Many small offices keep their files on a NAS (network-attached storage) or an old Windows file server. Staff open folders such as W:\Finance or \\NAS01\Sales from their PCs. This works in the office. It does not work well for staff who work from home. Also, the NAS is often the only copy of the data.
Customers often ask us: “Can we move the data on our server to Google Workspace?” Yes. This guide is for a team of about 4 to 20 users. It shows how to move a NAS, such as WD My Cloud, Synology or QNAP, to Google Drive shared drives.
Map each NAS share to one shared drive
A shared drive is a Google Drive folder that belongs to the company, not to one person. When a staff member leaves, the files stay. This is the closest match to a shared folder on a NAS.
Use the same structure that your staff already know:
| On the NAS | In Google Drive |
|---|---|
\\NAS01\Finance | Shared drive “Finance” |
\\NAS01\HR | Shared drive “HR” |
\\NAS01\Sales | Shared drive “Sales” |
\\NAS01\Templates | Shared drive “Templates” (all staff can view) |
Then add the correct people to each shared drive:
- Manager: the head of the team. Controls the members and can move files out of the shared drive.
- Content manager: adds, edits and moves files in the shared drive.
- Contributor: adds and edits files.
- Viewer: only opens files.
Some folders are private, for example salary files in the HR drive. The Manager can make such a folder a limited-access folder. Only the people that you add to that folder can open it. For the steps, read our guide Shared drives for team files.
How much storage you need
Google Workspace storage is pooled. Each user adds storage to one company total. Gmail, Drive and Photos all use this total.
| Edition | Pooled storage |
|---|---|
| Business Starter | 30 GB for each user |
| Business Standard | 2 TB for each user |
| Business Plus | 5 TB for each user |
For example, 10 users on Business Starter share 300 GB. The same 10 users on Business Standard share 20 TB.
To choose the edition, add the size of the NAS data and the size of all mailboxes. If the total is near or more than 30 GB times the number of users, choose Business Standard. Prices for each edition are on our pricing page.
Note: Google does not give all the storage on the first day. You get the full amount after a payment of USD 30 for the subscription. This can take up to 72 hours. Plan a large migration after the first invoice is paid.
Business Starter and shared drives
Business Starter includes shared drives. But on Business Starter, the admin cannot set sharing rules for each shared drive. For example, you cannot block sharing outside the company on one shared drive. Business Standard and higher can do this.
What to keep on the NAS
Google Drive is good for documents, spreadsheets, PDFs and images. Some files must not go into a synced folder:
- Accounting data, for example SQL Account, AutoCount or UBS. These programs keep their database open and write to it all the time. A sync tool can copy a half-written file, or make conflict copies when two users work at the same time.
- Microsoft Access files (
.mdb,.accdb) for the same reason. - Outlook data files (
.pst). Import old email into Gmail instead. Our email migration covers this.
Keep these files on the NAS or on the accounting PC, and keep a separate backup. Ask your accounting software vendor about its cloud option.
Large video and design files
Video, photo and design files are large. They take a long time to upload. Each user can upload 750 GB to Drive in 24 hours, and one file can be up to 5 TB. At 100 Mbps upload speed, 1 TB takes about a full day. Move these folders in the evening or over a weekend.
Pre-migration checklist
Do these checks before you start. For each item, a Windows PC can give you the answer.
- Right-click each NAS share and select Properties. Write down the size and the number of files.
- Make sure each shared drive will hold less than 500,000 items. If a share has more files, split it into 2 shared drives.
- Find very deep folders and very long file names. Shorten them before the copy.
- Find database,
.pstand other files from the list above. Move them out of the shares that you will copy. - Write down which team needs which share, and who is the manager of each one.
- Agree a cutover day with the staff.
How to copy the files
There are 2 practical methods. The size of the data decides which one to use.
Small job: Google Drive for desktop
Use this method for a few GB to a few hundred GB.
- On one office PC, install Google Drive for desktop and sign in as the manager of the shared drives.
- In the admin console or in Drive, make the shared drives.
- In File Explorer, open the NAS share and the Google Drive folder side by side.
- Copy the folders from the NAS into the correct shared drive.
- Wait until Drive for desktop shows that the upload is complete.
Large job: rclone
rclone is a free command-line tool for cloud copies. We use it when the data is large or has many files. It can stop at the 750 GB daily limit. The next day, run the same command again, and rclone continues.
- Install rclone on a PC that can open the NAS shares.
- Run
rclone config. Add a Google Drive remote, and answer Yes to “Configure this as a Shared Drive”. - Do a test copy of one small folder.
- Copy each share, for example:
rclone copy "\\NAS01\Finance" finance: --progress --drive-stop-on-upload-limit - Run
rclone checkto compare the NAS and the shared drive.
Cutover day
- Tell staff to stop saving files on the NAS at an agreed time.
- Run the copy again. rclone copies only new and changed files, so this copy is short.
- Set the NAS shares to read-only.
- Install Google Drive for desktop on each PC, and show staff where the shared drives are in File Explorer.
- Keep the NAS as a read-only backup for about 30 days.
After the move, a double-click on a Word or Excel file in File Explorer still opens it in Word or Excel. Staff do not have to learn Google Docs on day one. For the setup on each PC, use our Google Drive for desktop guide.
When we do it for you
A NAS migration is mostly planning: the size, the file types, the access for each team and a clear cutover day. Office Niaga can do the full job. We check the NAS with you and set up Google Workspace and the shared drives. Then we copy the files and set the access for each team. Each order comes with an SST tax invoice and a MyInvois e-invoice in Ringgit.
If the move also includes email, read Migrate to Google Workspace. We move the mailboxes and the files in one plan.
Not sure how big your NAS is, or which edition you need? WhatsApp us with the total size and the number of users. To order Google Workspace for your team, request a quote.
Hanny RamzyHanny Ramzy runs Office Niaga at Web Impian Sdn. Bhd. (SSM 920163-H) in Kota Bharu, Malaysia, helping businesses and agencies move to Google Workspace and business email with Ringgit billing and local support.
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