Drop Box Pros and Cons

Some customers request Dropbox on the hosted servers.

Dropbox is a great way to share files, however it also has some drawbacks.
As the hosted server can be accessed from anywhere it may be better to use this feature to access files when on the move.

We always ask customers to consider the following:

1. The amount of internet usage increases significantly because every time a remote PC is turned on their Dropbox scans your server.

2. The risk from virus attack is higher if you use a Dropbox or other remote sharing system. This is because Antivirus software finds it difficult to scan files in a sharing link. As remote PC’s are most likely to be out of your IT management Antivirus may not be up to date. If the remote PC gets a virus there is a much higher risk that the server will also get infected than when accessing the Hosted system directly.

3. Dropbox and other generic sharing systems do control access with username / passwords and this gives some security. However individual files and folders cannot be locked down in a Dropbox account.

4. A copy of each synchornised file is created at either end of the systrem so the storage requirements on the server and the PC can double causing you more cost!

5. Files can be shared however you cant access software like Sage or Office applications over Dropbox.
If you use the Hosted system from home then both are available.