Forum Discussion
Whiteboard app - storage and sharing
What is up with the Whiteboard app, why is it not storing the whiteboards in OneDrive or SharePoint so it is automatically stored in the region where the whole Office 365 tenant is hosted and can leverage the same access controls?
Also having anonymous access to Whiteboards only is a big security gap if you ask me. I would like to share whiteboards with my colleagues only, not with the whole world...
- Hi Joost
Not entirely sure of exactly what you're describing.
The current Whiteboard app (that comes with Surface Hub) stores whiteboard data in the user's OneDrive for Business storage. As such it's subject to any tenant region storage controls.
The Whiteboard Preview app that is available from the Store saved the app data in Azure linked to your tenant. Currently the data is stored in the United States, but will expand to other regions when the app goes into production. You can read more about this here: https://products.office.com/en-us/microsoft-whiteboard/digital-whiteboard-app
As far as I can tell there is no anonymous access to Whiteboards.
D
20 Replies
- Hi Joost
Not entirely sure of exactly what you're describing.
The current Whiteboard app (that comes with Surface Hub) stores whiteboard data in the user's OneDrive for Business storage. As such it's subject to any tenant region storage controls.
The Whiteboard Preview app that is available from the Store saved the app data in Azure linked to your tenant. Currently the data is stored in the United States, but will expand to other regions when the app goes into production. You can read more about this here: https://products.office.com/en-us/microsoft-whiteboard/digital-whiteboard-app
As far as I can tell there is no anonymous access to Whiteboards.
DDaniel Hudson where exactly are those files stored? Is there a history of versions available? Someone just cleared canvas for a whole whiteboard (No idea who in the large team who had access to it) and I don't know how to restore it. Many thanks!
I did not find any information on where the Whiteboard files are stored, named or structured. Where and how are those objects stored?
The concept of files, folders, ownership, sharing, copying, deleting,... is well accepted and used. Actually I find it very useful. Can this concept be used for whiteboard objects as well?
Thanks, Thomas
- Hi Thomas. While the concept of files etc. is 'well accepted and used', this does not mean that's the best method for all apps.
Whiteboard has taken a modern app approach, and the physical files are not accessible in a 'traditional' sense. You must access the Whiteboards from within the app, and they can be shared using the built in sharing features.
Files are stored on Azure within your tenant. Naming and structure are not important as Microsoft handles this to work across the organisation.
Hi Daniel Hudson,
Thank you for the response. It seems kind of strange that there are 2 whiteboard apps that use different storage options, where one only stores data in the US. Hopefully Microsoft will fix this.
Also when I wanted to share a whiteboard, I was expecting to define who could access the whiteboard, but instead all I got was a URL to share with somebody. The url is not behind authentication, so anyone with the URL can access the whiteboard.
Best regards,
Joost
- Hi Joost
There is nothing to be fixed in regard to the apps. There is the current Whiteboard app which ships on Surface Hub, and there is the Whiteboard (Preview) app that is available from the Microsoft Store for Windows 10 devices.
The Whiteboard app on Surface Hub stores shared whiteboards in the user's OneDrive folder (and as such OneDrive is a pre-requisite for using shared whiteboards). The Whiteboard URL only works for other Surface Hubs within the same organisation. You cannot share them externally and it will not work on any other device.
The Whiteboard (Preview) app stores whiteboard data in Azure and linked to the Office 365 tenant. As the name suggests, the app is still in preview (though we have now been given notice in Office 365 that GA is expected within the next couple of months). While data during the preview is only stored in the US, I would imagine that Microsoft will support data storage in other data centres when it goes into GA, especially due to GDPR and other requirements.
Thanks
Dan
