Storage Comparisons

UMKC students, faculty, and staff are provided a variety of online storage options for their data. The information below gives you a quick description of those options. 

If you have a specialized storage requirement, need to store highly sensitive information in a secure location, or have questions about selecting an appropriate home for your data, please contact the Technology Support Center for help.

Recommendations:

  1. Individual work files: OneDrive
  2. Shared departmental files: Teams
  3. External sharing: Box
  4. Most important, use one of the listed options, not your local hard drive!

Quick Comparison of Storage Platforms

Storage Options OneDrive Teams Box N and Q Drive
Ease of Access from off Campus Yes Yes Yes Requires VPN
Storage Limits 1TB per User 5TB per Team Unlimited Limited Space; see below
External Users Yes Yes Yes No
User Eligibility Students Faculty Staff Students Faculty Staff Faculty Staff Students Faculty Staff
Permission Access Set by Self Set by Team Manager Set by Self Set by UMKC IS by request
Integration with Windows Yes Yes Yes Yes
Integration with Microsoft Office Yes Yes Limited, see below No
Integration with Mac Yes Yes Yes Requires VPN and Drive Mapping
Multi-User Real Time Collaboration Yes Yes No Yes
UM-System Collaboration Yes Yes No Yes
Data Classification Level DCL3* DCL3* DCL3* DCL3*

 * Data Classified above Level 3 needs to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by UMKC's IS Security team. 

Platforms Available

Please take a look at the options listed below for more information.

Microsoft Teams is a chat-based workspace that uses features and functionality from across the other Microsoft apps. Each Team has a set of ‘Channels’ and can bring instant messaging, audio/video meetings, file storage, scheduling and calendar availability together within one single interface. 

  • Best for shared storage, such as departmental files
  • 5TB quota per Team
  • Includes Chat for members of the Team
  • Private channels to limit access to files as needed
  • Learn more at Microsoft Support

OneDrive, as part of the Microsoft 365 suite of applications, provides resources for storing an individual’s work-related files, sharing them with colleagues within and outside of UMKC, and even working on Microsoft 365 documents with others at the same time. 

  • Included as part of Microsoft 365
  • Integration with Windows and Office – real time file collaboration
  • Ability to backup Desktop, Documents, Pictures folders
  • Easy access off campus
  • Great for internal sharing and collaboration
  • 1TB quota per user
  • Learn more about OneDrive

Box is a place you can store files for your own use, to share with UMKC faculty and staff, or to share externally with people anywhere in the world. Recommended for shared departmental or group file space. Box provides extensive storage, works on any device, and includes integration with Microsoft Office.

  • Easy access off campus and via Web
  • Best for sharing with external users
  • Limited real-time collaboration on Office documents between multiple users
  • Only licensed by UMKC, not other UM-System sister campuses. There is limited cross-campus collaboration.
  • Learn more about Box
  • Hard to use off campus and on mobile
  • Requires VPN from off campus
  • Limited space, Q drive quota is 500MB
  • N drive quota varies by unit
  • Learn more about storage hosting