remote work Best Solution for Remote Work File Sharing/workflow?

[TooTall0311]

I am a complete novice when it comes to networking. I'm calling remote file sharing. I'm sure this is not the right term which is why I've been getting different advice from everyone I talk to about this. With that caveat out of the way here is what I would ultimately need:

1. Local hardwired file drive storage w/ redundancy in the cloud and on separate disk drives (I have this with my WD My Cloud EX2 Ultra 5TB RIOT)

2. I want my remote workers (1 in TX 1 in CA) to be able to use these files in the same way they did when they were sitting at a desk in the office WITHOUT having to provide them a local workstation to remote into.

3. Ultimately what I am trying to protect against is having 2 people unknowingly working on the same file and saving over the others' work.

 

I'm open to using a paid service for this and would probably prefer it considering my lack of knowledge in this area. Thanks for all the help!

[Whatisthis]

Google drive will let you do this. There is integration so the drive shows up in your windows explorer. There is also version control so you won’t accidentally have two people working on the same file at the same time.

 

https://workspace.google.com/lp/drive/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=na-US-all-en-dr-bkws-all-all-trial-b-dr-1605018&utm_content=text-ad-none-any-DEV_m-CRE_658969970862-ADGP_Hybrid | BKWS - MIX | Txt_Drive General-KWID_43700076452837919-kwd-1173297687&utm_term=KW_google drive-ST_google drive&gclid=CjwKCAjwpayjBhAnEiwA-7ena_x2M17HlqbAL9hJAiNVfdy_OIXCTuGZ45u46c6u-kSiY_WEfQ3ogxoCajUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Microsoft Teams also supports this. I prefer the Google setup though.

[Electronics Wizardy]

What type of filesa re you working with? 

 

If these are MS office files, Go M365 you get shared storage, and and can have multiple people working on the same document at the same time.

 

I'd probalby go with a cloud solution anyways, often faster, much more secure, easier to use. 

 

You can do something like nextcloud if you want a self hosted cloud file solution. You can also use a vpn and smb shares, but this is often pretty slow.

[TooTall0311]

20 hours ago, Whatisthis said:

Google drive will let you do this. There is integration so the drive shows up in your windows explorer. There is also version control so you won’t accidentally have two people working on the same file at the same time.

Thank you so much! I had thought that Google Drive should be able to do this but wasn't sure how to set it up. Do you have experience with this?

 

20 hours ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

What type of filesa re you working with? 

Thanks so much for these suggestions! I use 3D BIM software tools. 

[Whatisthis]

50 minutes ago, TooTall0311 said:

Thank you so much! I had thought that Google Drive should be able to do this but wasn't sure how to set it up. Do you have experience with this?

 

Thanks so much for these suggestions! I use 3D BIM software tools. 

https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/7212025?hl=en
 

there is also a link for getting started at the bottom. It is a paid service, I think $20/mo/user is the going rate for me. There are a couple tiers, so depends on what you need.

[TooTall0311]

On 5/22/2023 at 7:16 PM, Whatisthis said:

Google drive will let you do this.

Sort of... I spoke with the rep at drive and it does not have the feature I'm after directly. The workaround is to download Drive in both locations. When user A is using File 001 they must unshare it with users B-Z. When they are done working they reshare with all users. This works for now as I've got a small team and we can do this on the level of folders that contain all the files that an individual may want access to. The downside of course is that someone forgets and we are back to where we started.