You can mount a ‘Google Drive’ onto you Mac, it’s a neat cloud based storage solution from Google. The Google Drive sits on your desktop. It looks like a regular hard drive and the contents of the folder are automatically available to anyone else who has access to the same Google Drive.
- Drive File Stream comes packaged with Google Update (Windows) or Google Software Update (Mac) to automatically update Drive File Stream on your users’ computers. You can configure policy settings for these applications if you don't want Drive File Stream to automatically update.
- The application that you need to run on your computer to give you access to all this is called Google File Stream. It allows you to sync a G-Suite Google Drive with your Macintosh computer. It mounts your Google Drive as a hard drive onto your desktop, and then OSX treats it like any other hard drive.
Download & Install Google Drive File Stream. In this 2nd step, First Download the tool.exe file from the given link. Windows: Download GoogleDriveFSSetup.exe. Mac: Download GoogleDriveFileStream.dmg. Recommend: Before installing this new tool, Uninstall the Backup and Sync application. Google Workspace provides flexible storage options so you will always have enough space for your files. With centralized administration, data loss prevention, and Vault for Drive, you can easily manage users and file sharing to help meet data compliance needs.
Google Drive is similar but different to dropbox. When you move a file into dropbox the file is moved into dropbox, like you would expect if you were moving a file into a different folder. (The file is not copied, it is moved.) But when you drag a file into your Google Drive it doesn’t move the file, it creates a copy of the file. It’s more like copying the file to a thumb drive.
Because of this difference in the way they behave, Dropbox feels like it’s a folder on your computer like any other folder, it just happens to be shared with others. But Google Drive has a different feel. It feels like a foreign hard drive that is out there in the cloud and you happen to have access to it from your computer. Each have their advantage, and I use both.
Another big point of difference is that Google Drive requires an active internet connection. Last week our internet was down, and I went to access a file in my Google Drive, and I could see it, but not access it without a web connection. Dropbox syncs the 2 folders completely, so they are available offline as well.
We use Google Drive to share documents across our organisation. I use dropbox to share files that I am working on across my own personal computers. I find it really useful to have this distinction in my head. Files that I want to share with other people – Google Drive. Files that I want to share with myself – Dropbox. Of course, you could use these tools any way you want but that’s the way I have found myself using them.
Here’s how to get Google Drive going.
Setting up Google Drive
- Download the Google ‘Drive File Stream’ App from here:
https://www.google.com/drive/download/
(It’s on the right under Business).
2. Install the app and enter your Google G-suite username and password.
(To use Google Drive you must be part of an organisation. Google Drive syncing is through some software called G-suite.) This is free to non-profit organisations but if you are a commercial organisation you will need to subscribe to it.
The Google Drive will now appear on your desktop something like this:
If you click on it it will open up like a normal hard drive and you will see something like this:
My Drive
In your Google Drive will be a folder called “My Drive”
My Drive has your own documents in it. It’s similar to dropbox. You can keep this folder private or you can choose to share it with other members of your organisation, or you can use it to share documents publicly on the Internet.
You will notice another folder called ‘Team Drives’
Team Drives
The ‘Team Drives’ folder only has folders that your organisation shares with you. Your administrator will give you access to the folders that they want you to access. You can be given full access to edit files and add new files or you can be given read-only access.
If you are not part of an organisation that uses G Suite, there is another solution from Google called ‘Backup and Sync’ which is for personal use. I have written an article on the differences between ‘Backup and Sync’ and ‘G Suite’ here.
Do you actually want to know What is Google Drive File Stream? If yes then you are in right place.
But before we begin Let’s see some impressive facts about Google Drive.
According to Wikipedia, Google Drive has more than 800 million active users and over 2trillion files are stored on it.
And these are increasing rapidly day by day.
It also has the largest number of active users as compared to other cloud storage services like Dropbox and OneDrive.
Although Google Drive is the best cloud storage service provider to date but everything needs some change and so they have developed an advanced version of Backup and Sync known as “Drive File Stream“.
In this post, I will show you some new features of this advanced product and answers to many other questions like What is Drive File Stream? How to install it? and How does it works?
So let’s Get started.
What is Google Drive File Stream?
Drive File Stream is basically a kind of Sync tool or we can say it is a replacement or alternative for the Backup and Sync app.
This tool is mainly developed for G Suite users which means all the new features & functionalities of G Suite are integrated with this new program.
In simple words, we can that it is a sync tool designed for enterprises or business users.
This means that using this tool you can easily manage your Business data present in your Google Drive. As we all know that there are tons of Business data on everyone’s google drive.
But when your team grows larger and larger it becomes harder to manage those kinds of things on a regular basis. But using Google Drive File Stream tool you can easily get rid of these types of problems.
And the best is that there are no major changes in the interface but you have to install something new on your computer.
Let’s see how.
How to install it and How does it Work?
1. Verify or Check the Operating System
In this step, we will check that Drive File Stream will support your Operating system or not. This tool is supported by the given OS.
- Windows: Windows Server 2012, Windows 7 and all upper versions.
- Mac: High Sierra (10.13), El Capitan (10.11) and all upper versions.
And Yes It is supported by all popular browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.
2. Download & Install Google Drive File Stream
In this 2nd step, First Download the tool .exe file from the given link.
- Windows: Download GoogleDriveFSSetup.exe.
- Mac: Download GoogleDriveFileStream.dmg.
Recommend: Before installing this new tool, Uninstall the Backup and Sync application.
Once the file is downloaded, open it and a dialog box will appear with an install button. Click on that and the installer will start installing it.
After installation is done, log in with your G Suite account and you are connected.
Now Open your Windows File Explorer and there you can see that Two New Drives are added One is My Drive and another one is Team Drives.
And all your Google Drive files getting synchronized in these two drives.
This is how it works and there are so many new features of this tool like Available Offline which we will cover in the below section.
And see How it is better than the other traditional tools.
Google Drive File Stream Vs Backup and Sync
Everyone knows much about the Backup and Sync tool but very few people know about this new tool & its features. Let’s see the comparison with an infographic and check which tool is better in which ways.
Also Read: How to Create Google Drive Direct Download Links.
Conclusion
I hope after reading this detailed post I have cleared all your doubts about this new G Suite tool. And got your all answers to the question Like What is this new sync tool, How does it work and How to install Google drive file stream (Windows/Mac).
Download Google Drive Fs
Feel free to comment below and also tell us if you want me to create such an article on different cloud storage services like DropBox, OneDrive, etc.
Download Google Drive Stream For Pc
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