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Forum Discussion
Michele A.
10 years agoNew member | Level 1
Dropbox full because of shared folder
Hi, i have a dropbox account and the free space that i have is full because of the files inside the shared folder that i have with some friends.
Is there a way to avoid that the shared folder that uses the free space of my account without cancelling those folder?
Because i have no more space and i haven't uploaded any files
Excuse me for my english but i found problem on trying to traduce this message from my language
Your English is very good Michele - well done!
And no, if you need read write access to that folder if will use your quota. If you just need read only access leave the share and ask the other person sends you a read only Shared link.
You can LEAVE and REJOIN a shared folder when ever you like.
So one method of getting space is to LEAVE the shared folder. And REJOIN it when you need it.
If you ONLY need some files from the shared folder and ONLY at some times, I would additionally ask the owner of the shared folder for a LINK to it, in that way you can use the link to it and download via web the files you need when you need them.
Although I don't agree with Dropbox, and this is the primary reason I won't spring for Pro, I understand why they did this.
It's simple, really. Say, someone creates 10 free accounts. 10 x 2GB = 20GB. Now, that person, from each account shares a folder with his main account. That person just got more, free, space.[This thread is now closed by moderators due to inactivity. If you're experiencing a similar behavior, feel free to start a new discussion in the Ask a Question section here.]
- Dave C.5Helpful | Level 7
#1 you pretty well wrapped that up clearly.
#2 correct, but then they market it with untruths already so what do you expect.
#3 the option would be nice, but isnt selective sync as that is per machine and selective of what that machine syncs, maybe "shared sync" but i would see this being a large server side rebuild as they dont even have good backbone to share let alone permissioned/synced share.
#4 Being R or RW IMHO doesnt change that you HAVE the file, just how your allowed to change it, what I would put forward as a solution to sharing to free accounts etc, is to offer the paid account thats sharing to OWN the traffic/content/space of the shared file in the other account.
So 1TB account has 200GB in it and shares 20GB with 2 free accounts, thats 200+20x2=240GB used (not the nicest but a compromise i expect many paid accounts would be happy to do and also stop them sharing files with 10,000 people expecting DB to host that out at no extra costs)
- Dave C.5Helpful | Level 7
#3 selective sync is machine based, and is about what files you want to sync to that machine from the account. The selective sync you are suggesting would require server side recoding.
#4, i see no difficulty for DB in using one account space for deduction for all users specified, however I wont hold my breath as this would still just cost them money in less purchased accounts.
#5 see #4 reason for not expecting this, and that the facts are the Db costs are per connected device so shared folders add devices that adds costs to DB, not extar income options just are not going to be likely.
NB: I would love it if they were I just wont expect it.
- Kazi R.New member | Level 1
Hi,
I am with dropbox business. I shared a folder with our remote team. How to I increase storage capacity of that folder ? Dropbox gave default 2GB for that shared folder. I want to give 500 GB for that.
Thanks
Kazi
- DaveC2New member | Level 1
Kazi R. : Db do NOT supply space per shared folder at all.
It sounds like you have shared a folder with a FREE (3GB) account.
Each account sharing access to a folder, must have enough room to store the content of the folder into their own dropbox, Dropbox work on how much content you have, not where it came from.
- MarkSuper User II
Adam - then pay for an upgrade or use a different service. Dropbox are quite within their rights to restrict the service however they like to free users.
I'll use an analogy Ive used before... cars. A Dacia and a Porsche do exactly the same thing. Yet one charges for 'simple' features like electric windows and central locking. One is also 10x the price. Nobody tells Porsche they should reduce the prices as they can buy exactly the same for less.
- MarkSuper User II
I totally disagree Ben, sorry. At no point, at all, does Dropbox make ANY association or offer that joining a share will not use up your space. The issue is people just assume that it will work how they want it to work without actually doing any due diligence or simple research to see what actually is the case.
- MarkSuper User II
The model all other cloud services I know of, where you pay for space and you can share it with others, but they don't have to pay for that privilege is transparent, and obvious.
You mean a lot of the other cloud services that have gone under? Copy.com for example.
I'll spend my money where the T's & C's are clear and obvious and I don't get ripped off!
They are. You just dont want to pay - thats the top and bottom of it. Which you are obviously well within your rights to do, but dont try and hide the fact that you are not upgrading because of this. It has nothing to do with it. Its simply a case of 'I want my cake. And to eat it. And for free'. And in a lot of cases (not sure about individual ones here) but I'm going to use it for my business and charge other people but not then pay for the services/products I uses to do so.
- Alexis G.1Super User
But this is not how they charge for the service - DB charges by space, not by access or downloads.
This is not true. There is a huge amount of technology investment: broadband, security, permission backups, etc
For example: if one user with Dropbox Pro shares a folder with 20GB with 20 friends, Dropbox will need to provide enough bandwidth for all this users.
Dropbox don't use cheap DSL / Cable Internet technology like most of us have at home, they use Symmetric Dedicated Broadband and redundant links: very expensive! To give you an idea, a 100 Mbps DSL can cost you 50 USD a month, but a dedicated fiber link at the same speed can cost you 1000 - 2000 USD a month. Take into consideration Dropbox needs to provide great bandwidths to all Pro and Free users.
And more connection means more investment in Firewalls, Intrusion Detection Systems, Network Access Control devices, Load Balancers, complex VLANs, Routers, WAN Accelerators, etc.
At the end: More users (Business, Pro or Free) = More equipment, more bandwidth, more investment. And high end devices are really, really expensive. A domestic switch can cost you 20 USD at Amazon, but a Professional Manageable Layer3 switch can cost 10,000 USD (each one!).
- MarkSuper User II
the expectation of the majority of cloud storage users is that personal quotas is one thing and any connection to a shared folder is completely separate.
And? Sorry but really what does somebody's expectations have to do with it?
I expect the Government to not screw me over, however, the do so constantly. Asking people if they expect the same thing is irrelevant.
- DaveC2New member | Level 1
@Judy B. : You are a slacker and likely dont work at all. (wow see how easy it is to abuse someone).
One digital file on Db is NOT one file, it's made up of non exclusive use data blocks, that are part of a global data pool of cross linked blocks that cover all files uploaded. So when you have the "file" in your own storage allocation you have your own chain of far links to these blocks. Of course you wouldn't understand that being that all you manage to do is abuse someone to back up your weak argument.
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