "edits") -
        Why?  The plural often sounds nice at first, but is implicit (a folder generally contains multiple items), can become awkward with a sub-item  (as "/invoices/352/" instead of "/invoice/345/"), can alter the spelling of the root word ("dictionaries" removes the "y" from "dictionary" then adds "ies"), is-word-dependent how it's done (adding "s", "es", or "ies"), and in general just adds unneeded characters.
      2. --should mostly be 1 word: for instance, instead of "/John1s_photos/" break it up into 2 folders: "John1/photo/".  Why?  This allows for further breakdown, as "/John1/resume/", which is then all grouped under the "/John1/" folder.
    3. DateInCompactFormat is the date & time time in either the format:
      1. YYYYMMDhhmmss in UTC (as 20081130053602)
      2. else YYYYMMDDzzzhhmmss where zzz is the time zone as "pst".
    4. Every user's folder (including yours, and only these) is in http://StashIt88.Dreamhosters.com/s/user/UserName .
    5. The library of things for all users to read and contribute to (which has tons of useful stuff) is at  http://StashIt88.Dreamhosters.com/s/library/
      1. Within this, the folder pattern is Make/Model/version/proORstd/platform/DateObtained/ where DateObtained is DateInCompactFormat.
      2. To read .iso and other CD & DVD images, MS Windows requires software as free Daemon Tools.
  5. Your password: keeping it handy but just for you.
    1. Security is paramount here given that this system will be used eventually be the master copy of all one's general general electronic data, instead of say one's laptop computer.  And while that needed security isn't all built it yet, it is built here for the password system
      • (with the one exception that a user can't yet auto-reset their password). 
    2. Your password is just for you (only 1 user per username), so do not let ever let anyone else have your password.
      1. email me if you need someone else to have access: email his/her name & email address, and I'll email him/her his/her own username & password.
      2. email me if you you need your password reset, and I'll email you a new one. 
      3. Do I have to choose a password, and can I choose which password? (& How do you change the password?”)
        You should only need to change your password if there's a chance it's security was compromised.  As, for maximum security (and ultimate simplicity), passwords are long randomly generated strings which are not user-assignable. This should not be a problem if you practice good security, as then you should never have to type nor remember this password.  If it is a problem, it is almost certain it is because good security isn't being practiced.  Exception to this rule is possible but one must clearly justify why this exception would be desirable even when good security is practiced.
    3. To log out,
      1. If working within your computer desktop which has good security, you don't need need to log-out (your desktop protects you)
        1. Only if you were a server administrator testing logging in under different users would you have to bother having to log out to switch users, and, when possible, this can be better done by setting up simultaneous connections (each under a different user name)
      2. In all other cases (especially if using someone else's stuff), t), this logging out of WebDAV is likely a bit of a hassle, as you generally have to exit your client software.
        1. if using a web browser and/or your file-explorer to get access,
          this generally means exit your browser and log-out of your desktop respectively.
        2. Other client software may have an explicit logout (so it forgets the password without exiting)
      This subsection (on logging out) should eventually be moved to http://wiki.dreamhost.com/WebDAV_How-To_Access#top
  6. See also ref="#Reliability_&_Capabilities">Reliability & Capabilities.

General computing practices assisting in the above (and so much more)

  1. Foremost & essential for all computer security:
    insure only you can get into your computer desktop and email, meaning (except as noted here) only you will ever use it and no one else ever gets into it, including:
    1. a secure password no one else can get but you can remember
      1. These few key "portal" passwords (as to your desktop & your email) you will need to remember & type (yet still make them impossible to guess, including by brute-force enumeration);
      2. however pretty-much all your other (non-"portal") passwords, each can be a very long very-random unique string (and should be for maximum security), as, if you practice this good security here, then you should never have to type nor remember these passwords.
    2. You routinely lock-out else logout of your session whenever you leave and whenever you may step-away or leave where someone else might (then) get access to it.
      1. For the MS Windows, just press "<windows key/>L" when you step-away or leave.
      2. See also "using someone else's"
    3. Insure auto-lockout (else else logout) if inactivity (before anyone might get to stuff --as after 2 to 30min of inactivity)
      1. As a password-protected screen-saver which is automatically invoked (on the MS Windows desktop background image, (right-click)->Settings->Screen Saver and set appropriately)
    4. Have every additional user get & use his/her own account, and/or
      (for a computer desktop) have an additional user use a shared guest account.
    5. If you ever let someone else use your login, you must be absolutely certain everything they're doing (including every program they run) doing doesn't affect your security, which usually includes (unless they're trusted administrator) supervising his/her every move non-stop and knowing what they're affecting.
    6. using someone else's computer, desktop, browser, and/or login:
      unless you're certain the computer is safe and you have your own private login,
      1. Avoid doing it
      2. Be very careful what info you enter & retrieve there as all you do & get could be recorded
      3. be sure to log out of everything you logged into, including if possible close the browser and ideally log out of the desktop.
      4.  And needless to say, stay out of their stuff, too.
    7. The above may seem like a lot of trouble at first, it accomplishes a number of key things:
      1. It protects your privacy: it insures your data which is just for you stays that way.
      2. It protects your identity: it insures no one else might be pretending to speaking and acting as if you did it.
      3. It protects others privacy: it insures when someone shares with you some info, no one else gets they don't intend unless you gave it to them.  It allows people to leave private messages for you.
      4. It gives you record-keeping convenience:  provided only you can get into your email as it should be (and it's forever-archived as it should be), you can
        store your password in the email you got which gave it to you.
        1. But do not forward this email to anyone (unless your password has been removed from the forwarded email).
      5. It gives you dramatic time-saving convenience:  provided your only you can get into your computer desktop as it should be, your email and other data CAN be freely & instantly accessible without login within your own private computer desktop (and generally should be for you maximum productivity), including:
        1. legitimate-programs can safely be allowed to remember your password, which is then maximally convenient & safe: you have instant access without being prompted for a password, plus then you can a maximally-strong password (including long, messy, & never used before) because you'll never have to remember it (provided, for the times you actually have to look it up, your private email storage and/or address book is handy as it should be)
        2. Within your computer desktop (or other portal) with good security,
          you don't need to log out of these (potentially endless) other services (both non-portal or portal)
          as your desktop protects you (explicitly locks, if not auto-locks, locking everything instantly).  For instance, if you're logged into your bank account (on your bank's website) about to do a transaction, the desktop password-protected screen saver (one click away) still protects that, and everything else.
        3. In short your portal passwords are all you need to remember & type, as they get you access to your portal, which then either provides else gets you access to password managers which remember & potentially-auto-enter all your other passwords, which then can just be simple (& impossible to guess) long random strings. And a password manager, which probably is best thought-of as a sub-job than a main job, can be as simple as one's private address contacts and/or clients (as web browsers) which remember your passwords. And so you have this with you everywhere, it probably should be stored on a website, as possibly done by a online password manager or a single sign-on web-system. 
  2. It's also very handy to create a contact in your address book for your account here,
    entitled (under Company/Organization name) "<YourUserName>@StashIt88.Dreamhosters.com/s"
    (replace "<YourUserName>" with your user name), then
    1. Ideally link the email containing your password to this contact.   Then if you search under this contact's activities, you'll find this email containing this password (indeed ideally every email pertaining to it, including every time it was changed).
      1. Manually link.  (in Outlook 2007, on the email, do Message->Options->Contacts and then select this contact). 
      2. Automatically link.  Indeed, to make this linking automatic (and since some contact managers as Gmail don't have linking), I sent your email also to <YourUserName>@StashIt88.Dreamhosters.com . This is a boguz email address which will bounce.  However by just once adding this email address to your contact, your contact's list of activities will automatically find this and all emails including this email address.  Indeed,
        1. to make your own notes about this account, or when talking about this account with someone else, just make sure to also send to this email address and those notes will then be automatically stored under that contact!
          (all you have to do is just delete the expected return bounced message)
    2. MoreMoreover, for contact managers which still can't instantly list all the emails for a particular contact (as MS Outlook 2007!!!), you might also store a copy of your password in the notes area for that contact (provided your address book is only accessible by you, as it should be).


Reliability & Capabilities

 It's in "alpha-test" since we're just first trying it now. Although the general WebDAV service is being provided by a very-reputable web hosting company (Dreamhost) which advertizes this feature and has seemingly done it for a year or more.  The problems I expect (all which should eventually get fixed), roughly from most to least serious:
  1. See Provides medium privacy & security.
  2.  For heavy use (as for all your daily files), it hasn't been tested yet.
  3. No indexing & nor automated method to search the stuff stored here (yet).
  4. Hardware should be solid  -I expect to be flawless (as never loosing a byte), and is backed up by the hoster, though
    1. I'd want to soon have my own off-site backup just-in-case.


To (securely) store the master copy of all data on the Internet

This WebDAV is part of a number of approaches (also SVN & CMS --each suited to a particular kind of info) all
to store the master copy of all data on the Internet
(on big reliable servers, typically web servers, on the Internet), and only have a cache of the data on one's personal devices (most notably one's personal computers & mobile phones), typically on the device's web browser but it could also on other client software which has a cache.  For these important benefits:
  1. one's data is accessible & sharable to most any device (having Internet access), including on multiple devices at once without the need to really synchronize, so: 
    1. When ever one's personal devices are not-usable (as corrupted (happens frequently with MS Windows), broken (happens frequently with laptops), unavailable (happens frequently with larger & heavier computers) or lost or stolen), one can, potentially instantly, use and/or move-to another device without any data loss and no significant loss in functionality.
    2. One can much instantly share & collaborate.
    3. One doesn't need much storage on his/her personal devices (maybe even almost no storage, as on a mobile phone), yet can still access everything.
  2. one's data backed up & managed centrally, and with this pooling then more features can be afforded & provided for it all, as potentially every version of any change kept if desired, plus everything indexed.
  3. && One doesn't need much storage on his/her personal devices (as maybe only 20GB on a laptop hard drive, and maybe even almost no storage on a mobile phone), yet can still access everything.

WebDAV (including the WebDAV here) provides

filesystem storage very similar one you find on the hard drive of your personal computer, except that:
  1.  its also sharable thru the Internet, indeed:
    1. thru the ordinary HTTP & HTTPS protocols, which are almost never blocked
    2. and every file & folder has an ordinary URL (which any web browser could understand, could provide at least read access)
      1. you could even embed this URL in the HTML of a web page (say if you wanted to embed an image, or a frame on one of your documents))
      2. --sharing files & folders really couldn't be more universal & straightforward.
  2. for every folder, one could set exactly which groups could read and/or write its data
    1. (modern personal computers (especially NTFS of MS Windows) have this ability (called ACL), but it increasingly seldom used as it doesn't share across the Internet)
    2. This feature is possible here, and will likely be put into use very soon.
      1. Including the ability to grant public access (usually read access) to certain files & folders, to create a little public web site or pages and or include links to media (as images or videos).
  3. Advanced WebDAV (with DeltaV) can version every change of every file, but this feature is not possible with present implementation, and also isn't as powerful of a version mechanism as alternatives as SVN provide, but SVN is a lot more complex to set-up.  File versioning will eventually be provided, but it's not clear by what method yet.
  4. WebDAV DOESN'T by itself include (critical) index support (as is now built-into MS Windows Vista) nor off-site backup.  And this isn't implemented here, but is high-priority.

But why not some other protocol besides WebDAV?

    WebDAV is
  1. a (or the) leading method for shared storage of general files on the Internet, and its popularity is increasing.
    1. Some colleges and other large organizations use for shared storage of all their staff (and seemingly student) files (as all customers of Xythos.com, which only makes (expensive) WebDAV servers & clients for big orgs), possibly especially because, underlying, WebDAV is no-proprietary.  Still,
    2. Apple's (MobileMe) iDisk service (providing all Mac users an Internet drive) uses WebDAV; indeed www.MacinTouch.com/dotmacalt02.html is an article of users looking for lower-cost WebDAV storage  
    3. MS FrontPage hosting is based on WebDAV internally (how FrontPage edits its pages there), and
    4. MS SharePoint hosting extends on it by also providing versioning (I think DeltaV). 
    5. And top open-source version-control/configuration-management software, Subversion(SVN) --used to develop seemingly most open-source software today, extends on it (SVN provides a WebDAV-with-DeltaV server with more extensions for configuration-management).  It's also
  2. non-proprietary (and not notably tied with any particular company) & developed at www.WebDAV.Org), and
  3. arguably the simplest way to share general files (read-write) thru the Internet (it's thought of extending the usual HTTP to write files, too --a first attempt at Web 2.0, and still very useful), and
  4. seemingly a notable improvement over the former protocol, FTP.
  5. Every HTTP(s) (and thus WebDAV) access (and sometimes every FTP access) is typically & conveniently logged (exactly who accessed what when); and this is not generally the case in filesystems (as SMB/CIFS & NFS) designed for LANs.

Why not just use some Internet file sharing service

  1. Foremost: affordable for ALL one's data, even copies of CD, DVD, videos, & backup storage --just compare the possible alternatives, sorted by increasing $/GB/yr:
      <$1GB/yr: ddirt-cheap: so affordable for everything & more: these semi-DIY WebDAV storage providers (via a web-hosting account) provide pretty-much the lowest price for (reliable) read-write Internet storage Google Search[WebDAV storage OR hosting] lists 1st www.hostscope.com/hosting-ratings/webdav-hosting listing 3 (including DreamHost, ANHosting & midPhase)
    1. "0"/GB/yr ($15/mo for unlimited hosting) from GoDaddy unlimited hosting (announced 2008.10.03) --found via Google Search[unlimited hosting]. BBUT seems not possible, not supported, and/or not done:
      1. no WebDAV acccess?   Google Search[GoDaddy WebDAV] finds it offers WebDAV via its Online File Folder (see below) but that's MUCH more expensive; Google Search[GoDaddy GoDaddy WebDAV enable OR Web] still doesn't find anything except that it might be disabled/avoided as the WebDAV module seemingly not included in sub-app eGroupware Google Search[GoDaddy mod_dav] didn't seem to find it.
      2.  GoDaddy's Universal Terms of Service/a> doesn't seem to provide for it (as they should with unlimited), including doesn't mention "backup", but does say "Go Daddy may review every account for excessive space and bandwidth utilization and to terminate or apply additional fees to those accounts that exceed allowed levels."
    2.  $0.16/GB/yr ($6.95/500GB/mo (I'm guessing if only purchasing 1yr); also has a limited $7.95/1000GB/mo)  from ANHosting.com  found above ("About" says "In 2005 AN Hosting was acquired by midPhase hosting"; the two have exactly the physical same address (in Chicago); midPhase looks slightly more expensive, so I don't bother listing it here).  Google Search[ANHosting WebDAV] does not seemingly find setup & user-experience details, other folks talking that they have WebDAV, and Google Search[site:ANHosting.com OR site:midPhase.com WebDAV] immediately finds little --suggesting they MAY not have the experience of DreamHost here. 
    3. $0.20/GB/yr ($119/608GB/yr (it grows 2GB/wk)) for this service here via DreamHost.com--  Moreover, they've been praised for their WebDAV service in www.MacinTouch.com/dotmacalt02.html and chosen as having lowest price WebDAV storage at www.hostscope.com/hosting-ratings/webdav-hosting
    4. $1 to $3/GB/yr: not cheap but still affordable for everything:
    5. $1.20/GB/yr ("only 10 cents a GB / month") "for backups use" by Dreamhost.com/unlimited.html , which also notes "No other "unlimited" host allows using any of your disk space for backups, at all!"
    6. $1.35/GB/yr ($270/200GB/yr) (6x more, in bulk) from www.MyNetStorage.com/signup.htm  (and only non-encrypted FTP access, and no controls over permissions offered)  --Google Search[WebDAV storage] ad
    7. $1.80/GB/yr ($.15/GB/mo) (8x more), + $0.10/GB transferred, from http://aws.amazon.com/s3/#pricing , and also, to work, requires special software as Google Search[(Amazon S3) WebDAV]. Nonetheless,
      1. the Amazon S3 price establishes a low bulk rate for Internet storage (0 to 50TB) which you know can still be reliably delivered. So
        1. if others are selling say less than 1/4th of this, then you know that they is either a catch or in practice/scaling they can't actually deliver that; and
        2. if others are selling say over 4x more, you know they could well be ripping you off.
    8. $1.99/GB/yr ($199/100GB/yr) from www.BingoDisk.com providing WebDAV; no multi-user, just a public sub-folder. --Google Search[WebDAV storage] lists 1st
    9. $3.00/GB/yr ($.25/GB/mo) plus $.18/GB transferred, from Nirvanix.com/gettingStarted.aspx --found via Google Search[Amazon s3 alternative] 1st item Nirvanix Launches To Compete With Amazon S3 Storage Service.
    10.    Promises to be big; CIFS, NFS, and WebDAV to be available around 200812.
      1. Nirvanix is competitive to Amazon S3 and charges about 70% more but Google Search[Nirvanix Amazon] yields favorable results:
        1. apparently as they offer an uptime promise.
        2. Nirvanix Averages up to 200 Percent Faster Downloads Than Amazon
        3. Intel Takes Stake In Amazon S3 Competitor Nirvanix
        4. www.nirvanix.com/comparison.aspx (with S3)
      2. Google Search[Nirvanix WebDAV] 1st finds q[Jan 25, 2008 ... Nirvanix will shortly release CIFS, NFS and WebDAV and FTP mounts in addition to API integration.] from Earthweb.com post, and q[Customers access the SDN via an API but CIFS, NFS, webDAV and FTP access methods are coming, probably later this year.] from BlocksAndFiles.Co.Uk post.
      3. Right now, no serious additional competitors here it seems.
        $3 to $50/GB/yr: Only affordable for data you're actually editing, prohibitive for storing even 1 CD copy:
    11. $4.95/GB/yr ($99/20GB/yr) from www.apple.com/mobileme/pricing for Apple's (MobileMe) iDisk service which uses WebDAV.
    12. $6.00/GB/yr ($100/200GB/mo) from www.ExaVault.com/ftp-storage-space.php
    13. (only offers FTP accounts, unlimited uses)--Google Search[WebDAV storage] ad.
    14. $18.75/GB/yr ($2250/120GB/yr) from www.FilesAnywhere.com/PowerPlanPricing.htm (biggest personal plan) & provides q[FTP, SecureFTP, WebDAV WebFolder drive mapping (Windows/Mac), ..., Guest Dropbox, Guest FileShare links, Permission-based Folder Sharing, Resumable Batch Upload Jobs] -feature rich.  Additional users are $5 ea.  --Google Search[WebDAV storage] lists 2nd.
    15. $50 to $500/GB/yr: Only affordable for tiny data (as text data) you're editing:
      (cheapest here are $120/GB/yr which is 500x more!)
    16. $120/GB/mo ($10/1GB/mo, bigger size (at likely lower rates) in works from www.DavDrive.com/?uri=site.faq&q#q0.1 (specialize in WebDAV, lists 4 open-source clients) --Google Search[WebDAV storage OR hosting] lists 9th.
    17. $120/GB/yr from www.mydocsonline.com/enterprise_prices.html (typical Internet file sharing service pricing)
    18. $120/GB/yr from GoDaddy's Online File Folder Accessing Your Online File Folder says it can be accessed thru FTP, WebDAV, and website www.OnlineFileFolder.com, and you can "associated your Online File Folder with an email account" enabling you to (also?) access it at http://email.secureserver.net  and  "Online File Folder is WebDAV class 1 and 2 [but not 3] compliant."
    19. $240/GB/yr ($2000/100GB/mo) from www.i2drive.com/products/account_corp.jhtml (provides WebDAV) --Google Search[WebDAV storage] lists 3rd.
  2. Second: we can use a leading, non-Propriety data format.  Typical Internet file sharing services us a a proprietary data format which only they use.  And if are going to commit potentially all our data (and maybe backups) in this format, such a format can be very dangerous.  If you want to leave, you may be stuck; and if you must leave for some reason (as say they go out of business --maybe because they're their format & ideas only they are doing and don't turn out to be so hot), you would easily get hosed.  And it's happened to me: I stored a number of my CD copies (but fortunately no critical data) on  www.Streamload.com , which used a clever but entirely proprietary system, and then they suddenly died in 2008, loosing my and everyone's data.
  3. Third: By doing DIY, we have full control to enhance it, plus fix it if it gets broke.

About this Document

  1. 20081112073958: I Poor.Richard@CommuniDB.com created this document, creating version 1 (one big ordered list)
  2. 20081115005621: I'm almost finished creating version 2 (now better sorted (most essential stuff first), has sections & sub-sections, contents, and much more detail)
  3. 20081117224638: totally removed all stuff which would better belong in http://wiki.dreamhost.com/WebDAV_How-To_Access and instead insured it was there.
  4. 20081118221425: In response to 2nd user asking How do you change the password?” (probably not liking the long random one) I made notable additions to Your password: keeping it handy but just for you explaining why these auto-assigned long-random number passwords work much better so far.
  5. 20081130041628: about quadrupled the size of the be extremely careful instructions after, without these additions, one new user (somewhat understandably) apparently deleted another user's entire folder; see email to the user (asking if these instructions clarify things) sent "2008.11.29 20:16" pst.
  6. 20081130053946: created http://StashIt88.Dreamhosters.com/s/user/ and added docs of http://StashIt88.Dreamhosters.com/s/library/; ad; added docs of DateInCompactFormat; added Intended use now; added Who's here.