Guide: Using Google Drive as a FTP Server or Network Drive: Guide
Calling Google Drive a simple cloud storage system will be an understatement. This powerful platform can save various file types such as APK, XLS and CSV in addition to the standard file formats. And the fact that the Drive can be accessed from anywhere (even from your smartphone) is the added bonus. Although the conventional method of backupup and sync is great, it has some limitations. First, 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, it will also be automatically deleted from the cloud storage. That is why it is wise to use Google Drive as an FTP server or network drive. When used as an FTP server, you have a controlled backupup- and synchronization solution. You also don’t need to sync the disk folders with your PC, nor do you have to worry about storage. Second, using it as a network drive gives you the convenience of exploring all of your files and folders from Windows Explorer. That way, you can save a terrible amount of local storage space as it doesn’t sync the entire folder / drive to your PC. Now that we’ve got it sorted, let’s see how to do it. Obviously, we’ll be taking the help of two third-party tools: RaiDrive and Google Drive FTP Adapter. While the former tool is for the network drive, the latter is used to establish the FTP server. RaiDrive is a light tool that allows you to access your Google Drive files and folders in the form of a network drive. The tool is light and measures about 16MB. Download RaiDrive On the other hand, the Google Drive FTP Adapter is a simple JAR file. To run it, you must have Java Runtime Environment (JRE 8) on your PC. If you don’t have it, you can get it from here.
And don’t forget to keep the connection private after installing it. Download Google Drive FTP Adapter
How to Configure RaiDrive for Network Drive
Step 1: After installing RaiDrive, open it, and the app will show you a welcome screen. Click on Add button on the top. Note: In addition to supporting Google Drive, RaiDrive is also compatible with cloud storage services such as Dropbox, Google Photos, OneDrive, Dropbox and Yandex. Select Google Drive and press OK button
S.point 2: When prompted for your rights, click Allow. Once your credentials and permissions have been verified, you will be able to see the network drive. You can select the name of the disc from the drop-down list. By default, RaiDrive labels it Drive Z, and I chose to keep it that way. You can also set the name of the disc. So if you want to add multiple drives, you can always assign easily distinguishable names.
Here you can change the settings like reconnect login, read-only, public or private connection, etc. Once you click Apply or OK, you will be immediately redirected to the network locations of your computer.
As you can see in the screenshot below, you can view all files and folders. All you need to do is click on it and the file will open in your default browser. The good thing is that all changes on the Network Drive are done in real time. And the speed of the file transfer depends on your internet speed.
Other than that, you can always check the amount of free storage space of the Drive.
To change the settings, just click on the gear icon and make the changes.
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 run the JAR file. As we mentioned above, you must have the JAVA Runtime environment on your system before you can run it. Step 1: Once the JRE is set up double click on the FTP adapter file. That will redirect you to the browser where you will be asked to select your Google account.
All you need to do is select the account you want to set up the FTP server on up, enter the password and give the required permission. After validation, you will see a simple confirmation message in the browser. Congratulations, you have completed the first leg of the journey. Step 2: Next, you need an FTP client to act as a bridge between the port and your Google Drive. While you can use any FTP client of your choice, for the purpose of this article we decided to continue with FileZilla. For those of you who don’t know, it’s free open source software. Download FileZilla After downloading and installing FileZilla, enter the following port address in the host address, ftp: // user: user @ localhost: 1821 / Alternatively, you can enter the following values:
Host: Localhost Username: user Password: user Port: 1821
That’s all. you will be able to see all your folders in the right panel. Now all you need to do is transfer files from your PC to the right pane. Sweet and simple, right?
Tweak Google Drive for good
Agreed that uploading files and documents with Google Drive is a simple process. However, as they say there is always room for improvement and these tools allow you to do just that. So which method is best for your needs? FTP or network drive? Having a Google Drive as a network drive has a charm of its own. The next up Do you want to convert a Google Docs document to PDF documents? Read the following post to find out how.
Using Google Drive as a FTP Server or Network Drive: Guide: benefits
Faq
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