A few months ago Google announced that it would make changes in its applications and file management services in the cloud .So, in July, Google presented Backup and Synchronization as an application called consolidate in a single program both Google Drive and Google Photos, which until then had their own differentiated applications. Related
Last December, Google Drive was officially discontinued, and will cease to exist completely on March 12, 2018 , so it begins to be the time to Think about moving our procedures to this new application and leaving behind Google Drive and Google Photos.
But the succession of changes was not there, and I also present, a few weeks later, Google Drive File Stream , another solution to manage files in the cloud , but this time aimed at users of the Google Suite G Suite for corporate users and with a monthly subscription model.
A bit of confusion to start with
The presentation of these solutions by Google in such a short period of time resulted in some confusion , with news even pointing to more radical changes in the cloud use policy to synchronize and store files.But in practice there is not as much mystery as it might seem at first.
In fact, the differences between the two proposals are easy to identify and leave little room for ambiguity.So let's proceed to mention some of them.
The differences
First, Backup and Synchronization replaces Google Drive and Google Photos, but Drive File Stream doesn't really replace any application : it's a new way to handle files in the cloud.
Another big difference that is definitive for many is the business character of Drive File Stream .That is, if you are a "normal" user without a G Suite subscription account, you cannot use Drive File Stream and you can only handle Backup and Synchronization.It's easy.
In the technology section, the most important difference, if possible, between both solutions is that Drive File Stream allows you to manage the cloud as if it were a storage unit in our local network .It is not used the concept of synchronization, but of "stream".What does this mean? Well, something as important as we don't need to take up space in our unit : the files are in the cloud and we edit them there, we rename them, check their properties, etc.It's something like the Netflix of the files.
Option is left to use offline files if necessary , but it is not really your main application.Your thing with File Stream is simply to use the storage space that Google offers in the cloud as a local unit where the cable instead of being SATA or USB is the Internet.
When we need them, Drive File Stream files will be located in the cloud, and not locally on our computer.And in the cloud can also be visible and editable for other users of the organization which depends on our G suite account.With a classic synchronization model, we work by making copies of the files on the computer in the cloud or vice versa.But the changes in the files are made on the computer locally and then synchronize the changes with the cloud.Also, with Backup and Synchronization you cannot synchronize individual files, only folders or drives integers.With Drive File Stream, you work at the level of individual files or folders.
A summary of the possibilities available with each application is summarized here:
Again, to say that it is interesting information only for corporate users. Google invites companies to encourage the use of Drive File Stream instead of Backup and Synchronization , by not occupying space in local units.In computers where storage is sometimes limited to 128 GB, it is an option that can save many headaches to IT administrators.When talking about "equipment units", it refers to shared units by the members of a team in G Suite.
Conflicts
Precisely, the possibility of using both modes of using the Google cloud is where the confusion lies for corporate users.In case both Backup and Synchronization and Drive File Stream are used, space will be occupied in the local disk and you can see different instances of the same files.
On the other hand, with Drive File Stream, at the moment it seems that there may be problems if several users access the same file to edit it .It is a circumstance that must be improved, as well as incompatibility with files like those of Adobe Indesign, which are stored with errors.
As for Google Drive, it is still possible to access the unit in the cloud through a browser and through a web interface .There we will see a space dedicated to external equipment and units that we have synchronized, as well as the folders that we would have chosen to keep up to date.
Both Drive File Stream and Backup and Synchronization are ways to use the cloud storage resources that Google makes available to users.For corporations it has the first and for domestic the second.The available space starts from 15GB for domestic users and 30GB for the more basic G Suite plan.The idea of streaming is extremely attractive and "easy" to understand.Much more than synchronization to use.
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