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Online storage is becoming more and more prevalent in our lives today. As a software developer, I’m constantly finding myself in a position where I need to share a file with someone outside the firewall, yet the file is too big to send through email. Enter NomaDesk (http://www.nomadesk.com) and Box.net (http://www.box.net). These two industry leaders have been dominating the online storage space for years and while this product space grows, so does their feature set.

While these two products are unique, they both run on the same basic premise; online file sharing. File sharing is something anyone can benefit from, especially when you add in features like online document editing, instantaneous file backup, theft protection, and secure file transfers. This, incidentally, is where these two companies seem to part ways.

NomaDesk is a robust file sharing solution offering a wide array of features, like my personal favorite, synchronization between computers. I telecommute quite a bit and having a few different computers, two in the office and one at home, it’s tough to keep everything synched up between them. But NomaDesk has solved my dilemma by adding the capability to keep everything in check on up to 5 pc’s (under the personal fileserver plan), or unlimited pc’s (under the team fileserver plan). Other offerings like secure storage which encrypts storage on local and NomaDesk servers, fileserver backup that backs up a file the instant it’s been changed, and theftguard protection which removes data in the event your pc is ever stolen, are very welcome features in the NomaDesk product. The combination of these features really gives me peace of mind at the thought of sharing files.

NomaDesk gives me everything I need to feel comfortable in sharing files over the internet, something that still makes many people a bit uneasy. And sharing files is only a mouse click away. Once you’ve installed the lightweight NomaDesk, you can share a file by simply sending a filelink to whomever you’d like to share it with. This link is like any other link in that it takes you directly to the file and gives you the standard download options. The real beauty in this is that the recipient need not have NomaDesk installed; they simply click on the link in the email to start the download. This is the foundation of file sharing, and it’s the same concept used by Box.net, but beyond this is where the products differ.

While Box.net provides the ability to send filelinks, and they have additional features as well. These features leverage and benefit largely from open source applications and services such as the new full-text search which offers a complete solution for searching in-depth content and metadata across all files. This search will look inside documents, spreadsheets, zip files, and all other files in your repository. There are other services like zoho, which allows you to edit documents through your web browser, picnik where you can edit photos via your browser, and EchoSign that allows you to send, approve, and sign documents electronically. All of these services are provided through Box.net’s OpenBox services, and all are done through your web browser. Sounds good, but what if I’m not connected? Well this is where the limitations of Box.net set in.

Box.net has been around for 4+ years and has yet to offer a fully integrated desktop product; NomaDesk does, as well as a web interface. Box.net offers low-level security such as password protection of files and the ability to set permissions, which is nice, but NomaDesk boasts top-level security with 256-bit encrypted and password protected storage both on your local computer and on their servers.

At first glance this may not seem like much but consider this. NomaDesk is unique in that by using it, you’ll create a virtual fileserver from a piece of your hard drive. And every time a change is made to a file, it’s instantly updated on the NomaDesk server. Now imagine if your computer was ever stolen. You could report this to NomaDesk and they would erase everything from that virtual fileserver on your computer, even while it’s in the thief’s hands, and you would still have your data sitting on their servers. That’s shear genius, not to mention a deal breaker for Box.net.

Sure Box.net has some cool features, but in the end, I prefer NomaDesk for a few reasons. First, given the nomadic nature of my job and the importance of my files, I can’t afford not to go with the security features offered by NomaDesk. Second, since I’m on and offline throughout the day, I need an integrated desktop tool and a way to keep everything in sync. Lastly, with the team and personal fileserver plans of NomaDesk, I have more options. The personal fileserver plan allows me to keep up to 5 pc’s in sync at a time. The team fileserver plan offers the same, plus it allows me to share files with team members and actually invite team members to share with me. One more thing I love is live online support, and NomaDesk has that too.

Overall the two products ride the same very, very, basic premise, but it’s pretty apparent how distinctly different they are. It’s also apparent which one is the obvious choice, that’s NomaDesk for me.