With the mounting assets in the online world, companies are looking for storage options. Also, file storage and sharing as well as collaborating with multiple users across an organization has become a critical function of almost all businesses. In addition, the cloud storage option you need vary according to whether you want to use it as an individual, a small organization or a giant organization with thousands of employees.
So, choosing the appropriate service provider for you can be tricky. It is thus a good practice to review the services available on the market and choose the one that fits your requirements. To assist you with this, we review two well-established cloud storage services, namely Egnyte and Box, in this article.
Egnyte Overview
Egnyte was founded in 2007 by Vineet Jain, Amrit Jassal, Rajesh Ram, and Kris Lahiri. It prides itself on providing Adaptive Enterprise File Services for organizations. So, a business can store files and data on its current data center infrastructure and can continue working with the hardware they are already using.
The organization is also a part of the Enterprise File Sync and Share (EFSS) market and aims to move into the File Management and Protection markets. Moreover, this is a privately funded company that has received millions of dollars in funding from companies, such as Seagate, CenturyLink, and Northgate Capital, as well as prior investors, including Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, and Polaris Partners.
Box Overview
Box was founded in 2005 by Aaron Levie and his childhood friend, Dylan Smith. In November 2014, they acquired a medical imaging software startup MedXT for $3.84 million. It recognizes itself as an enterprise content management system which provides services like file sharing, collaboration, data governance, and data retention. It also boasts 41 million users worldwide and 59,000 businesses as their clients.
Box has services dedicated to both personal and business users and is available on Windows and OS X. However, it is not available on Linux. The service also provides 10GB of free storage space for personal users.
Pricing
Winner: Box
Since Box gives 10GB of free storage space for personal use, it is the winner in the price section.
Egnyte
The pricing structure for Egnyte seems to be on par with the industry standards and is neither expensive nor cheap.
Name of plan | Office | Business | Enterprise |
Number of users | 5 to 25 users | 25 to 100 users | 100 to unlimited employees |
Price | $8.00 per user per month | $15.00 per user per month | Contact for price |
Space | 5TB | 10TB | Unlimited |
Box
Box divides its competitive pricing plans into personal and business plans.
Name of plan | Personal | Personal Pro |
Price | Free | $11.50 per month |
Space | 10GB | 100GB |
Name | Starter | Business | Enterprise |
Number of users | 3 to 10 users | Minimum 3 users | Minimum 3 users |
Price | $6.00 per user per month | $17.00 per user per month | Contact for price |
Space | 100GB | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Name | Integrate with Box | Build with Box Platform |
Price | Free | $500.00 per month and up |
User Experience
Winner: Egnyte
Egnyte wins this round since it provides a demo for the first time users.
Egnyte
At first glance, Egnyte might seem a tad complicated as it is targeted at enterprise or business users. However, further investigation and a little bit of patience will allow users to follow directions and use it with ease. Users can thus create new folders and upload files as soon as they are accustomed to using it. As a first time user, you can also watch a demo to help you understand the interface better. The best part about Egnyte is that it allows its users to upload multiple files at the same time. This includes the subfolders which are present in each folder that is being uploaded.
Box
Similar to Egnyte, Box offers a user interface that is easy to use. Although the user control buttons for Box are present on the interface, it does not have as sleek a look as Egnyte. Also, there is no demo provided for first time users. Box doesn’t allow uploading multiple folders. However, it allows you to upload multiple files at the same time, but the file size is restricted to 250MB and a total of 10GB.
File Sharing, Syncing, and Versioning
Winner: Tie
It is a tie here since both provide a wide range of features for file sharing, syncing, and versioning.
Egnyte
Egnyte is known as one of the best services for file sharing since it is a hybrid of various services. It also has an easy and intuitive user interface that makes it easy for users to drag and drop files to the required destination. Once files have been uploaded, they can be shared privately by using a plugin for attaching large files to emails. To share something publicly, a URL link can be shared with others which will allow them to download the file.
When Egnyte is installed on your devices, all the folders on each device are synced with each other automatically. And, as soon as a file is edited and saved, it is saved automatically in all the folders across all the devices. This file syncing facility is made easier with the help of mobile apps which allow users to access or edit files while on the move.
Egnyte also automatically saves older versions of files. However, only three older versions of any file will be saved by default and, if you want to save more versions, you can change the setting by visiting the settings section. Moreover, you can access these older versions by clicking on “List View” on the top right corner of the interface. To make an older version the current version, you have to “promote” the specific version.
Box
Box makes it very easy to share files, even with users who are outside the network. You can thus share files by either sharing a link to the folder via email or straight from Box. Protecting shared files is also quite a breeze as Box allows you to password protect links or even set an expiration date for shared links. One drawback of Box is that its file sharing limit is set to a 5GB maximum size. This can make life difficult, especially when you need to share bigger files likes videos.
Also, the Box Sync feature helps you sync content across all devices and share the same securely from any device. Auto syncing further ensures that everybody has the latest version of a file and that all changes or edits are updated instantly. Receiving instant updates when a certain file has been edited also allows other team members to review the changes immediately.
Moreover, Box saves up to 100 versions of a file in its system. Since large organizations often have multiple users working on the same file, it is essential that all versions are stored for future reference. Employees can then revert to the older versions or make them the current files, if they should wish to do so. Box’s preview feature also comes in handy when you simply want to view files without downloading them.
Security
Winner: Tie
It is another tie in this category because both Box and Egnyte are quite stringent when it come to security measures.
Egnyte
Egnyte offers a long list of security features for their clients’ peace of mind. For network security, they use HTTPS or FTP-ES for secure communication. And, an SSL protocol is used for all data transfer sessions, while a 256-bit encryption is applied to all data which is in transit.
For data security, unique keys are also provided to each user and a Data Loss Prevention (DLP) assessment is performed in real time in case of any loss of data. In addition, the physical data centers for Egnyte are SSAE-16 Type II compliant and have 24 hour surveillance and biometric access controls. There are also disaster recovery plans in place and even threat assessments are conducted regularly.
Box
Box is not slack when it comes to security and matches up to Egnyte in all ways. All files uploaded to Box are thus encrypted with 256-bit AES when at rest.
For files that are in transit, RC4-128 encryption is used while 256-bit AES still remains a supported cipher. Users of the Enterprise version can also replace Box’s authentication mechanism with one of their own. Similar to Egnyte, all content is also stored on top grade servers that go through regular audits and are monitored 24 hours a day.
Software Compatibility
Winner: Tie
Again, it is a tie here since neither supports Linux, even though both have multiple users who have requested support for this platform.
Egnyte provides support for the following platforms:
- iOS
- OSX
- Apple Phone
- Android
- Windows
- Windows Mobile
- Web
Box provides support for the following platforms:
- iOS
- OSX
- Android
- Windows
- Windows Mobile
- Chrome OS
The Verdict
The above comparison can be summarized as follows:
- Pricing: Box is the winner in this category because it provides 10GB of free space for personal use.
- User experience: Egnyte wins here since it offers additional possibilities with hybrid solutions. Users can also learn their way around with the demo.
- File sharing, syncing, and versioning: It is a tie in this category since both provide similar services.
- Security: It is a tie here as well since both provide equally robust security.
- Software compatibility: It is a tie here too since neither supports Linux.
Both Egnyte and Box are top notch cloud storage service providers and have a high percentage of satisfied customers. However, if we had to choose one, we would go for Egnyte since it offers hybrid cloud storage. The hybrid cloud is a safer alternative to the cloud and hence provides a feeling of privacy to its users.
pretty generic and overall ****** review of two different services…
one wins because they offer a demo? wtf is that ****