Synchronize files across computers with Dropbox
I tried Dropbox - a cool file-synchronization service for Windows, Mac, Linux and the Web - after hearing about it on the Macworld Video Podcast Episode from Jason Snell from Feb 13, 2009 and loved it since.
Dropbox allows you to sync (and - if you want share) up to 2GB of your files and folders automatically (and for free!) simply by dragging and dropping them into the Dropbox folder that will be created by the application (by default under your home directory). If you need more space you can buy 50GB of storage for currently US$99/year.
I'm impressed how easy and fast the web-based synchronization works and was amazed that it works cross-platform - even an Ubuntu repository is available. I use it now to synchronize a few files I often need on my Ubuntu desktop, my macbook and my wife's iMac.
If it works as reliable as it has done in the first days I am using it and if there will be a more cheaper storage plan version (e.g. 25GB for US$49/year), I might use it even to backup and synchronize all my important files.
Currently I use iDrive on my Macbook for online backup (with 150GB online storage for US$4,95/month) but as there is no Linux client available for iDrive yet, I had to set up an rsync based Python script to sync files and folders between my macbook and my Ubuntu desktop as described in my previous post. It does its purpose but not as well and sophisticated as Dropbox. For instance, I have to decide before, if I want to use rsync with the --delete-after switch. When I choose yes, than files that are not in the source folder are deleted from the target folder. That deletes any file, that was added to the target folder but not available on the source folder, which is not always what I want. So in order to sync two folders I use my script in both directions (without the --delete-after switch). The disadvantage here is that if I delete, move or rename a file in one of the machines, I have to do this on other machine as well before I run my script or otherwise, the file will be copied from the machine where I haven't done the change back to the other machine. Therefore, if I want real synchronization of files and folders, using Dropbox is much easier. On the other hand, there might be use cases, where you want to sync some files between all of your machines but other files only between two of your machines (e.g. because of space limitations on one of your machines), where Dropbox would be perfect for the first set of files but for the other you might have to use another tool as Dropbox doesn't provide any option settings that allow to set this configuration.
Dropbox allows you to sync (and - if you want share) up to 2GB of your files and folders automatically (and for free!) simply by dragging and dropping them into the Dropbox folder that will be created by the application (by default under your home directory). If you need more space you can buy 50GB of storage for currently US$99/year.
I'm impressed how easy and fast the web-based synchronization works and was amazed that it works cross-platform - even an Ubuntu repository is available. I use it now to synchronize a few files I often need on my Ubuntu desktop, my macbook and my wife's iMac.
If it works as reliable as it has done in the first days I am using it and if there will be a more cheaper storage plan version (e.g. 25GB for US$49/year), I might use it even to backup and synchronize all my important files.
Currently I use iDrive on my Macbook for online backup (with 150GB online storage for US$4,95/month) but as there is no Linux client available for iDrive yet, I had to set up an rsync based Python script to sync files and folders between my macbook and my Ubuntu desktop as described in my previous post. It does its purpose but not as well and sophisticated as Dropbox. For instance, I have to decide before, if I want to use rsync with the --delete-after switch. When I choose yes, than files that are not in the source folder are deleted from the target folder. That deletes any file, that was added to the target folder but not available on the source folder, which is not always what I want. So in order to sync two folders I use my script in both directions (without the --delete-after switch). The disadvantage here is that if I delete, move or rename a file in one of the machines, I have to do this on other machine as well before I run my script or otherwise, the file will be copied from the machine where I haven't done the change back to the other machine. Therefore, if I want real synchronization of files and folders, using Dropbox is much easier. On the other hand, there might be use cases, where you want to sync some files between all of your machines but other files only between two of your machines (e.g. because of space limitations on one of your machines), where Dropbox would be perfect for the first set of files but for the other you might have to use another tool as Dropbox doesn't provide any option settings that allow to set this configuration.
In addition, I should mention that for certain types of files being available on all your machines or sharing with friends, there are even easier ways available such as using web-based applications such as Google Docs for text files, spreadsheets and presentations or Gmail for your e-mails. That way you don't need to keep a physical copy of your files on every machine thus again saving limited local storage place.
Check out the Macworld Video Podcast, the screencast or tour on the Dropbox homepage or the Dropbox Wikipedia Entry for more information.
Check out the Macworld Video Podcast, the screencast or tour on the Dropbox homepage or the Dropbox Wikipedia Entry for more information.
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