A SHORT SUMMARY
Pros
- Google Drive doesn't need a separate user ID or email account and allows easy access to its application
- Allows multiple file formats to be uploaded
- File sharing has never been easier
Cons
- File Upload and Downloads
- Simultaneous edits by various recipients is difficult
Google Drive
Since its inception, Google Drive has literally taken the world by a storm. It allows transfer and storage of documents of various formats via Cloud Storage and allows access to them from any device connected to the internet (Computer or Mobile Phone) located anywhere in the world. Many other providers have come up with cloud storage solutions but Google Drive clearly has held a majority stake of this market’s share.
The application is accessible on multiple platforms like iOS, Windows and Android as a mobile app and also has a desktop client. The interface is simple enough to allow a layman to upload and download files and documents with ease. Google Drive has a low memory & Battery drain and also it is light enough to not cause over-heating to the Smart Phones.
Pros
It doesn’t need a separate user ID or email account and allows easy access to its application: The search engine giant Google has placed it conveniently on its main page allowing easy access to the Google Drive application for all, novice and professionals alike. The Gmail ID is enough to access the Google Drive application, this way a additional email ID and password combination is not required.
Allows multiple file formats to be uploaded: Unlike the normal attachment system in emails, Google Drive allows transferring of multiple file formats ranging from the standard office documents (docx,pptx,xlsx) through audio formats (mp2,mp3, aac) to video formats (mp4,avi,mkv).
File sharing has never been easier: All that is required for file sharing via Google Drive is that either a link of the uploaded file can be sent to the recipient by email or the user ID and Password combination can be made available to the intended recipient(s). The file can be shared with as many people as required (with options for different levels of control as needed) by simply sending the link to the intended recipients.
Cons
File Upload and Downloads: The speed of upload and download of documents and files of different formats on Google Drive is dependent heavily upon the Internet speed of the user and also the size of the file. If the file to be transferred is a heavy file, then Google Drive takes a long while to upload/download it. The delay is increased by a large magnitude if the internet speed is not adequate.
Simultaneous edits by various recipients is difficult: Contrarily to intra-net documents where files are uploaded on a local server and can be accessed and edited by anyone who has access to the document, collaboration on single documents can be difficult with Google drive.
In Conclusion
All in all, it is probably the most impressive cloud storage service we’ve came across so far. The advantages of Google Drive over other Cloud Storage service are evident when it comes to the functionalities and the amount of data you can store. Being a free and secure application with a trusted name behind it, Google drive will continue to attract people looking for both an economical and a secure option for cloud storage space.
