Google Drive - initial thoughts and a trap for the unwary

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katietommo

13 posts

Geek

#153995 14-Oct-2014 22:41

Last month I upgraded my Google Apps for Business so that I can have 10Tb of storage and it's US$10/month. I planned to upload 80Gb of files and stuff immediately (the important files). The pathetic upload speed and some problems outlined below means that 6 weeks on I'm only 60Gb into the 80Gb.

Google Drive's app seems to work really well, except:
1) When it's running, I cannot get cPanel to load at all on my Linux server. This took me several days of on-and-off troubleshooting including having my team set up a proxy in the Ukraine to make sure it wasn't some other problem here. So, any time I have to use the server I need to pause Google Drive (only if it's syncing)
2) The search functionality within the local Google Drive folder seems to be very limited compared to a normal folder.
3) If Google Drive is syncing, video on Skype won't work
4) It seems that everything you want to sync has to be in Google Drive, and I didn't plan this very well and now I've uploaded it I've got duplicate folder names with my Google Drive files and some other confusing stuff that I'll need to sort out.

I'm still using an external backup drive - if the internal hard disk fails I don't want to be waiting for weeks to pull down all my files again. Google Drive is more of a safety net.

toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

#1154058 15-Oct-2014 07:00

What connection are you uploading from?

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

kenkeniff

628 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1154096 15-Oct-2014 08:39

Your post is somewhat confusing but from what I can discern your issue is essentially; when you have Google Drive running/uploading (on Windows?) you have trouble accessing other network services (Skype, cPanel through web browser etc).

As you mention you also have issues with GDrive upload speeds (which should be fine) I would suggest this could be a network issue rather than specifically GDrive related.

Please carry out the usual network diagnostics;

Checking firewalls / antivirus
Testing LAN vs Wireless
Posting modem stats and speed-test results

I would also have a look at CPU, Memory, Disk and Network utilisation stats in Task Manager whilst GDrive is running as it can consume a lot of resources and could cause degraded performance across the board.

More info is always helpful too:

Computer specs
Operating system
Internet connection type

katietommo

13 posts

Geek

#1154211 15-Oct-2014 10:38

Computer specs: Dell
i7-3632QM 2.2GHz
8Gb RAM
64-bit x64-based processor running Windows 8.1 with Classic Shell.

The upload speed is just the speed I get via Vodafone - it's not particularly fast uploading anywhere and when I check via https://www.speedtest.net/ I get 6.8Mbit down and 0.7Mbit up. We're near the end of the line and the VF tech said they can't make it any faster. It's a VF fixed broadband line. I'm using wireless and there's 4m between the computer and the modem with no walls.

The point of the post was that using Google Drive messes with Skype and other services, but actually completely renders cPanel/WHM inaccessible (to the point of returning a blank browser window). As soon as I quit Google drive, it returns to normal.

Spyware

3761 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1154244 15-Oct-2014 10:48

Simply because your connection is saturated in the up direction. Only way to unsaturate it would be to have Google upload even slower.

Spark Max Fibre using Mikrotik CCR1009-8G-1S-1S+, CRS125-24G-1S, Unifi UAP, U6-Pro, UAP-AC-M-Pro, Apple TV 4K (2022), Apple TV 4K (2017), iPad Air 1st gen, iPad Air 4th gen, iPhone 13, SkyNZ3151 (the white box). If it doesn't move then it's data cabled.

sidefx

3711 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1154255 15-Oct-2014 10:55

If it's just for backups (safety net as you put it :) ) you may be better of with crashplan? (http://www.code42.com/crashplan/)

For a single PC I think it costs significantly less for unlimited storage (though paid annually) and they have fairly frequent deals for new customers so you could get your first year for significantly less. It's also a proper backup solution (you can retrieve past snapshots\files - not sure what the options are with google drive for this sort of thing TBH)

I also find uploads to their Australian data centre easily max out my VDSL line (or come very close indeed - though you can throttle it through the app I think) - it doesn't sound like you're getting max line speed if 60GB has taken 6 weeks.

"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." | Octopus Energy | Sharesies
- Richard Feynman

meesham

973 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1154360 15-Oct-2014 12:35

The uploads are saturating the link and will be killing your downstream, I've never used Google Drive so I don't know how much control you have over the client but if you can limit it to 80% of your maximum upload speed you should find that your internet will work normally again while it's running.

Sideface

9349 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1154420 15-Oct-2014 13:53

katietommo: ... I get 6.8Mbit down and 0.7Mbit up. ...

I wouldn't attempt any form of online backup with these speeds - it's just too damn slow ...

Sideface

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jjnz1

1358 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1154475 15-Oct-2014 14:41

I use Google Apps for Bus, with 120GB storage and it works fine.

I have dual replicating fileservers (which replicate ever 24hrs) and also immediate replication to Google Drive (takes roughly 3 minutes to reflect any change). I have no issue with other web sites including using Skype/Hangouts while a sync is in place.

I have a 100/50Mbps connection, however my old VDSL 50/10Mbps also worked fine.

Did you realise 60GB should take around 11 days to upload IF you have nothing else using your connection? If you constantly use your connection (webpages/skype/youtube), the upload to Google Drive will take considerably longer. You will need to move to a different technology such as VDSL, Cable or Fibre to speed this up.

ONE BIG WARNING! Make sure you use 2FA especially when using Google Drive as secure storage!