Google Drive, the search giant’s file synchronization and storage service will have a welcome improvement come June 28, 2017 according to a blogpost on the company’s website. An iteration to their Mac/PC application will enable users to backup their entire computer.
Currently, users have to choose one folder where only contents therein are backed up with the service while being synchronized with the cloud and other connected devices. A major limitation to this would be that it required users to alter their workflow to accommodate only saving files inside of this designated Google Drive folder. This is the same strategy used by similar online services such as Box, Dropbox, Microsoft’s OneDrive and Apple’s iCloud Drive.
With this move, Google seeks to compete with other well-known specialized consumer focussed backup services such as Backblaze, Carbonite and Crashplan. Google will however need to sweeten the deal a bit more to make it more compelling.
Google Drive starts with a free storage of 15GB which is also shared by Gmail and Google Photos. From there, users can buy extra storage for $20/year for the 100GB option and $100/year for the 1TB option. In comparison, a service like Backblaze offers to backup the whole computer and attached drives for a flat fee of $50/year. One big advantage of Google of course is their unmatched search capability inbuilt into the Drive service.
It will however be interesting to see if the other sync services will follow Google’s lead.
