File Storage & Collaboration

A knowledge base article about File Storage & Collaboration provided by the UC Berkeley IT Service Hub - Knowledge Portal

UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff have several campus-supported options for file storage and collaboration needs. The information below can help you decide which option may work best for your needs.

Questions to Consider

Do you plan on storing sensitive information (e.g. identifiable student or staff information)? Be sure to choose an option that has a data security level of P4 such as SharePoint. You should also consult with the Information Security and Policy team regarding the use and handling of this sort of data before making any decision.
Will you be sharing files with people who are not a part of the UC Berkeley community? Box or Google Drive may be best for collaboration outside the university.
Do your files contain large datasets, that need to be connected to a database or network? Enterprise Storage may be your best choice.
Will you need to make special considerations regarding research data? Contact the Research Data Management team before choosing a solution.

Remember: data that is mission-critical should not be entrusted to a single storage solution.

Options for File Storage & Collaboration

	Box	SharePoint	Google Drive (bDrive)	Enterprise Storage
Description	This online option is ideal for sharing individual, group, or departmental files, including documents, photos, research, and more. Integration with Microsoft Office online, mobile and desktop apps, and cloud-based hosting. Accessible via the web, desktop, or mobile app.	Cloud-based service for creating and managing content. Create and share sites, documents, images, lists, discussions, and surveys with Web-based authoring and simultaneous editing for Microsoft documents. Specifically approved for P4 cloud file storage.	Online option ideal for sharing, creating and simultaneous editing of documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms, and more. Integration with G Suite products, cloud-based hosting, Shared Drives for shared team spaces. Accessible via the web, desktop, or mobile app.	Traditional file storage and retrieval service for customers who need a network attached share to store files or data.
Storage Limits	50GB quota for individual accounts 500GB quota for SPA accounts. Quota increases for business/educational use are granted upon request. Maximum single file upload: 15GB	1 TB per site/hub. Maximum single file upload 15GB	50 GB, increased upon request to 150 GB. Maximum single file upload 5TB	Storage depends on purchase/needs Maximum single file upload 16TB
Eligibility	Students, Staff, Faculty	Departmental collaboration/intranet, low-volume P4 internal collaboration. Not suitable for individual use.	Students, Staff, Faculty, Emeriti, Staff Retirees	Staff, Faculty
Data Security Level	P3	P4	P3	P2 - P4
Cost	No direct charge to users. Included in the cost of IT Productivity Suite.	No direct charge to users. Included in the cost of IT Productivity Suite	No direct charge to users. Included in the cost of IT Productivity Suite	Utility tier = 5 cents/GBPerformance tier = 20 cents/GB
Get Access & More Info	Log in to Box Learn more	Log in to SharePoint Learn more	Log in to Drive Learn more	Request Service Learn more
Contact the Service Provider	bIT bConnected Team Website \| Email	bIT bConnected Team Website \| Email	bIT bConnected Team Website \| Email	bIT Enterprise Storage Team Website \| Email