Plan for Microsoft OneDrive in Microsoft 365 or SharePoint Server

APPLIES TO: 2013 2016 2019 Subscription Edition SharePoint in Microsoft 365

One of the first planning considerations you should make is if you truly want to use Microsoft OneDrive in SharePoint Server, or if you would be better suited to use Microsoft OneDrive. Many companies select to use Microsoft OneDrive in an on-premises environment due to industry restrictions (for example, finance or government), or business rules that prohibit transmitting their data over the Internet. If your company isn't restricted by either, you should also explore the possibility of using Microsoft OneDrive. The key benefits in using Microsoft OneDrive are that you only need an internet connection to use it, versus being connected to your network, and that user storage is provided by your Microsoft 365 service.

To make Microsoft OneDrive in SharePoint Server available to your users, you need to configure the following services in SharePoint Server Central Administration:

The Microsoft OneDrive sync apps give users the convenience of local storage of their files. Sync apps also enable users to take documents offline. Users then can use those documents when they're disconnected from SharePoint Server. Later, when the client computer or device reconnects to SharePoint Server, the files are synchronized.

In a SharePoint Server on-premises environment, you may have the option to save directly to your document library (for example, from Office 2016), which is where files are synchronized from your Microsoft OneDrive local folder anyway. When the Microsoft OneDrive sync app is used in an on-premises environment, its primary benefit is for synchronizing files on laptops that are used while disconnected from your corporate network at times, such as when traveling.

The sync app also provides your users the added convenience of working with files directly from the local Microsoft OneDrive sync folder. Work with and saving your files directly in the folder is more convenient than opening your My Sites document library.

Changes in file location

If a user wants to change the location on their computer or device to which data is synchronized, they must stop synchronizing the folder and then set up a new synchronization. Setting up a new synchronization allows them to choose a new location.

Similarly, if you change the URLs of your SharePoint Server My Site host, users must stop the synchronization to the old location and set up a new synchronization to the new URL.

Stopping a synchronization and starting a new one to the same Microsoft OneDrive library won't cause the loss of any data in the Microsoft OneDrive library. But users must re-synchronize all files to their local computer or device. This process may take some time and shouldn't be interrupted.

Network bandwidth considerations

There are several situations in which Microsoft OneDrive sync apps can cause unusually high network bandwidth usage:

• When you first roll out Microsoft OneDrive and users are synchronizing all of their files for the first time.

• When you change the URL of the My Site host and users are required to re-synchronize their files.

Be mindful of the potential impact of these changes on your network.

Sync apps use the http:// or https:// protocol of the site that they're synchronizing with to transfer data. If the Microsoft OneDrive site uses a Transport Layer Security (TLS) connection https://, then the data being transferred by the sync app is encrypted; otherwise, it's not.

Microsoft 365 uses TLS for Microsoft OneDrive connections by default. If you're using SharePoint Server, it's recommended to configure your My Site host to use TLS for any connections that will occur outside your corporate domain. If you're using Active Directory directory services, you can configure the Group Policy setting Sync Only On Domain Network. The setting requires a TLS connection for Microsoft OneDrive clients that connect to SharePoint Server from outside the organization's Intranet.

Data on local disks on both server and Windows client computers can be encrypted by using Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption.

Data on local devices

Once a document library is synchronized with a computer or mobile device, the files continue to exist there. The files remain on the computer or device even if the user's My Site and their user account are deleted. In this situation, although the files remain on the computer or device, the user can't synchronize the files with SharePoint Server again.

If storing files on a client workstation is against your corporate policy, you can remove synchronization functionality from document libraries in SharePoint Server.

At a later time, you might be using Microsoft OneDrive for various reasons, such as keeping your on-premises sites and customizations in their current state, but offloading the personal storage aspect of it to the cloud. This can also provide your users access to their business files while they're not connected to the corporate network.

If you are using the older version of Microsoft OneDrive in SharePoint Server, then you can upgrade to the newer version of Microsoft OneDrive in SharePoint Server as part of the upgrade process. You can do this as part of the process to upgrade your My Sites Host site collection, which provides you with an option to upgrade the My Sites personal site collections, which are used to store your Microsoft OneDrive user files.