The following chart compares the file service capabilities provided by various UW services.
The file services and capabilities listed have been chosen reflecting those for which Managed WorkStation (MWS) customers have expressed interest or needs.
Note: OneDrive for Business and Google Drive are not traditional file services. These modern capabilities provide for creation and sharing of files, with a variety of modern collaboration features, but do not necessarily align with traditional expectations.
UW file service option comparison
| Capabilities | OneDrive for Business | Google Drive | U Drive | MWS Home Dir |
MWS File Service | MWS Windows File Service |
FERPA  |
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| HIPAA BAA |
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| Other UW Confidential |
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| Other UW Restricted |
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| Cost | None | None | 30GB “free” (STF/TRF), $.25/GB/month beyond | $.25/GB/month beyond | $.25/GB/month beyond | $.25/GB/month |
| Eligibility | Faculty, Staff, Students, Shared UW NetIDs | Faculty, Staff, Students | Faculty, Staff, Students | MWS customers | MWS customers | MWS customers |
| Activation required | None | via Manage My UW NetID page | via Manage My UW NetID page | none today, in FY16 via Manage My UW NetID page | via request | via request |
| Resiliency | GR redundant | GR redundant | Single UW Data Center outage | Single UW Data Center outage | Single UW Data Center outage | Single component outage |
| Off-campus availability | |
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via SFTP or VPN | via VPN | via VPN | via VPN |
| Offline sync | |
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| Backed up | Limited (Trash, versioning if enabled, and non-contractual backup available via support request) | Limited (Trash and limited versioning) | |
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| Self-service restore | Recycle bin recovery or support request | Trash and in limited cases Versions | |
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| Repair Point Objective post virus/deletion/ ransomware |
Immediate, assuming versioning on |
 Limited, possibly never |
Immediate via snapshots |
Immediate via snapshots |
Immediate via snapshots |
Immediate via shadow copy |
| Versioning | |
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| Email notification | |
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| Self-service access control | |
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N/A | N/A | |
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| Groups Service integration | |
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N/A | N/A | |
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| External Identity Sharing | |
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N/A | N/A | |
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| Auto-mapping available at logon | |
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| Synchronous editing | |
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| Recommended for Access DBs | |
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| Protocol support | HTTPS, MS-FSSHTTP | HTTPS | CIFS/SMB, SFTP | CIFS/SMB | CIFS/SMB | CIFS/SMB |
| Client platform support | Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, web browser | Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, web browser | Windows, Mac, Linux | Windows, Mac, Linux | Windows, Mac, Linux | Windows, Mac, Linux |
| Encryption in-transit | |
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| Encryption at-rest | |
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| UI usability | |
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| Available in 5 years? (speculative) | |
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| MWS Recommended | |
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Symbols reference
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Symbol
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Meaning
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|---|---|
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Great or recommended |
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OK or Yes |
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Some issues |
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Not recommended, discouraged, or No |
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Unclear; may depend on the scenario |
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All classifications depend on entire solution not just storage |
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Not by default |