<s>
i-drive	B-Application
was	O
a	O
file	B-Application
hosting	I-Application
service	I-Application
that	O
operated	O
from	O
1998	O
to	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Based	O
in	O
San	O
Francisco	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
was	O
founded	O
in	O
1998	O
with	O
seed	O
investors	O
and	O
launched	O
its	O
first	O
product	O
,	O
an	O
online	B-Application
file	I-Application
storage	I-Application
service	O
in	O
August	O
1999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
presented	O
as	O
i-drive.com,	O
the	O
company	O
acquired	O
the	O
domain	O
idrive.com	B-General_Concept
around	O
October	O
1999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
initial	O
product	O
offered	O
a	O
limited	O
amount	O
of	O
free	O
file	O
storage	O
space	O
,	O
and	O
later	O
enhanced	O
the	O
offering	O
with	O
'	O
sideloading	B-Protocol
 '	O
–	O
storing	O
files	O
such	O
as	O
MP3	B-Application
files	I-Application
collected	O
on	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
without	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
download	O
them	O
to	O
their	O
individual	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
i-drive	B-Application
'	O
s	O
assets	O
were	O
acquired	O
by	O
the	O
EMC	O
Corporation	O
in	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Certain	O
assets	O
(	O
including	O
the	O
idrive.com	B-General_Concept
domain	O
name	O
)	O
were	O
acquired	O
by	O
Pro	B-General_Concept
Softnet	I-General_Concept
Corp	I-General_Concept
which	O
also	O
offered	O
online	O
storage	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
its	O
height	O
,	O
i-drive	B-Application
hosted	O
over	O
10	O
million	O
registered	O
users	O
,	O
employed	O
110	O
people	O
,	O
and	O
held	O
partnerships	O
with	O
MP3.com,	O
ZDnet.com,	O
and	O
40	O
major	O
universities	O
.	O
</s>
