I'm planning to upgrade my older RDS server setup, which currently relies on a shared drive and Dropbox for file syncing among 15 staff members. The users are split between those who work directly on RDS and those who use laptops with Dropbox to sync files. We primarily work with PDF files, spreadsheets, and Word documents. I'm moving to RDS2019 since we already have the licenses, and I want to move away from Dropbox due to its lack of support on server OS and ongoing issues it has caused.
My goal is to find a way to sync files to the laptops, allowing users to edit documents in the field while maintaining access for staff on RDS. I know that OneDrive can be installed locally on RDS, but I'm considering running it directly on the file server and sharing that folder with the users on their laptops. For RDS users, I'd just like to share the same folder via Windows file share. Does this sound like a solid plan? Will it work as intended, or is there a better method? I did try SharePoint, but faced issues with editing PDFs, which is why I think syncing through OneDrive is necessary.
2 Answers
If users are expecting a mapped drive experience, relying solely on OneDrive might not be enough. I'd suggest looking into a cloud mapping client like RaiDrive instead. This could help make things smoother for your users.
Your plan sounds more complicated than it needs to be! I had a similar transition and thought I had to keep everything identical for the users. In the end, I switched the shared drive to read-only, moved the files to a new SharePoint, and set up Group Policy to connect the necessary shortcuts to their OneDrive. The staff just needed about 5 minutes of training to get used to it. Also, I tweaked SharePoint a bit to remove the sync button to avoid confusion with everyone trying to sync the files constantly.
That’s clever! I did something similar and named the SharePoint site 'The Z drive' to make it feel familiar for the users.
Thanks for the tips! It sounds like I should go for OneDrive on RDS and consider dropping the file server altogether. Just wondering, if I'm sharing a 100GB folder for 7 RDS users, will it create 7 copies locally or just one? I've heard fslogix might be necessary on RDS, do you have any experience with that?
I appreciate the suggestion! I think the team can manage without a mapped drive since it's a small group, they mostly just need to find their files. I was also looking at sync.com, but I’ve heard mixed reviews about their reliability.