Microsoft Cloud Storage OneDirve which previously familiar as SkyDrive is one of the file hosting services and synchronization services operated by Microsoft. OneDrive initially launched in August 2007 and at that time it only allows to store users to store files and personal information like Windows settings or Microsoft locker BitLocker recovery keys in the cloud storage. Users were very excited and using it because of its synchronization through which you can sync files across many platforms Like Android, Windows Phone, and IOS mobile devices, Windows and MAC computers, and Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles. Another interesting service that you can directly store your Microsoft office files in OneDrive.
Microsoft is another huge company providing its servies to many platforms, so users just need to deal with OneDrive cloud storage. It is not providing as much free space as google cloud storage but it is offering 5 GB free space per user. For further space, you need to upgrade it to a standalone, personal, family, and organization plan which will provide you 100 GB, 1TB, and 6 TB respectively. It is available with both separately or Office 365 subscriptions.
Services provided by OneDrive
For free versions, it is providing only basic features which are also included in purchased versions. The basic services provided by OneDrive
Quota
Microsoft changes its Quota provisions many times, initially, it was providing 7 GB free storage for everyone and for students 3GB more. At that time it is providing a total of 10GB of free storage. After April 22,2012 it was providing a total of 25 GB of free storage but it was for a limited time only. After July 2018 the service offering 5GB of free storage for new users. It has many types of storage quotas depending on its usage. As a standalone package, it is providing 100 GB only. If you need more storage quota then you need to upgrade it to a personal package to get 1TB of storage. It is also providing a family package so that 6 members of the family can use a single could package of 1TB per user and a total of 6TB. For more large organizations only 6 TB is not sufficient so, it is also providing four types of business plans which have different types of services included.
Versioning
Do you know what does versioning means? It a feature of storage that removes the previous version of the file with the same file with newer updates. Versioning means it will update your files on a regular basis automatically. You don’t need to do it by yourself. It keeps your older versions for only 30 days and after 30 days you cannot access the older version.
Recycle Bin
It is also demanding features of cloud storage which keep all the deleted items from the storage. You may need that deleted item on earlier days so it secured in the recycle bin. But you need to careful because your deleted items will automatically erase from the recycle bin also and you will never access that deleted file.
Downloading ZIP Files
Almost all cloud storage provides these features to make the downloading secure. As you know that Zipped items cannot get viruses further after zipping. It also makes the downloading system easier for all types of users. For a single download, there is a limit of 15 GB.
These are the most useful and general features of OneDrive cloud storage. You can use more features on purchased versions. You can choose the services needed to you and pay only for the item you need. For example, purchase versions have features to access Microsoft Office directly. For educational organizations, you can choose other features also on demand.