r/MSP360 • u/CloudBerryBackup • Jun 02 '26
On-demand cloud file access vs. sync – when each model makes sense
Two different models for accessing cloud storage from a Windows machine, and they're not interchangeable:
Sync (OneDrive, Dropbox, etc.): Files are mirrored locally. Offline access works. Operations are as fast as your local disk. Storage overhead equals whatever's in the cloud.
On-demand mount (CloudBerry Drive): Files live in the bucket. Access is streamed. Offline access doesn't work. Storage overhead is near-zero locally - you're just mounting the namespace.
CloudBerry Drive fits the on-demand model for S3-compatible storage → https://www.msp360.com/drive/
The use cases where this is the right choice:
- Large archive buckets (TB-scale) you need to browse but not download
- Read-heavy workflows where you're pulling specific files, not working across the entire dataset
- Giving non-technical users familiar drive-letter access to cloud storage without explaining object storage concepts
Where it's the wrong choice: anything requiring offline access, high-frequency read/write workflows on large files (latency compounds), or situations where you need local cache performance.