I'm the IT manager at a small non-profit and we're trying to find a cost-effective way to store our files. Currently, we have our project and administrative documents on SharePoint, but we also have around 3TB of data sitting in Dropbox, which includes images and large documents. I want to migrate everything to SharePoint, but the storage costs are way too high for our limited budget.
I was considering using OneDrive since Microsoft provides a TB of space per user. My plan is to create service accounts tailored for different storage needs—like one for media files and another for larger documents. This seems like a more cost-effective solution compared to sticking with Dropbox, but it feels a bit off. I'm wondering if this is a viable long-term strategy or if anyone has any experience or advice on this type of setup?
3 Answers
Just a heads up about OneDrive—it’s primarily meant for personal storage and collaboration. The large capacity is due to it being a slower, tiered storage solution, which might not provide the best performance if you're using it for collaborative work. You might want to consider Azure file storage for archiving older files instead.
Keep in mind that SharePoint's space is distributed among all users. So if you have, say, ten users, you get a baseline of 1TB plus an additional 10GB for each user. Just something to consider as you plan your storage!
Good point! Are you suggesting we get extra SharePoint licensing for each user beyond the initial 25TB for additional OneDrive space? Some of the info from Microsoft has been a bit confusing, especially about the limits for tenant-level storage.
Before you proceed, have you considered reviewing your data retention policy? Establishing a clear cataloging process and retention guidelines might reveal files that you could purge or manage differently. Media files, for example, often don't perform well on SharePoint due to their size. You might want to think about utilizing Azure storage options for those files, especially in a cold or archive tier to keep costs down. A good NAS solution with cloud backup could also work well for active and archived files. The effort you put into a solid retention policy will really pay off down the line!
That's interesting! I've had the opposite experience; syncing document libraries seems slower with OneDrive compared to personal OneDrive. It could definitely lead to frustrations if you rely too much on OneDrive for collaborative efforts.