6 ms·

Microsoft calling OneDrive a backup and putting it alongside security features in Windows has always pissed me off.

• velcrovan 3y ago
  In what way is OneDrive not categorically a backup of the files stored there?
  • thmsths 3y ago
    I an curious too since that's exactly how I use the product: to keep my documents safe. I always assumed OneDrive keeps a local copy AND sends another copy to the cloud.
    • asdff 3y ago
      Some stuff is cached locally other stuff might only be kept on the cloud. You can specify whether certain files or directories are cached locally or not iirc.
    • velcrovan 3y ago
      My question was entirely rhetorical. If you save files to OneDrive, they are backed up, with complete version history through the retention period. You have a local copy and a copy in the cloud. I think peoples’ understanding of what these services actually do is very out of date.
    • BlueTemplar 3y ago
      I recently ran into a weird situation with offline OneDrive where I can open the file, but not move it into another folder... including the recycle bin !
  • asdff 3y ago
    Well its a little misleading considering they also have Windows Backup which is actually a proper device backup service.
    • lostmsu 3y ago
      Which, sadly, does not get the support it deserves (for instance it does not seem to support backing up your dev drive - new Windows feature).
      • asdff 3y ago
        msft probably assumes devs are already using something like rclone
  • balls187 3y ago
    As noted in the article, OneDrive acts as a file sync. It does have version history, but if the file is deleted locally, it will eventually be deleted from OneDrive (after a period of time). A backup is a binary equivalent of all the source data. True backups cannot be modified, and exist as a point-in-time reference snapshot.
    • velcrovan 3y ago
      > if the file is deleted locally, it will eventually be deleted from OneDrive (after a period of time). Yes, all backups have retention periods. That doesn't make them not backups. > True backups cannot be modified, and exist as a point-in-time reference snapshot. OneDrive does keep point-in-time version history and allow you to access and restore, but not to modify, those point-in-time reference snapshots.
      • balls187 3y ago
        Carbonite keeps two full backups. And deletes the oldest cycle after that. Timemachine also keeps backups until you start running out of diskspace. Neither service deletes files from your backups.
        • velcrovan 3y ago
          Seems like you just described two scenarios where a deleted file would eventually fall out of the backup set.
          • balls187 3y ago
            It may eventually fall out. Not guaranteed to. Unlike OneDrive.
            • velcrovan 3y ago
              If you need to keep something indefinitely, you use a backup with an indefinite retention period. That doesn't mean OneDrive isn't a backup, any more than setting a retention period on your Veeam backups make those somehow not backups.
  • senectus1 3y ago
    One example is: OD uses stubs to save you local disk space. when you want the copy local you click it and it reaches out to the internet to get it.... If you lose the internet copy, you DONT HAVE a local copy... you only have a stub.
    • velcrovan 3y ago
      OD does not randomly replace files on your hard drive with stubs. If you add sync to a folder that was originally created under a different account, it will use stubs by default and download on-demand (though you can override this). But the redundant storage of those files is not your problem, that's between OD and the other account.
• bombcar 3y ago
  Onedrive seems to be a badly wrapped Sharepoint and is quite annoying.