Bitcasa - unlimited file storage for $ 10 ... for now free
Greetings to you, dear Habraludi. Last fall, an article about the Bitcasa cloud service ran through Habré, which promised unlimited disk space in the cloud, with a hint of the appearance of the killer Dropbox.
Service is at the stage of closed beta test.
Those who do not want to read a lot of text can watch the video and in thefirst comment get a lot of invites already ended. Invites lay out a little in the comments.
Update: Each new user gets 10 invites. Spit it out in the comments, please.
A little late with the placement, now on Habré 2 wonderful articles describing various bugs.
Bitcasa is a “closed” repository with client-side encryption. Folders (not even files) can be shared, but only for users of the service itself (hi Dropbox). A place to store information is unlimited (!). There is an opportunity to stream video and listen to music from the cloud.
The creators of the service are former employees, MasterCard and VeriSign, Classmates.com. Funding comes from CrunchFund.
')
In the invitation received by mail, we are offered to follow a unique link that leads us to the client's download page.
So far, the main work is being done on Mac OSX, there is an alpha version for Windows, and proud Linux users are offered to be patient.
Before downloading, they honestly warn you that you will only be able to register at your email address, specified when registering for beta testing or for which an invite came.
In the absence of an alternative, boldly press on the multi-colored window.
Judging by the videos, the Mac version is more functional than the Win version, so I would appreciate it for additional information in the comments.
Having downloaded the client with the size of 25.4 MB, we proceed to a simple installation.
I draw your attention - this is a beta (or alpha) version, therefore, according to the license agreement, the developers are not responsible for anything at all and in principle, but will be happy fidbekam.
At the last stage of the installation, we are offered to install (for some reason in a separate window) the Dokan service. This really surprised me. To give a third-party, albeit a very good, application for managing the file system of a commercial (in the near future) product is at least an ambiguous marketing move. Plus, the Dokan installer runs in a separate window immediately after installing the Bitcasa client, although without Dokan it will not work in principle. Let's write on the prefix "alpha".
When you start the client, we are offered to register or login to your account.
Let me remind you that when registering, the email must be the same one, an inviteeta.
In principle, everything is quite simple and almost logical. Go ahead.
All management occurs through the work with the icon in the tray, which has become a good tradition in this segment of applications.
By clicking on My Bitcasa Folders, the program interface opens.
Everything here is also simple and clear. Or drag and drop a folder into the program window or by clicking “Add Folder” add a folder to the “Cloud”.
The folder appears next to the "Overloaded" list and the download begins.
After downloading from the tray, we are pleased with the message that everything went well and our folder is already in the cloud.
Delighted, I climbed into a timviewer to check how things are on another computer (I put Vitasa at work and at home, I write an article from home). Unfortunately, I found out that the folder just uploaded to the cloud not only did not appear on the working computer (either in the Bitcasa interface or on the hard disk), but also the previous folder that I drove into Bitcasa at work (for training) and deleted already at home, stayed in place (in the Bitcasa interface, it was already on the disk). What is the matter?
There was an interesting bug in this particular situation, namely:
Bitcasa is installed and running at work, the folder number 1 is loaded there. I came home, set Bitcasa, deleted Folder 1 from the cloud (seemingly) through the interface, and filled Folder No. 2 into Bitcasa. At work in the interface remained Folder number 1.
And here Bitcasa (I didn’t catch the exact moment) does the following on my home and work computer:
Size pleased, but now is not about that.
That is, Bitcasa renamed the source folder to the same with the prefix .original, and next created a hardlink to the cloud with the name of the source folder. On the work computer, the same thing happened. Here is a cotovasie.
After restarting applications on both computers, everything worked. I still do not understand, this is a bug or a feature - on the computer from which we send the folder to the cloud, in any case, a hardlink is created and the original folder receives the prefix .original.
When trying to work with files in the hardlink folder, Bitcasa still climbs them to their servers, although here they are - next to them in the .original folder. An unambiguous bug - sometimes after exiting the program or after deleting a folder from Bitcasa, an empty hardlink and folder.original remains on the disk (when everything is in order, only the normal folder remains without a prefix).
Without going into details about the principle of the file system through Dokan and, accordingly, Bitcasa, the point is that on the computer from which we want to get files from the cloud, there are links to folders and files via the user mode file system. In fact, these are the very junction (mount points) and hardlinks, but on a Bitcasa server.
When you access the file, it starts to download to your computer. Unlike Dropbox, the files are downloaded: a) not immediately, but only when accessing the file b) the download takes place in the Bitcasa cache, and on the disk you only see the hardlink.
The beauty of Bitcasa’s ideas is that by turning on the computer and launching the client, it finds what you’ve downloaded to the cloud, for example, a folder with a terabyte of video or music. But you do not need to wait until they download, you can open any video file and watch it as a regular movie in your player. Naturally, if the speed of your Internet channel allows, otherwise you will get a slide show.
If you want to save the file you need to copy it to any place. In principle, files are stored in the cache after the first access to them.
On the web interface, you can only say one thing - beta with beta design.
The settings are very simple, especially pleased with the opportunity to change the color of the tray icon to black (!?).
Cons - a lot of bugs, which is not what you expect from a startup of this level. While weak functionality. Sharing only folders and only members of the service.
Pros - very good speed, streaming work with media files, unlimited space.
The article of the highly respected Evengard is definitely recommended for review.
References:
Not quite up to date FAQ
Client download (without invite is meaningless)
Support and forums
Service is at the stage of closed beta test.
Those who do not want to read a lot of text can watch the video and in the
Update: Each new user gets 10 invites. Spit it out in the comments, please.
A little late with the placement, now on Habré 2 wonderful articles describing various bugs.
Bitcasa is a “closed” repository with client-side encryption. Folders (not even files) can be shared, but only for users of the service itself (hi Dropbox). A place to store information is unlimited (!). There is an opportunity to stream video and listen to music from the cloud.
The creators of the service are former employees, MasterCard and VeriSign, Classmates.com. Funding comes from CrunchFund.
')
Installation and registration.
In the invitation received by mail, we are offered to follow a unique link that leads us to the client's download page.
So far, the main work is being done on Mac OSX, there is an alpha version for Windows, and proud Linux users are offered to be patient.
Before downloading, they honestly warn you that you will only be able to register at your email address, specified when registering for beta testing or for which an invite came.
In the absence of an alternative, boldly press on the multi-colored window.
Judging by the videos, the Mac version is more functional than the Win version, so I would appreciate it for additional information in the comments.
Having downloaded the client with the size of 25.4 MB, we proceed to a simple installation.
I draw your attention - this is a beta (or alpha) version, therefore, according to the license agreement, the developers are not responsible for anything at all and in principle, but will be happy fidbekam.
At the last stage of the installation, we are offered to install (for some reason in a separate window) the Dokan service. This really surprised me. To give a third-party, albeit a very good, application for managing the file system of a commercial (in the near future) product is at least an ambiguous marketing move. Plus, the Dokan installer runs in a separate window immediately after installing the Bitcasa client, although without Dokan it will not work in principle. Let's write on the prefix "alpha".
When you start the client, we are offered to register or login to your account.
Let me remind you that when registering, the email must be the same one, an inviteeta.
In principle, everything is quite simple and almost logical. Go ahead.
Interface and work with the service.
All management occurs through the work with the icon in the tray, which has become a good tradition in this segment of applications.
By clicking on My Bitcasa Folders, the program interface opens.
Everything here is also simple and clear. Or drag and drop a folder into the program window or by clicking “Add Folder” add a folder to the “Cloud”.
The folder appears next to the "Overloaded" list and the download begins.
After downloading from the tray, we are pleased with the message that everything went well and our folder is already in the cloud.
It was not there
Delighted, I climbed into a timviewer to check how things are on another computer (I put Vitasa at work and at home, I write an article from home). Unfortunately, I found out that the folder just uploaded to the cloud not only did not appear on the working computer (either in the Bitcasa interface or on the hard disk), but also the previous folder that I drove into Bitcasa at work (for training) and deleted already at home, stayed in place (in the Bitcasa interface, it was already on the disk). What is the matter?
There was an interesting bug in this particular situation, namely:
Bitcasa is installed and running at work, the folder number 1 is loaded there. I came home, set Bitcasa, deleted Folder 1 from the cloud (seemingly) through the interface, and filled Folder No. 2 into Bitcasa. At work in the interface remained Folder number 1.
And here Bitcasa (I didn’t catch the exact moment) does the following on my home and work computer:
Size pleased, but now is not about that.
That is, Bitcasa renamed the source folder to the same with the prefix .original, and next created a hardlink to the cloud with the name of the source folder. On the work computer, the same thing happened. Here is a cotovasie.
After restarting applications on both computers, everything worked. I still do not understand, this is a bug or a feature - on the computer from which we send the folder to the cloud, in any case, a hardlink is created and the original folder receives the prefix .original.
When trying to work with files in the hardlink folder, Bitcasa still climbs them to their servers, although here they are - next to them in the .original folder. An unambiguous bug - sometimes after exiting the program or after deleting a folder from Bitcasa, an empty hardlink and folder.original remains on the disk (when everything is in order, only the normal folder remains without a prefix).
How does it work or should it work?
Without going into details about the principle of the file system through Dokan and, accordingly, Bitcasa, the point is that on the computer from which we want to get files from the cloud, there are links to folders and files via the user mode file system. In fact, these are the very junction (mount points) and hardlinks, but on a Bitcasa server.
When you access the file, it starts to download to your computer. Unlike Dropbox, the files are downloaded: a) not immediately, but only when accessing the file b) the download takes place in the Bitcasa cache, and on the disk you only see the hardlink.
The beauty of Bitcasa’s ideas is that by turning on the computer and launching the client, it finds what you’ve downloaded to the cloud, for example, a folder with a terabyte of video or music. But you do not need to wait until they download, you can open any video file and watch it as a regular movie in your player. Naturally, if the speed of your Internet channel allows, otherwise you will get a slide show.
If you want to save the file you need to copy it to any place. In principle, files are stored in the cache after the first access to them.
Results
On the web interface, you can only say one thing - beta with beta design.
The settings are very simple, especially pleased with the opportunity to change the color of the tray icon to black (!?).
Cons - a lot of bugs, which is not what you expect from a startup of this level. While weak functionality. Sharing only folders and only members of the service.
Pros - very good speed, streaming work with media files, unlimited space.
The article of the highly respected Evengard is definitely recommended for review.
References:
Not quite up to date FAQ
Client download (without invite is meaningless)
Support and forums
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/137093/
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