SugarSync are earning high praise from all the over the web with their handy features and cost effective online storage solutions, but another provide not to be overlooked ins Box.net, which can offer unlimited storage for less than $30 a month. In comparison to SugarSync’s similar price tag for 250GB, it easy to see what is the best option here.

Unlike SugarSync, Box.net also provides telephone support, while also matching their close rival in nearly every other category. However, one handy feature they have left out is the ‘file search’ option, which will be extremely valuable, especially when regular accessing large amount of data. But if you are looking for a cheap and reliable way to back-up your old files, Box.net will be a recommended option.

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SugarSync is quickly becoming the most reliable name in online storage, and also offers its amazing service at an incredibly low price. Up to 2GB is free with SugarSync while you can get 30GB for only a little over £3 per month.

SugarSync online storage will provide the features you would expect such as Remote Access, Public File Sharing, Private File Sharing and scheduled backups. However, also adding to its appeal is the Multilevel Security feature that is rare among other online storage providers. SugarSync is also easy to use and comes with a handy drag-and-drop option that will backing up your pictures, music and documents a doddle. It is easily the best choice for online storage.

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Mandriva’s super-handy ‘Click’n’Backup’ online storage system for Linux users is increasingly becoming a popular platform for people to store their documents and data in one handy location. Easily its most appeal feature is that that it also acts as a sharing network as a well as a backup system, so you and your colleagues can access files from any location.

What’s more is that it is incredibly good value – at just under $8 a month for 20GB of storage – and is easily one of the more reliable options for Linux. Click’n’Backup will be suited to both personal and business use and you can rest assured that your files will be in safe hands.

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After its release in the US, the Livedrive online storage system is set to made available to UK users, and from only £3.95 per month is a cheap and reliable way to back up files from any computer with an internet connection. Voted “the best online storage service” by Webuser magazine, this will be an extremely handy way of storing all your music, photos and documents.

The service they provide is just as good as having a hard drive hooked up to your PC – any changes you make to files will be automatically logged and will update the system. With this popular cloud storage option, you can wave goodbye to those bulky and noisy hard drives taking up space on your desk.

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Mozy is a relatively young online storage company. The site works by having users sign up for a secure account and then downloading Mozy’s proprietary software.After the software has been downloaded, Mozy’s software guides the user through a pretty comprehensive interface so that files can be chosen to upload to Mozy’s backup servers.

Mozy’s software is also needed when you want to reclaim your files later down the line. You can get unlimited storage from Mozy for a competitive $4.95 USD per month or pay annually and save even more.  Provided you have the bandwidth for uploading your data, Mozy is a pretty good option for backing up data into the cloud.

Carbonite Online PC Backup is another up and coming cloud-computing based storage service. Carbonite has users sign up for an account and download special software that securely connects a user’s computer to Carbonite’s servers.

The software can be set to automatically monitor the user’s hard drive and synchronize files between Carbonite’s servers and the user’s computer. This is a straightforward way to ensure that you always have a copy of critical files available on hand. The fact is that you never know when your own hard disk can go on the fritz. Backups are more critical than ever.

For $54.95 USD per year for unlimited storage is incredibly reasonable. If you have the broadband bandwidth necessary to upload and download gigabytes of data, Carbonite is a wonderful online storage solution.

If you have a lot of sensitive data in your home PC that you need to protect from unforeseen disasters, creating online backups is the way to go. IDrive is an easy to use, reliable online backup service that provides 2 GB space for storing your data in its server absolutely free. The Pro version provides 150 GB storage space simply by charging $ 4.95 a month.

Data encryption during transfer is of serious concern these days, and this is where IDrive comes through with flying colors. The data is encrypted throughout the transfer process using a password protected encryption key, to ensure complete data security. The backup process is hassle free, and can back up as much as 2-4 GB on a given day, provided you have a fast enough internet connection.

The user interface that IDrive provides is quite easy to use, even for a beginner. The intelligent placement of buttons and menus makes selecting files to be backed up a snap. Add to that the facility to restore files by selection in case of a disaster, and you have a winner in your hands.

Backing up your data regularly on external drives or optical discs may seem like a good idea. However, any storage device may malfunction or crash, taking your data to the grave with it. The safest way is to have a backup system away from home, preferably online.

There are many websites that provide online backup services. However, the service provided by Mozy is one of the best. Mozy provides an uploader tool, which has to be installed in your hard disk. Thereafter, backing up your files is as easy as 1-2-3. You can even schedule automatic backups, to be taken at preset intervals.

Mozy provides both free and paid services. The free service gets you 2 GB of free storage space on the Mozy server, whereas opting for the paid service will get you unlimited storage space. You can upload any file and keep it password-protected. You can even encrypt your files beforehand, for added security.