Dropbox Project Infinite plans to rethink local file storage

Cloud storage vendor Dropbox today announced Project Infinite, a new technology initiative that aims to give business users local access to files whether they're stored in the cloud or on network or local drives.

The Project Infinite drive will let users access all their Dropbox files from the desktop, regardless of how much space they have available on their hard drives. If it's synced locally, users will see the green checkmark on their Dropbox desktop window, while everything else will be marked with a new cloud icon.

In a nutshell, the system manages cloud files as if they were local, but without eating up a ton of storage space on your drive. Previously, users would have to sync entire folders, with everything in that folder copying to both the cloud and the computer's drive.

Project Infinite is in the same ecosystem as Dropbox's Magic Pocket project, in which the company is developing its own exabyte-scale infrastructure and in turn weaning off of Amazon Web Services a bit.

Dropbox said both initiatives are part of the company's push to increase its pace of innovation throughout this year.

According to Dropbox, Magic Pocket is designed to push the boundaries of the company's platform while still representing Dropbox's core file-storage roots. In the same way, Project Infinite doubles down on Dropbox's desktop roots, the company said.

For now, Project Infinite is in preview mode with a select group of sponsor customers, Dropbox said. As such, Dropbox would not disclose pricing or availability or the possibility of broad consumer availability.