Storage Feature Comparison
The following depicts sources of storage available campus-wide to the Wesleyan community and their associated features. Storage needs vary by size and scope of data, requirements for access, and ability to perform operations. No one storage need addresses all and understanding the limits and features of each helps to determine the best solution.
Note: The vendor is discontinuing the WesFiles product and ITS is in the process of migrating all files and services currently on WesFiles to other services. Presently, WesFiles is planned for shutdown in December 2020. It is strongly suggested NOT to add new projects and files to WesFiles. For questions on consultation regarding where to move existing storage, contact Karen Warren.
| Storage Features | Office 365 | Google Drive | Sharepoint | Dragon | RStore |
| Campus vs. Off-campus Use | |||||
| Easy off campus access without VPN | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Supports non-Wesleyan user access | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Connection Type | |||||
| Offers client install for connection | ✓ | ✓* | ✓** | ||
| Mounts as volume/drive letter | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Web interface available | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Connection Speed | |||||
| File transfer for large files or large numbers of files | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Fast desktop access and directory listing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Permissions Control | |||||
| Owner can assign permissions/sharing without ITS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Supports group creation and permissions | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Share read/write with non-Wesleyan users | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Storage Space Quotas | |||||
| Uses quotas | ✓ | ||||
| Easily expandable quota | ✓ | ||||
| Special Functionality | |||||
| Active use of databases (i.e. Filemaker or Access or EndNote) on storage | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Ricoh scan to folder capability | ✓ | ||||
| Live statistical analysis | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Simultaneous editing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| File versioning | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Activity logging | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
* Google Drive File Stream vs. Google Backup and Sync: Google Drive has been replaced by Google Drive File Stream and Google Backup and Sync. The two have many overlapping features and can be used simultaneously.
** OneDrive for Business allows you to sync folders from Sharepoint sites for easy access through the native file system on Mac and PC.