I received his week several E-Mails about questions to OneDrive for Business. They thanked about the blog posts, but have several more questions

• What does a user may synchronize with OneDrive for Business?
• May we use OneDrive for Business only with SharePoint Online (Office 365)?
• Are there any Microsoft Server involved for the sync process?

Therefore I decide to make some examples with pictures:
You will see here :

• 2 users,…
  • User A with 4 devices
  • User B with 4 devices
• 3 SharePoint Team Sites,…
  • Team site I with a document library, Access granted for User A,B und C
  • Team site II with a document library, Access granted for User B und C
  • Team site III with a Azure RMS restricted document library, Access granted for User, A, B, C
• 3 OneDrive for Business, the personal Business Store for each user
• for User A
• for User B
• for User C
You will see there 4 different devices. It is not possible to do a local Sync on all of the different devices. You have to look of the limitations on the different devices. This time, it is not possible to sync locally on a MAC device. But Microsoft has announced, that there will be a an app for MAC till end of the year. Also you may not be able to store documents on your Windows Phone. There is an app in the store, but to work with documents, you must be Online, means you must have access to your SharePoint Server 2013 on prem or SharePoint Online. There are many more restrictions and limitations with other devices, often you may work only, if you are online

But, is it really necessary for each type of user, to have your data out of SharePoint local on each device?
There are tow examples: Sales Field Service, who have no internet or students, which will work offline, because they have no internet at all.

 

The first look is User A. He has access on Team site I and III and his personal OneDrive for Business. He has no access on Team site II. the documents on Team site III are restricted through Microsoft Azure RMS and these documents will not be synchronized with OneDrive for Business.

 

User B has access rights to team sites I,II and III and his personal OneDrive for Business.

 

it is equal, use SharePoint Online (Office 365)…

 

or use SharePoint Server 2013 (on premise)

You do not need any additional server, to use OneDrive for Business, but you must have Access to your SharePoint Server, not only inside the company, but also from outside. OK, you are right, Azure RMS secured document libraries on a SharePoint Server 2013 on prem need a connection to the cloud.

Conclusion:

• User must have access right to the team site
• The user must be allowed, to sync the data
• The device must be able to store the data locally
• No every user must have the rights to store the data locally.
• No sync available on roaming profiles.
• If you use a SharePoint Server 2013, you must have access through the firewall

Links:

Limitations	1 TB storage for each user
Co-Authoring with Office documents	Filename and other restrictions
All Blog Posts to OneDrive for Business