
Drive File Stream launching to all G Suite customers - jnlasher
https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2017/09/drive-file-stream-from-google.html
======
YCode
To be clear, they are depreciating the Google Drive _desktop application_ and
replacing it with the Backup and Sync desktop desktop application which
performs the same function.

Said another way, the new version of Google Drive is called Backup and Sync.

The way some of the comments in this thread are written they are ending their
Google Drive cloud storage.

~~~
noja
Are they auto-updating everyone? How is this not being understood as a product
rename with extra features?

------
manigandham
Summary: _Google Drive_ desktop application is being deprecated.

For personal accounts, use _Backup and Sync_ [1] which has selective sync,
auto photos import to Google photos, and can backup the entire computer.

For corporate/G-Suite, use _Drive File Stream_ [2] which gives fast on-demand
access to personal and team drives, downloading files only when you access
them.

1\.
[https://www.google.com/drive/download/](https://www.google.com/drive/download/)

2\.
[https://support.google.com/drive/answer/7329379](https://support.google.com/drive/answer/7329379)

~~~
wbrocklebank
The problem with this is that Drive File Stream is not available except as an
EAP (Early Adopter Programme) which you can apply for but are given no
guarantee or timeframe re access, afaik.

This means any migration to Google Team Drives (their Dropbox service for
GSuite business) results in all staff losing all access to local file sync.

(And this is particularly a problem for non-Gsuite-Friendly file types like
Pages, Keynote & too-complicated-for-Google-Sheets xlsx files which need to be
downloaded, edited, renamed and re-uploaded.)

Not cool.

~~~
manigandham
Please read the article again:

> Note—these settings won’t go into effect for your users until Tuesday,
> September 26th, when Drive File Stream becomes generally available.

------
neverminder
I find it weird that Google doesn't release linux version, considering that
majority of their employees seem to use linux (Goobuntu to be precise)?
There's even a rumor that they have such an app for internal usage, so why not
share it with the world?

~~~
forapurpose
What are the major differences between Goobuntu and Ubuntu, from which I
assume Google's distro is derived?

~~~
neverminder
From Wikipedia: "Goobuntu is a Linux distribution, based on the 'long term
support' versions of Ubuntu, that is internally used, as of 2010, by almost
10,000 of Google's employees. It adds a number of packages for in-house use,
including security features and disables the installation of some
applications, but is otherwise similar."

------
KyeRussell
Misleading title and some people have already taken the bait. This isn't s
deprecation of Drive. It's a depredation of the Drive desktop sync
implementation, being replaced with an on-demand desktop integration.

Trust people with a chip on their shoulder against Google jumping at any
chance to get angry about them though.

~~~
lern_too_spel
Not even that. If you prefer the old behavior, there is a Backup and Sync
client that does the same thing. This is just Google's competitor to Dropbox
Project Infinite.

~~~
DamonHD
Exactly, though Google isn't itself really clear in its docs, and there's some
sneaky/creepy stuff apparently turned on like sharing to the cloud every USB
stick and SD card you plug in by default [which Google Drive did not do:
beware when upgrading to B&S]. That's going to be a whole "WiFi snooping
secret data" saga all over again if my interpretation is correct.

[http://www.earth.org.uk/note-on-backup-energy-
efficiency.htm...](http://www.earth.org.uk/note-on-backup-energy-
efficiency.html)

[Edit to make clearer that B&S has an apparently new worrying behaviour
unannounced if you do a straight upgrade from GD.]

~~~
lern_too_spel
It sounds like it backs up photos from USB sticks and SD cards by default,
which is probably expected behavior for people who use digital cameras that
connect via USB or write to SD card. Does it also back up non-photo files from
those devices?

~~~
DamonHD
That wasn't clear.

But it's going to end up sucking up a bunch of private photos even if
restricted to that (kids, wild parties, whatever).

If not, think how many businesses exchange moderately- to very- sensitive
documents privately in person, if too private to put on-line? Hmm, USB
sticks...

Anyhow, I hope you're right. Have you found documentation to that effect?

~~~
Filligree
I mean, it won't do _anything_ unless you install it, and if you install a
file sync tool you'd better know what it does. I hope that's clear from the
landing page, though.

~~~
DamonHD
Note though that if you were like me already running GD and upgrade to B&S (as
you would have to by Dec 11 to keep the functionality) there is no warning of
this new slurping.

~~~
rishsharma
You can turn it off completely in Preferences.

~~~
DamonHD
If you notice that it's there and that it's on.

Which I didn't immediately.

It's tucked away at the end and without a checkbox like other items in the
same view. Indeed, it looks at first glance to be informational.

Someone in the UX team may have thought that they were being clever, but like
the W10 'cancel means upgrade' debacle, it'll cause trouble.

I do hope that this is just unfortunate design and that USB item is only
enabled if the checkbox above it is on also. Perhaps I'm just having a bad
hair day: I don't normally do conspiracy theories.

------
skrowl
It's not very clear. Is this only for G Suite / business customers or will
regular @gmail.com users be able to use File Stream too?

~~~
vmp
> Available to all G Suite editions

Sounds like only to G-Suit customers, maybe they expand to everyone at a later
date.

I just checked my free (grandfathered) GSuite account and there is no option
for it (yet?).

~~~
kamaln7
That's right. Grandfathered "Google Apps Basic" accounts get the regular
Backup and Sync that @gmail.com accounts get.

~~~
vmp
A shame, but understandable. :)

------
maxxxxx
" Say goodbye to time-consuming file syncing and any concerns about disk
space. With Drive File Stream, all your files are always ready for you and
your colleagues."

Say hello to having no files when you are not connected to the network?

~~~
rrdharan
[work at Google, not on Drive File Stream, have been dogfooding it for a while
now]

Drive File Stream caches your files so recently accessed files remain
available, and you can also explicitly mark/select files to make available
offline.

~~~
maxxxxx
I don't like this trend at all. I want to know where my files are. IDrive on
Apple does a similar thing and it totally messed up my backups.

~~~
pjc50
Some people really want this feature (OneDrive used to do it), and some people
really want the opposite.

------
trendia
I hear reports of Google shutting down people's accounts with no recourse to
get it open again. They have no way to access their emails or files and no way
to speak to a human at Google.

File Stream no longer downloads all of your files... Does that mean that if I
use Drive File Stream and Google shuts down my account, then I'm just screwed?

~~~
pfg
The issue you describe most commonly happens to free (Gmail) accounts. Drive
File Stream is only available for GSuite customers, and even those still have
the option to continue using Backup and Sync (which is the Google Drive
replacement for free accounts, and keeps syncing all files).

~~~
falsedan
I just switched to B&S (to migrate to a new laptop): R(estore) is missing! I
have to manually download my backup, and manually move files back to their
original location!

This is a weird backup tool.

~~~
rishsharma
Here are the steps for restore (although they can be terse)

1\. Install Backup and Sync on new computer

2\. Add an empty folder "Temp" to backup

3\. Let the folder be backed up so that a Computers > My New Computer > TEMP
is created on the cloud.

4\. Go to cloud and move the top level folders in Computers > My Old Computer
> Documents/Downloads/etc into Computers > My New Computer

5\. Create empty folders with the same name on the new computer.

6\. Add them each in the Preferences. In version 3.36+, the application will
recognize that it exists in the cloud. It will then tell the user it will
merge the folders.

7\. Uncheck the TEMP folder you added

8\. Click Apply

All your content will be downloaded.

------
ehPReth
Does it support U2F at all? I can't seem to find a mention of it..

We're looking into forbidding anything but U2F (best/most secure two-factor
method -- decreases phishing effectiveness) so any of the other/backup methods
wouldn't work to sign them in.

~~~
jmtulloss
Google has supported u2f for sign in for a long time.

~~~
ehPReth
Yes, but does this desktop application? I recall that their old sync client
unfortunately did not support U2F

~~~
cjcampbell
I'll try to test this out and post-back, but I can confirm that the pre-
release version supports the app-based push/confirm version of 2FA. Not a
guarantee, but I'm assuming that U2F will work seamlessly.

I believe there is also some basic support for policies regarding re-
authentication, though I'll have to get back on this one too.

------
sstutz
"With this launch, Google Drive for Mac/PC is officially deprecated." \- as
long as they're continue to work on the Linux client its all good-

------
Bucephalus355
While I guess Google isn't technically deprecating Drive, the very confusion
introduced by them and this announcement is still not good.

Why couldn't they have just used the same name, and upgrade the software?

Why was there this horribly confusing announcement with EOL dates only 6
months in the future?

~~~
dragonwriter
> Why couldn't they have just used the same name, and upgrade the software?

Because they had an online service/web app (Drive), a mobile app (also called
Drive) and a desktop app (also called Drive) which were related but all had
different features, and now the web and mobile apps keep the name, but they
have an organizational desktop app (File Stream) and a personal desktop app
(Backup and Sync) that are distinct. Sure, one or both of the two desktop apps
could have kept the Drive name, but that actually would have been more
confused.

------
msh
I have one of the old free Google apps accounts. Now I wonder which sync app I
should use.

~~~
chrisper
You could try [https://www.insynchq.com/](https://www.insynchq.com/)

~~~
brerlapn
I bought a license for this after having a series of problems with the Google
Drive app, which was quite buggy and unreliable on syncing. Problems went away
as soon as I switched to InSync, and it has been rocksolid for over a year and
a half. It's definitely worth the cost of the license.

------
fiatjaf
This is just for people using that thing integrated to their Windows machines.

------
remline
File stream is a Kernel module reimplementing NFS or Samba? Or they are
killing standard FS access achieved via Rsync and are trying to position a
webapp bundled in chrome its place?

~~~
cjcampbell
The following (linked from the tool's about page) will provide you with a good
idea of the underlying technology:
[https://support.google.com/drive/answer/1716931](https://support.google.com/drive/answer/1716931).
In a nutshell, you're mounting your drives via FUSE to gain a interface and
on-demand streaming and the option for offline access. Google has wrapped
quite a few niceties around the native file interface (Finder/Explorer), and I
imagine that there are more to come (e.g., integration with native
indexing/search).

~~~
Rondom
So, according to that page it uses Dokany on Windows and FUSE on MacOS.

------
sly010
Except that i keep receiving "Drive File Stream is not enabled for this
account" error even after I enabled it and signed up for the early access
program.

------
Spooky23
I don't get the rage here.

This is awesome news -- this type of functionality could save a big enterprise
like mine millions of dollars, plus the benefits of search!

------
lldata
Any news/tips on how to synchronize pictures/files from a headless Linux NAS
box to Google photos/drive?

~~~
datguacdoh
You could try [https://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/29279/Backup-
Linux...](https://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/29279/Backup-Linux-
Servers-to-Google-Drive.html) or Duplicity which will work on headless setups.

------
rafaele
If I only use the Drive web app, how does this affect me?

~~~
rocky1138
It does not.

------
nvivo
Doesn't MS One Drive do that for ages now?

~~~
sahaskatta
They did. Then they removed the "on demand smart files" features and it hasn't
existed for nearly a year or more. They are adding it back again in October
2017 as part of Windows 10 Fall Creators Updates.

------
m_coder
And now I am very glad that I never used Google Drive for much of anything. I
never had a good gut feeling about drive in general and especially after I
read about a man who lost a year's worth of stuff with no recourse.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6612854](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6612854)

~~~
pfg
Not to say that there aren't valid reasons to think twice about relying
exclusively on Google, but the title is slightly misleading in that Google
isn't really deprecating Google Drive with no replacement, but rather
introducing both Backup and Sync, which behaves like Google Drive (plus some
new features), and Drive File Stream, which behaves more like a network drive.

