Calling Google Drive a simple cloud storage system would be an overstatement. This powerful platform is capable of storing different file types such as APK, XLS and CSV, in addition to standard file formats. And the fact that Drive is accessible from anywhere (even from your smartphone) is an added bonus.
While the regular backup and sync method is great, it has some limitations. For one, you lose your PC’s local storage. Second, you cannot use it as a backup system. That’s because the moment you delete a file from your system, that file is also automatically deleted from the cloud storage.
That’s why it’s a good idea to use Google Drive as an FTP Server or a Network Drive. When used as an FTP server, you have a controlled sync and backup solution. You don’t need to synchronize drive folders with your PC, and you don’t need to worry about storage space.
Second, if you use it as a Network Drive, you will conveniently explore all your files and folders from Windows Explorer. That way you can save a huge amount of local storage as it doesn’t sync the whole folder/drive with your PC.
Now that we’ve solved it, let’s see how to get it done.
Obviously we will be using two third-party tools – RaiDrive and Google Drive FTP Adapter. While the first tool is for Network Drives, the latter will be used to set up an FTP server.
RaiDrive is a lightweight tool that allows you to access your Google Drive files and folders as a network drive. The tool is light and has a capacity of about 16MB.
On the other hand, Google Drive FTP Adapter is a plain JAR file. To run it, you need to have Java Runtime Environment (JRE 8) on your PC. If you don’t have it, you can get it from here.
And after you install, remember to connect in Private mode.
How to configure RaiDrive for network drives
Step 1: After installing RaiDrive, open it up and the app will show you a welcome screen. Click the Add button at the top.
Note:
Select Google Drive and press the OK button.
Step 2: When asked for your permissions, click Allow.
Once your credentials and permissions are verified, you’ll be able to view Network Drives. You can choose the name of the drive from the drop-down list. By default, RaiDrive labels it as Drive Z and I chose to keep it that way.
You can also set the name of the drive. So if you want to add more drives, you can always assign distinguishable names.
Here you can modify the settings such as login on reconnect, read only, public or private connection etc. As soon as you click Apply or OK you will be redirected to network location of the computer instantly.
As you can see from the screenshot below, you will be able to see all the files and folders. All you need to do is click on a file and it will open in your default browser.
The good thing is that all the changes on the Network Drive will happen in real time. And file transfer speed will depend on your Internet speed.
Alternatively, you can always check your Drive’s free storage.
To change the setting, all you need to do is click the cog icon and make the change.
How to Configure RaiDrive for Google Drive FTP Adapter
Configuring the Google Drive FTP Adapter is a simple process, all you need to do is execute the JAR file. However, as we mentioned above, you need to have the JAVA Runtime Environment on your system before you can run it.
Step 1: Once the JRE is setup, double-click the FTP Adapter file. That will redirect you to the browser where you will be asked to select your Google Account.
All you have to do is select the account for which you want to set up the FTP server, enter the password and grant the necessary permissions.
Once authenticated, you’ll see a simple confirmation message in your browser. Congratulations, you have completed the first leg of your journey.
Step 2: Next, you will need an FTP client to act as a bridge between the gateway and your Google Drive. While you can use any FTP client of your choice, for the sake of this article we decided to go ahead with FileZilla. For those who don’t know, it’s free and open source software.
Once you have downloaded and installed FileZilla, enter the following port address in the server address,
ftp://user:[email protected]:1821/
Alternatively, you can enter the following values,
- Server: Localhost
- Username: user
- Password: user
- Port: 1821
That is all. you will be able to see all your folders on the right panel. Now, all you need to do is transfer the file from your PC to the right pane. Sweet and simple, right?
Tweak Google Drive for good
Agree that with Google Drive, uploading files and documents is an easy process. However, as they say, there is always scope for improvement and these tools allow you to do just that.
So which method suits your needs better? FTP or network drive? Having Google Drive as a Network Drive has an allure of its own.
Next up: Do you want to convert a Google Docs document to a PDF document? Read the following article to learn how.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
