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For some reason unknown I just can't find a good techical explanation of how exactly Office 365 functions, and, particularily, can I completely disable all kinds of local caching/syncing/downloading/whatever, and still get a functional solution?

This is an important question as I'm currently evaluating a possibility of migration to Office 365 for a group of people who work with an extremely huge amount of documents (~1TB). They need all of them accessible all the time on all their devices, including smartphones and tablets with limited storage capacity. They also don't want to put up with time overheads imposed by downloads/syncs (they tried some kind of cloud storage software before, which would download requested file to device's drive before opening it, and it presented them with a delay of around 10 seconds for accessing a 2MB file over the 40Mb link, and thats unacceptable for them).

They work with files using Microsoft Office solutions, so Office 365 is the most attractive answer to the problem which I would like to consider before getting my hands really dirty and moving to terminal service approach.

The other question is can I use some other cloud storage service with Office 365? If I got it right, it comes with OneDrive for Buisness as a cloud storage solution, but can I choose the one from amazon, or google instead (while still using Microsoft's apps)?

tis
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    Your users are being unreasonable. You can't change the laws of physics! – Michael Hampton Apr 06 '15 at 02:13
  • I heard this before, but still haven't heard a good reason why they can't get what they want. One solution comes to mind right away - it's a terminal server. The only problem here are smartphones - yes, there are RDP clients for them, but using it on device with tiny screen will probably be a pain in da *utt. – tis Apr 06 '15 at 02:16
  • Still I (and them) would really liked to find a cleaner and quicker solution - and cheaper one too, as setting one fully licensed terminal server with Office, backups and stuff will set you a lot, - so if Office 365 could be forced to work without using a local drive at all - and without any downloads or caching - that would made life of all participants much easier. – tis Apr 06 '15 at 02:20
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    If it could, then they would complain about how slow it is. That's the whole point. – Michael Hampton Apr 06 '15 at 02:21
  • I'm sorry, but could you please backup this statement with something? I really want to understand what is wrong with this model. – tis Apr 06 '15 at 02:22
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    Without answering your questions, because I'm afraid I'll go back and forth with you and this isn't a forum, why don't you simply test drive the eval version of O365 and determine if it's a right fit? The answers to both of your questions are yes...but I digress...test it/eval it and decide for yourself. – TheCleaner Apr 06 '15 at 03:29
  • Thank you for your answer, TheCleaner. I'm in a rush, and I need to provide some assumptions asap, I will have more time to investigate later, thats why I asked, after failed attempts to find a good technical explanation with google. – tis Apr 06 '15 at 04:35

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If the files are stored in the OneDrive for Business portion of Office 365, the files are stored locally (under C:\Users\username\OneDrive for Business) and synced to the cloud. So, there is some penalty after the initial sign-in as files are first synced to the computer (for 1TB it will take a while), but from then on it is just like accessing a local file. Note that Office programs will see the OneDrive for Business files as part of SharePoint and will attempt to check in with the server for Workflows. Other non-SharePoint-aware apps (e.g. a text editor) will just open the files directly from the local folder.

Note that I am talking about the OneDrive for Business desktop client on a Windows PC. The above is not necessarily true for the non-business version of OneDrive, particularly under Windows 8.1.

If you are talking about accessing files from a mobile device, then you have limited storage, so it does not save the file content. There is only a cache of file metadata. A document has to be downloaded before it can be viewed/edited. So a document can take a few seconds to open.

You can also open Office documents in the web browser from portal.office.com. You get the view/edit them in an actual HTML web app, not download the files and open Office. This can be faster.

myron-semack
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  • Thank you for clarification, msemack. I was totally misguided by all these "Office that is fully in the cloud" marketing bluff. I just don't understand then what is a point of all this? I thought it should function similar to RemoteAPP/XenApp, i.e., all software and data are located at some remote computing environment, and only the state of the remote screen or program's window are being sent to the user (or state of browser page updated via json). But it seems nothing have changed - they simply tied the cloud storage idea with local installation of office software. It's a big dissapointment. – tis Apr 06 '15 at 21:19
  • OneDrive is just one aspect of Office 365. Office 365 is a whole suite of services including hosted Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, MDM, and more. Spend some time reading here: https://products.office.com/en-us/business/compare-more-office-365-for-business-plans – myron-semack Apr 07 '15 at 13:01
  • **As to the point of Office 365:** It simplifies Office licensing tremendously. It provides an enterprise-grade Exchange/Sharepoint/Lync setup without the need for a local server infrastructure, which is a huge cost savings for a small shop. It also facilitates remote users via the iPhone and Web Apps. And it also keeps all of your software (client and server side) fully up to date and patched with little/no effort from your IT department. If you are a small shop with limited manpower, the benefits are huge. – myron-semack Apr 07 '15 at 13:08