Free and Best Online Large and Big File Sharing, Transfer and Storage Service Providers

Free and Best Online Large and Big File Sharing, Transfer and Storage Service Providers

Many times you have to send a large and big file which your gmail or yahoo mail does not support. There is solution for that. There are many online big file sharing and storage service providers and websites which will help you share / transfer and store large and big files online for free. Some of them are free and some charges a small amount for premium accounts. We have picked some of the best and free online file sharing, storage and transfer service providers.

We are listing down some of the common features which each online file transfer / sharing / storage service provider should have:

1. Should provide online large and big file transfer up to 2-3 GB.

2. Online File Transfer, Sharing and Storage should be secure.

3. Online File Transfer, Sharing and Storage should be fast and easy to use.

4. Online File Transfer, Sharing and Storage Service Providers should be able to send all kind of formats of files like pdf, jpeg, mp3 etc.

5. While sending, sharing and storing the big file online, there should be no need to install any software for that.

6. Online File Transfer, Sharing and Storage Service Providers should take backup of all the big files transfered, shared or stored online.

7. Online File Transfer, Sharing and Storage Service Providers should be able to archive your big files which are stored online.

8. Online File Transfer, Sharing and Storage Service Providers should inform or email you when online file transfer, sharing or storage has been done.

9. The big file you are sending or transfering online should not be shared on Internet - it should be sent directly to your recipient.

10. Online big file transfer and sharing should be private unlike BitTorrent or other P2P techologies.

11. Version History with Checkin/Checkout should be maintained for each big or large file shared, transfered or stored online.

Here is the list of some of the best and free online big and large file sharing, transfer and storage service providers:

1. DROP SEND (dropsend.com)

DropSend allows you to send files up to 1GB with a premium account (starting at $5/mo). Meanwhile, their free account provides you with 250MB of storage and up to 5 sends per month. Unlike some of the other services, you do need to create an account in order to send a file. The company also offers a desktop client for both Windows and Mac.

2. TRANSFER BIG FILES (transferbigfiles.com)

There’s no registration required to use the website. You can just go to the home page and start uploading some files.

3. YOU SEND IT (yousendit.com)

One of the best known file delivery services, YouSendIt allows you to send up to a 100MB file without creating an account. Upon uploading a file to YouSendIt, an email is sent to the recipient, where they are given a link to download the file. The download is available for 7 days and includes advertising on the page. YouSendIt also offers a variety of premium accounts starting at $4.99/mo that allow you to send files up to 2GB, use more bandwidth, and remove the ads from your download pages.

4. ADOBE SENDNOW (acrobat.com)

Leading provider of services that allow secure uploading, transferring and file sharing. The service uses a network of the newest, quickest and most reliable servers with memory close to unlimited working on multi-gigabyte Internet connections.

5. PIPE BYTES (pipebytes.com)

Instantly send music, movies, presentations or any other files to anybody!
Max filesize: Unlimited | Registration: No | Premium account: No | Password Protection: No |

6. SEND THIS FILE (sendthisfile.com)

SendThisFile allows you to easily send and receive large files to and from anyone, anywhere.
Max filesize: Unlimited | Registration: Yes | Premium account: Yes | Password Protection: Yes |

7. FILES ANYWHERE (filesanywhere.com)

Serves as an online, centralized vault for all important file types including: music, videos, photos, documents, and more.

8. MEGA UPLOAD (megaupload.com)

With a 500MB limit, MegaUpload offers the most storage space we found for non-paying users to send files. The service functions in the same way as YouSendIt, with no account necessary to send a file. For users that sign up and subscribe to a monthly or annual plan, MegaUpload offers “unlimited” file size and downloads, faster download speeds, and less advertising (the advertising on the free download pages is pretty aggressive).

9. Z UPLOAD (zupload.com)

Perhaps the simplest of the file transfer services, zUpload offers you up to 500MB to share a single file. A unique URL is generated for each file and is available for 30 days. Unlike the other services, there are no user accounts or premium features at the moment. It appears zUpload is entirely advertiser supported.

10. MAIL BIG FILE (mailbigfile.com)

Based in the UK, MailBigFile functions almost exactly the same as YouSendIt. Without registering, you can send up to a 100MB file, while a Pro Account ($20/yr) allows you up to 2GB. MailBigFile also claims unlimited bandwidth, but since they cap it at 25 downloads per month, there are indeed limits.

11. LEAP FILE (leapfile.com)

LeapFILE targets business and enterprise users with a focus on customized branding and security. The company’s main product – Enterprise Exchange – allows organizations to setup their own completely private labeled file exchange services. Additionally, LeapFILE offers a personal version called Basic Exchange that lets you send up to 1GB files starting at $14.95/mo.

12. MEDIA MAX (mediamax.com)

MediaMax is focused on storage, but also offers the option to share your files with others. With a free account, you can store up to 25GB of files, but there’s a catch: you can only send files up to 10MB in size with a total transfer limit of 1GB/mo. For $4.95/month, you can send 1GB files, and for $9.95/month you can send files of any size.

13. DROP BOX (dropbox.com)

Dropbox is software that syncs your files online and across your computers or even share it with friends and peers.
Max filesize: Unlimited | Registration: Yes | Premium account: Yes | Password Protection: Yes |

14. DRIVE WAY (driveway.com)

Powered by iDrive Online Backup, this free web service allows both web file sharing or simply just share files via your PC’s desktop.
Max filesize: 500Mb | Registration: No | Premium account: Yes | Password Protection: No | Visit

15. WIKI SEND (wikisend.com)

Upload and download lots of files, big files, small files, data files, media files, archives or backups any files.
Max filesize: 100Mb | Registration: No | Premium account: No | Password Protection: Yes |

16. STREAM FILE (streamfile.com)

Based in Stockholm, Streamfile is a better looking, easier to use and the fastest way to deliver data, wherever you are in the world.
Max filesize: 300Mb | Registration: No | Premium account: Yes | Password Protection: No |

How to make database connection in delphi xe2 using TDatabase?

How to make database connection in delphi xe2 using TDatabase?

Following article shows how to make database connection in delphi xe2 using TDatabase. We have made a function called MakeConnection in which all the code for making database connection in delphi xe2 is written.

Take TDatabase delphi component on you delphi form (dfm file). Now set following setting to TDatabase delphi component.

object database1: TDatabase
    DatabaseName = 'YourDatabaseName'
    DriverName = 'YourDriver'
    LoginPrompt = False
    SessionName = 'Default'
 end

Now, come to your pas file and create a function say MakeConnection like below:

function TMyForm.MakeConnection;
begin
  try 
    MyForm.database1.Close;

    MyForm.database1.Params.Values['SERVER NAME'] := Servername;
    MyForm.database1.Params.Values['USER NAME']   := Username;
    MyForm.database1.Params.Values['PASSWORD']    := Password;

    MyForm.database1.Open;
   
    if database1.Connected then
       ShowMessage('Database connected')
    else
       ShowMessage('Database could not be connected')
  except
    on E : Exception do
    begin
      ShowMessage('Database Connection Error: ' + E.Message);
      exit;
    end;
  end;
end;

Indy Server, Internet, FTP and SMTP Delphi Components

Indy Server, Internet, FTP and SMTP Delphi Components

Indy is short term for Internet Direct.  Indy is a set of Open Source Delphi Components that allow developers to write network based software.

TidTCPServer and TidTCPClient Components

TidTCPServer and its counterpart TidTCPClient give the developer the ability to write enterprise level applications, peer-to-peer applications, as well as the ability to support TCP based protocols.

Socket Blocking

Socket Blocking is the way Indy operates.  This means that when a server is communicating to a client it will not run any other code until it is done.  This is okay in a multi-threaded environment, because every client has his own thread.  That is why well designed use of Indy’s TCP servers scale very well. 

By default, all of Indy’s server components use multiple threads.  In a high demand system, clients will not wait.  In that environment, multi-threaded programs are best. 

Difference between Threads and Fibers in Multi-Threading of Indy Delphi Components

Multi-Threaded programming is not evil; however, to guide developers safely into the multi-threaded realm, Indy designers have given programmers the ability to use fibers.  Fibers are NOT threads.  However, fibers are more forgiving than threads when it comes to memory management because they run in a scheduled manner.  This means that you do not have to worry about thread/GUI synchronizing.  It is important to remember, however, that a well-designed multi-threaded application should be able to easily out-perform a fiber-based application.  Again, by default Indy uses threads.  To you, the developer, Indy makes this all very transparent.  Simply pick the TidScheduler that suits you, and then go back to adding your event handling code.  Using threads or fibers Indy components are still very fast.

Do you actually need to develop a server? 

Remember, servers do not initiate connections.  Clients initiate connections.  If you are thinking of developing the next peer-to-peer file trading application.  You are actually of thinking of developing an application that contains both a server and a client.

What port are you going to use for your new protocol? 

In a nutshell, a port is simply a number that is used to identify connections using your protocol.  In theory, it can be arbitrarily picked.  In the past, I have picked the street address number where the code was written.  However, be careful, there are many standard protocols out there that have their own port numbers.  So be sure not to use one of those.  If you do, you may run into problems running your code. To get more information about port numbers, you can go to the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority or www.iana.org.

Command Handlers: Whether or not to use Command Handlers of Indy Delphi Component

In past versions of Indy, TidTCPServer gave the developer the ability to choose to handle an OnExecute event for all of the data on the socket or use a wonderful device called Command Handlers.  Command Handlers simplify socket management by allowing the developer to simply define text based commands for the new server.  Command handlers also support parameters.  It really does not get any easier than this.  Now that behavior has been moved to a class call TidCmdTCPServer. We must not forget to set the CommandHandlersEnabled property to “True” when our server is instantiated.

Since we have chosen to use TidCmdTCPServer we cannot simply put one on a form.  We must instead descend our own class based on TidCmdTCPServer and add all of our custom behavior to it.  This was even the prefered way to go even when TidTCPServer supported command handlers.  The option still remains to register the new server as a Delphi component.  However, before the component is thoroughly tested, it might just be easier to leave that for a later time.

Summary

Whether it is developing a server for a standard protocol, or developing a server for some custom protocol Indy is a pretty solid way to go.  The product is free, there is lots of support in the newsgroups, it comes with the source code, and best of all it works.  The team that put this product together continues to improve it and their latest and greatest can be found at www.indyproject.org.

FastReport VCL Reporting Tool in Delphi XE2

FastReport VCL Reporting Tool in Delphi XE2

FastReport VCL is an add-on component that allows your application to generate reports quickly and efficiently. FastReport provides all the necessary tools to develop reports, including a visual report designer, a reporting core, and a preview window.

FastReport VCL Embarcadero Edition is included at no extra charge the Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate and Architect editions of Delphi XE2, C++Builder XE2 and RAD Studio XE2.

Features of FastReport VCL Reporting Tool:

1. Advanced report designer
2. Data Grouping and Master-Detail reports
3. Caching of the big reports
4. Exports to popular formats (PDF, RTF, HTML, BMP, JPEG, TIFF, GIF, TxT, CSV)
5. Report inheritance
6. UNICODE support
7. Report encryption
8. Nested reports by using sub report object
9. Dot Matrix reports
10. Linear barcodes
11. Composite reports

Why do developers choose FastReport VCL Reporting Tool?

1. Technological leadership
2. Time leadership
3. More subtle and quick to address the needs of the customer

Improvements and Bug Fixing in Fast Report VCL 4.13 (Latest version released on 20/11/2012)

- fixed compatibility with Fast Report FMX installed in the same IDE.

This version can co exist with Fast Report FMX version installed in IDE.

+ published "Quality" property of TfrxPDFExport object
+ published "UseMAPI" property of TfrxExportMail object
+ published "PictureType" property  to ODF export
- fixed bug with expressions in RichEdit
- fixed bug in multi-column reports
- fixed exception in the report designer
- fixed bug with URLs in Open Document Text and Open Document

Spreadsheet exports

- fixed format string in XLS OLE export
- fixed format string in XLS BIFF8 export
- fixed output of the check boxes on the highlighted lines in PDF export
- fixed bug with PDF anchors
- fixed bug when using two or more macroses in memo
- other minor bug fixes

Advantages, Disadvantages, Benefits and Risks of Cloud Computing

Advantages, Disadvantages, Benefits and Risks of Cloud Computing 

We will discuss a lot of benefits and advantages of cloud computing here in this article. We have made a list of advantages and benefits of cloud computing. After mentioning advantages, we will also discuss some of the risks and disadvantages of cloud computing.

22 Advantages and Benefits of Cloud Computing

1. Decrease in cost

The biggest advantage of cloud computing is the elimination of the investment in stand-alone software or servers by the user. By cloud computing, one can easily save the overhead charges such as cost of data storage, software updates, management, and most importantly cost of quality control. Now anyone can use the services of cloud computing at affordable rates.

Cloud computing is probably the most cost efficient method to use, maintain and upgrade. Traditional desktop software costs companies a lot in terms of finance. Adding up the licensing fees for multiple users can prove to be very expensive for the establishment concerned. The cloud, on the other hand, is available at much cheaper rates and hence, can significantly lower the company’s IT expenses. Besides, there are many one-time-payment, pay-as-you-go and other scalable options available, which makes it very reasonable for the company in question.

2. Speed and scalability of cloud services

With cloud computing, the user has no need to install the hardware or software for a new application; he or she can easily scale up or down the services, limiting them according to their requirements. There are many data centers that are located at multiple locations for the storage of data from near locations.

3. Almost Unlimited Storage

Storing information in the cloud gives you almost unlimited storage capacity. Hence, you no more need to worry about running out of storage space or increasing your current storage space availability.

4. Backup and Recovery

Since all your data is stored in the cloud, backing it up and restoring the same is relatively much easier than storing the same on a physical device. Furthermore, most cloud service providers are usually competent enough to handle recovery of information. Hence, this makes the entire process of backup and recovery much simpler than other traditional methods of data storage.

5. Automatic Software Integration

In the cloud, software integration is usually something that occurs automatically. This means that you do not need to take additional efforts to customize and integrate your applications as per your preferences. This aspect usually takes care of itself. Not only that, cloud computing allows you to customize your options with great ease. Hence, you can handpick just those services and software applications that you think will best suit your particular enterprise.

6. Easy Access to Information

Once you register yourself in the cloud, you can access the information from anywhere, where there is an Internet connection. This convenient feature lets you move beyond time zone and geographic location issues.

7. Quick Deployment

Lastly and most importantly, cloud computing gives you the advantage of quick deployment. Once you opt for this method of functioning, your entire system can be fully functional in a matter of a few minutes. Of course, the amount of time taken here will depend on the exact kind of technology that you need for your business.

8. Innovation in technology

With the innovation in technology, the user has no need to manage or own the resources; cloud computing does that and provides the user the complete benefits.

9. Selection of location

Service providers can select the location for infrastructure freely, according to their requirements, minimizing their overhead expenses.

10. Use of device

Cloud computing services can be used and accessed from any device such as computer, mobile phone, or iPhone.

11. Cap-Ex Free Computing

Whether you go with a public cloud or outsourced private cloud computing option, cloud computing delivers a better cash flow by eliminating the capital expense associated with building the server infrastructure.

12. Deploy Projects Faster

Because servers can be brought up & destroyed in a matter of minutes, the time to deploy a new application drops dramatically with cloud computing.  Rather than installing and networking a new hardware server, the new server can be dialed up and imaged in through a self-serve control console.  Or better yet, with a private cloud, your service provider can dial up a new server with a single call or support ticket.

13. Scale as Needed

As your applications grow, you can add storage, RAM and CPU capacity as needed.  This means you can buy “just enough” and scale as the application demands grow.

14. Lower Maintenance Costs

Lower Maintenance Costs driven by 2 factors:  Less hardware and outsourced, shared IT staff.  Because cloud computing uses less physical resources, there is less hardware to power and maintain.  With an outsourced cloud, you don’t need to keep server, storage, network, and virtualization experts on staff full time.  You get economy of scale of those expert resources through your cloud provider.

15. Resiliency and Redundancy

One of the benefits of a private cloud deployment is that you can get automatic failover between hardware platforms and disaster recovery services to bring up your server set in a separate data center should your primary data center experience an outage.

16.  Increases Collaboration

Cloud computing increases collaboration by allowing all employees – wherever they are – to sync up and work on documents and shared apps simultaneously, and follow colleagues and records to receive critical updates in real time. A survey by Frost & Sullivan found that companies which invested in collaboration technology had a 400% return on investment.

17. Work From Anywhere

As long as employees have internet access, they can work from anywhere. This flexibility positively affects knowledge workers' work-life blanace and productivity. One study found that 42% of working adults would give up some of their salary if they could telecommute, and on average they would take a 6% paycut.

18. Security

Some 800,000 laptops are lost each year in airports alone. This can have some serious monetary implications, but when everything is stored in the cloud, data can still be accessed no matter what happens to a machine.

19. Competitiveness

The cloud grants SMEs access to enterprise-class technology. It also allows smaller businesses to act faster than big, established competitors. A study on disaster recovery eventually concluded that companies that didn’t use the cloud had to rely on tape backup methods and complicated procedures to recover.

20. Environment Friendly

Businesses using cloud computing only use the server space they need, which decreases their carbon footprint. Using the cloud results in at least 30% less energy consumption and carbon emissions than using on-site servers. And again, SMEs get the most benefit: for small companies, the cut in energy use and carbon emissions is likely to be 90%.

21. Device Diversity

The cloud computing method can be accessed through various different electronic devices that are able to have access to the internet. These devices would include and iPad, smartphone, Laptop, or desktop computer.

22. Customize Settings

Last but not least, you will enjoy the fact that cloud computing allows you to customize your business applications. This is a great benefit because the world of online business is very competitive.

Disadvantages and Risks of Cloud Computing

In spite of its many benefits, as mentioned above, cloud computing also has its disadvantages. Businesses, especially smaller ones, need to be aware of these cons before going in for this technology.

The Risks Involved in Cloud Computing (Disadvantages of Cloud Computing)

1. Technical Issues

Though it is true that information and data on the cloud can be accessed anytime and from anywhere at all, there are times when this system can have some serious dysfunction. You should be aware of the fact that this technology is always prone to outages and other technical issues. Even the best cloud service providers run into this kind of trouble, in spite of keeping up high standards of maintenance. Besides, you will need a very good Internet connection to be logged onto the server at all times. You will invariably be stuck in case of network and connectivity problems.

2. Security in the Cloud

The other major issue while in the cloud is that of security issues. Before adopting this technology, you should know that you will be surrendering all your company’s sensitive information to a third-party cloud service provider. This could potentially put your company to great risk. Hence, you need to make absolutely sure that you choose the most reliable service provider, who will keep your information totally secure.

3. Prone to Attack

Storing information in the cloud could make your company vulnerable to external hack attacks and threats. As you are well aware, nothing on the Internet is completely secure and hence, there is always the lurking possibility of stealth of sensitive data.