UC Davis offers several cloud storage options to faculty, staff, and students. All members of UC Davis receive free, campus-provided storage space from Microsoft OneDrive, Box.com, and Google Drive. All three services offer workstation synchronization, mobile access, and support for uploading most file types.
Below, we compare these storage options to help you decide which best fits your needs.
| Feature | Microsoft OneDrive | Box.com | Google Drive |
| Description | Microsoft Office 365 customers at UC Davis currently have access to 1 TB of cloud storage at no additional cost. Microsoft OneDrive offers online browser editing within Microsoft Office documents in real-time, automatic version control, compliance with industry standards security, and offline editing automatic synchronization. Plus, it offers the largest amount of storage space without added costs. | All UC Davis members are provided unlimited storage (establishing Box quotas to match the OneDrive service is currently under evaluation) with the Box.com collaboration tools. This resource is excellent for projects requiring redundancy, access to multiple people within or outside the UC system, and great ease of use. | Google provides new students and staff with 20 GB of combined storage space among the Google Drive, DavisMail, and Google+ Photos services. Google Drive is an excellent collaboration tool for working on documents and spreadsheets. This service allows for real-time editing by multiple people, and the robust level of access by Google. |
| Who can use this? | All active UC Davis students, faculty, and staff |
Yes: active UC Davis students, faculty, and staff No: UC Davis Health and Student Health Center faculty and staff |
Yes: active UC Davis students, faculty, and staff No: UC Davis Health and student Health Center faculty and staff |
| Cost | Free for all UCD users |
Free for students Departments fund faculty and staff usage |
Free for students Departments fund faculty and staff usage |
| Storage limit |
1 TB Expandable one-time 5 TB by request to IT Express |
Unlimited (Establishing Box.com quotas to match the OneDrive services is currently under evaluation.) |
20 GB for new students and staff Unlimited for faculty |
| Data Security Level | P4 | P3 | P2 |
| System requirements | Microsoft OneDrive system requirements | Box.com system requirements | Google Drive system requirements |
| Access after graduating or leaving the university | No | No | TBA. |
| Get access & more info |
| Feature | Description | Microsoft OneDrive | Box.com | Google Drive |
| Internal collaboration | Share files with Aggie collaborators who have a UC Davis ID. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| External collaboration | Share files with collaborators who work outside of Stanford and do not have a UC Davis ID. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sharing link | Anyone provided with a link can access content in files or folders. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Customized sharing link | Link can be customized so it's more easily remembered. | No | Yes | No |
| Password-protected link | Collaborators must first enter a password to access the file or folder. | No | Yes | No |
| Real-time collaboration | Multiple users can edit online documents (Word/Google docs, Excel/Google sheets, PowerPoint/ Google slides) simultaneously. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| File versioning | Overwrites and updates the version each time users edit a file, upload a new version, or upload a new file with the same name. Version history is available. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| File locking | Prevents other users from making changes to documents (until the file is unlocked). | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| File commenting | Add comments within files; tag others and reply to comments. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Add or approve tasks | Approval (requiring approval of specific collaborators before completion) and general tasks may be assigned. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| View access statistics | See who has accessed a file and the action they took on it; download access stats. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Block download | Share a file as view-only and prevent it from being downloaded. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Work offline | Edit a file when not connected to the internet; file will sync and be saved in the cloud when an internet connection is restored. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Feature | Description | Microsoft OneDrive | Box.com | Google Drive |
| Web browser | Upload files using the web-based application. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sync cloud and desktop | Manage files via a desktop app that syncs with cloud storage. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sync select files | Select only specific files to sync between the desktop app and cloud storage. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile upload | Upload and manage content via a mobile app. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Email to folder | Add email attachments to a folder by forwarding the email to a unique email address. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| File request link | Upload content via a webpage that is linked to a specific folder. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Scan-to-cloud | Scan from a device to cloud storage. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Feature | Description | Microsoft OneDrive | Box.com | Google Drive |
| File system folder and file hierarchy | Hierarchy that acts as a file system. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Personal and shared spaces | Allows for personal (unshared) folders/spaces and shared folders/spaces. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| File or folder description | Optional free text description for a file or a folder. | Yes | Yes | No |
| File or folder metadata | Add custom metadata or files to folders. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Backup | Provides cloud backup. | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Feature | Description | Microsoft OneDrive | Box.com | Google Drive |
| Notifications | Email notifications are generated when specific actions are completed (e.g. files are uploaded to a folder). | Yes | Yes | No |
| Bookmark website | Bookmark a URL to appear like a file in your folder. | Yes | Yes | No |
| Notes and native documents | Native document types | Yes | No | Yes |
| Notes and native document templates | A native document template | Yes | No | Yes |
| Embed tool/widget | Embed files and folders onto any website, blog, or social networking service | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watermarking | Semi-transparent overlay of the current viewer's email address or IP address is placed across the document's contents. | Yes | Yes | Yes |