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I'm a webmaster and I want to host some files which will be downloaded by 1000's of site visitors. To save bandwidth of my site I want to consider free file sharing sites like Hotfile, Rapidshare etc to host those files.

Google docs now allows such sharing and it does not make visitor to wait before downloading unlike other Hotfile etc.

Any idea about using Google Docs instead of using those popular file sharing sites?

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and what is your question? – JMax Aug 20 '12 at 9:09
If you can, sure, by all means do. But is it necessary? No, there are so many free storage sites that allow "hotlinking". Always up to a certain usage limit of course, but if you do run into limits like those, you'd have a very popular website and you could start thinking about paid storage. – Mr Lister Aug 20 '12 at 9:20
@MrLister what's the pros/cons of using Google Docs compared to Hotfile/Rapidshare beyond price. – AgA Aug 20 '12 at 10:50

2 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

You can use Dropbox. Right Click on your uploaded document and "Get Link", now you have the link to your file (which anyone can access)

Edit: Please note that you don´t need to have the Dropbox App installed on your computer. Just login to your account and upload your file, and then "Get Link"



Upload your file
Upload your file

Get Link
Get Link

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Thanks for answer. I'm not happy with Google docs since "Download" button is hidden beneath "File" menu which ordinary site visitor will not know. Here is the example link: docs.google.com/file/d/0B_NC5BaULb_6NHJkS2VLcHlsZFU/edit . Let me try dropbox – AgA Aug 21 '12 at 16:46
Oh Dropbox will not allow us to upload without installing an apps which I don't want to install. – AgA Aug 21 '12 at 16:49
NO no. Actually I´m at the officce right now (where I haven´t installed the dropbox app) and I can upload files through their site. – elunicotomas Aug 21 '12 at 17:14
Thanks, this is what exactly I wanted. – AgA Aug 22 '12 at 14:08
up vote 0 down vote

Dropbox is a better idea to share file (I prefer the public interface of Dropbox than Google Drive) but beware of these providers limits.

I don't remember but it's close to 1000 downloads. After that, Dropbox (or Google Drive) display a message of overcapacity.

If you can spend money for your blog, you can try Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage or Rackspace Cloud Files.

They have free use tier and low prices for high volumes.

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I did not know that Dropbox has download limits too. I want Dropbox for my site downloads which will be in 1000's monthly. Then hotfile, uploading.com should be fine for me only that they show some wait timer. – AgA Aug 25 '12 at 15:24
The problem is that often these hosters block access to the file if it is not downloaded at least once every 30 days. The best thing you can do if the file is opensource, the share is on Github or otherwise use Amazon S3 and its competitors – Yacine Rezgui Aug 26 '12 at 11:21

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