Online file sharing is at the heart of every internet transaction, and it is sometimes difficult to decide which is the best way to share a file.  Not too long ago we used telephone modems to send files to each other via FTP ( File Transfer Protocols).  If you wanted more than one person to access these files, you usually had to have multiple phone lines to make this direct connection.   Then the internet became popular and we used our telephone modems to connect to a network of computers, and some of us used Gopher to search for information.  This was before the web browser was born.  Even then we had to use FTP, and the settings sometimes were a challenge to configure.  File Transfer Protocol has not changed much, but the ability for someone else to access your computer has created risk.  Being online and exposed to an infinite network of computers can be pretty scary when one wants to share files online.

Online file sharing has never been easier than it is today, but some of the same security challenges still exist.   A series of sites exploded in the early days with what they called peer-to-peer connections, and software like Napster and Kazaa allowed everyone to download and share software using personal computers as a network.  This caused many problems, which are not much different than the current BitTorrent applications today.   When you open up your computer to file sharing, the security risks are much higher.  Not only do you not know if the content you are downloading is secure, you have to trust that the application vendor is allowing unknown people to access your computer securely.  As we know from recent events, with cyber attacks and trojans growing daily, these types of solutions are very dangerous.

So what is the solution for online file sharing?  When you go to a site like Google, your web browser begins to load graphics and layouts that are shared via a Web server.  This does not require you to download special software which opens up ports into your computer.  The best type of online file sharing is to use a service like Mongofiles, which simply works through a Web browser and allows you to upload instantly any file you wish to share with anyone in the world.

A number of online services for file sharing exist today, but you still need to be very cautious as some of these online services do install personal tracking information on your computer that they sell later to marketing companies.   The other aspect of these services that is important to consider is the location of the servers.  Some of these services keep their servers in remote, unregulated regions of the world like Russia and offshore islands.  This enables them to do things that would be illegal in the United States of America.

The most important factors to consider when sharing files online are as follows:

1) Security

2) United States of America-based servers

3)  Do not require registration, and if they do it is important that the servers are based in the United States, as this enforces legal alignment.

4) No downloads which add security risks to your computer

5) Ease of use

6) Unlimited upload speeds, allowing you to share files online as fast as your speed allows

7) Unlimited downloads, which allow as many friends and family as you wish to download without tricky limits or timeouts

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