In a couple of weeks Google are going to be launching a new backup and sync tool to replace their current Drive for Desktop options (Mac and PC).
The tool will allow users to select directories from their PC or Laptop to be backed up to their Google account, rather than the current system where the sync is driven more by what’s in Google Drive, and syncing it down to a PC or Mac to access locally.
On the G Suite Updates blog, Google note that the update is aimed at consumers versus enterprise use which makes sense given businesses generally would have existing backup options in place for critical data.
That being said, Enterprise (G Suite) users are not being blocked from installing and using Sync and Backup but it will need to be enabled by your domain administrator. So if you’re in this market share, start being really nice to your system admins for a couple of weeks.
So it seems Google’s march towards being a complete one-stop shop for all of your computing needs continues with this update to Drive functionality. A great step for anyone using paid options for Google Drive and one of the cloud sync options like Dropbox or Box.
How will the addition of Sync and Backup functionality change your use of Google Drive?
Probably won’t change how I use Google Drive, but as a tool for the general masses for backup, this just jumps it head and shoulders above most other providers. If not only because, but definitely boosted by being part of the single account you can use for almost everything else can now be your backup account/tool as well, at extremely competitive prices to boot
This update has been a long time coming. I wanted to back up photos that were on a network drive. I had to copy them locally to the google drive folder to back them up via the desktop app.