Dropbox advice and support

Hi all,

 

First post on here so hello! We would like to launch Dropbox across our school and eventually replace the school network with it. Has anyone else has experience of doing this?

If so, what are the legal, logistical and technical advice you would offer?

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks

My first point of call would be to read this http://www.edugeek.net/showthread.php?t=159257

Sep 2015 DfE Guidance: Cloud software services and the Data Protection Act

Dropbox isn't on the list of suppliers for Education. You thought about using Office 365 instead over Dropbox?

- I have just moved over three schools entirely to Office 365 for OneDrive for user areas and shared resources under SharePoint and so far almost everyone in each of the schools hasn't moaned so much about it as Office is the same.

Edited September 26, 2015 by MrFrostmaul

Hi all,

 

First post on here so hello! We would like to launch Dropbox across our school and eventually replace the school network with it. Has anyone else has experience of doing this?

If so, what are the legal, logistical and technical advice you would offer?

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

No! Just please no!

Dropbox isn't on the list of suppliers for Education. You thought about using Office 365 instead over Dropbox?

- I have just moved over three schools entirely to Office 365 for OneDrive for user areas and shared resources under SharePoint and so far almost everyone in each of the schools hasn't moaned so much about it as Office is the same.

 

Also with OneDrive with Office 365 you will get loads of storage for nothing. 1TB for each user for free. You can't beat it!

Also with OneDrive with Office 365 you will get loads of storage for nothing. 1TB for each user for free. You can't beat it!

 

You can't beat the space they give but you can beat the client. My home laptop has Dropbox, google drive and Onedrive. I'll sync across services and Dropbox and Google drive have finished while Onedrive hadn't even detected the changes.

 

They are rapidly improving but I wouldn't want to rely on Onedrive for anything important (not to mention the lack of versioning for non-office documents etc)

My first point of call would be to read this http://www.edugeek.net/showthread.php?t=159257

Sep 2015 DfE Guidance: Cloud software services and the Data Protection Act

 

Dropbox isn't on the list of suppliers for Education.

 

The approved list is in the document linked to above. Your school has legal responsibilities under the DPA and the fines are high for getting it wrong.

 

Please do read the document and absorb what it os telling you and your SLT

@GrumbleDook is probably the most expert in this area on edugeek. Hopefully he will be along soon

I'll do a longer reply later but have a read through this article, including the update where DropBox have signed the Safe Harbor Agreement.

 

http://www.edugeek.net/s/articles/310-dropbox-ok-use.html

 

TLDR version?

Caveat Emptor!

Edited September 27, 2015 by GrumbleDook

I'll do a longer reply later but have a read through this article, including the update where DropBox have signed the Safe Harbor Agreement.

 

http://www.edugeek.net/s/articles/310-dropbox-ok-use.html

 

TLDR version?

Caveat Emptor!

 

That link takes me to a thread about EvE online!

 

Problem with the app or the link?

 

But wrt the OP: Don't, just no, not ever....

 

The main suggestion in this thread seems to be Office 365/Onedrive. I'd also put forward Google Drive/Google Apps for Education. Accessible from any device, controllable by the school. Just not Dropbox.

Link works fine for me. Anyone else have a problem?

 

Here is the follow up but on my blog, from there you can get the original thread as well.

 

http://grumbledook.org/blog/2014/07/02/cloud-storage-update/

The link to the edugeek thread takes me to an eve online thread too on the Android app.

 

The link to your blog works fine.

Ah. I can see the issue. The app directs to forum threads (number 310 in the case) rather than the full URL link which is to the news article.

 

Will report the fault to ZH. Leaving as is for the moment so it can be looked at.

We have gone a long way to replace out networked storage, but with Google apps. (100% free *unlimited* storage, backups).

So far we have moved about 1TB of shared data over which is mostly video.

We put URL links on the old shared areas to re-direct people.

We've not experienced bandwidth issues and in general it has been a success, it took a bot of extra training for a few staff; but ultimately it will completely replace our expensive SAN.

As others have suggested I've probably look at Microsoft and Google's Office365/GAFE cloud offerings first as these are largely free to education and offer much more than just online storage.

 

At least that way you can look to bundle the school's email,storage and content delivery platforms under one roof.

Edited September 27, 2015 by flyinghaggis

Dropbox is brilliant for syncing personal files on individual systems. I don't think it scales well for larger organizations. I wish they had a Dropbox for Ed the way that GAFE supports schools.

Dropbox is brilliant for syncing personal files on individual systems. I don't think it scales well for larger organizations. I wish they had a Dropbox for Ed the way that GAFE supports schools.

 

I have recently used the Dropbox enterprise installer without complaint from our staff:

 

Link: What is the Dropbox enterprise installer, and how can I use it to deploy Dropbox Business for my entire team?