OneDrive for Business
OneDrive for Business is part of Office 365. It is cloud storage for storing YOUR files and occasional collaboration. Think of it as your Home Drive in the cloud. It is available from anywhere, backed up through versioning and a recycle bin, and allows sensitive data to be stored.
Important facts about OneDrive:
- OneDrive files go away within thirty days (30) after faculty and staff leave the University of Florida.
- Emeritus faculty retain access to OneDrive.
- Each OneDrive account has 1TB of storage.
- File names are currently limited to 400 characters.
- You can retrieve a deleted file from the Recycle Bin for 90 days.
Best Practices:
The following Best Practices are strongly recommended for working with OneDrive.
- Although UF has approved OneDrive for restricted data, do not sync data to a home or personal computer. To access files from a non-UF computer, use a browser and connect via https://uflorida.onedrive.com.
- Keep folder and file names short and direct.
- Be sure to keep departmental business in a departmental shared (S: drive), Teams or SharePoint Online site.
- If you leave the University or transfer to a new role, download departmental data and give it to your supervisor.
- On portable devices, ensure that you enable screen savers that require a password to unlock the screen.
- If you are on a public Wi-Fi, such as an internet cafe or coffee shop, use the campus VPN.
- When OneDrive is first set up, it will need to sync your files. Depending on network speed and the amount of data, this may take a while. It is best to leave the machine on and connected until the initial sync has completed.
Desktop Backup:
When the client is installed on machines that are not managed by CLAS IT, your Desktop is one of the folders that will be synced automatically unless you manually change the setting. While this may seem like a good idea if you’re in the habit of storing data on your Desktop, it can cause issues if you have multiple machines with the sync client installed.
If Desktop Backup is selected, all files on the Desktop are synced to the cloud on all machines the client is installed on which results in a combined Desktop with all files and folders from all devices that the OneDrive Sync Client is installed on.
To Turn Desktop Backup On or Off:
- Go to OneDrive Settings, click on the OneDrive icon in the taskbar and select Settings from the top right.
- Select Sync and Back up
- Then Manage back up
- Toggle Desktop On or Off
What to Store in OneDrive:
- Your research and teaching materials.
- Drafts of documents.
What not to Store in OneDrive:
- Final copies of Official Documents – those should be stored in the S: drive, Teams Site, or SharePoint.
- Personal materials not related to UF (family photos, music, etc).
OneDrive vs H: Drive Feature Comparison
OneDrive introduces new capabilities and provides significantly more storage for each individual person. Here are some of the key features.
| Item | OneDrive | H: Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Storage Limit | 1tb | 100gb* |
| Data Types | Restricted including FERPA | Restricted including FERPA |
| Deleted/Corrupted file Data Recovery | Version Control, 90 Day Trash Recovery | Limited through snapshots |
| Data Replication | Stored in Microsoft Cloud, Replicated in multiple data centers across North America | UF Data Centers, Gainesville |
| Remote Access | OneDrive Client or Web-Browser | VPN + Manually mounting |
| Files Accessible while Offline? | Yes, through OneDrive client w/Sync Enabled | No |
| Sharing with UF Collaborators? | Yes | No |
| Data Loss Prevention (data security) | Yes | No |
Sharing:
Sharing is a powerful feature with OneDrive. It allows you to make research and teaching documents available to UF collaborators. If you decide to share documents or folders, create a top-level folder named Share, copy the data there, and only share documents within that folder.
OneDrive in the classrooms:
Office Applications connect to OneDrive automatically so you should see your documents from within Word, PowerPoint, and Excel without taking any action.
However, if you need to map OneDrive in the classrooms, you need to take an action and configure Kumo. This only takes a couple minutes, only needs to be done once, and can be done from anywhere. OneDrive will be installed in UF Classrooms for Spring 2024.
The instructions for using Kumo are at: https://info.apps.ufl.edu/frequently-asked-questions/using-kumo/start-using-kumo/