On the go, best way to sync?

[Crazyhorse]

I have a thumb drive, an external HD, a work laptop, home laptop, and home desktop. I would like to find a program that will sync up large data folders to my external harddrive, and some smaller confidintal files to my thumb drive, as I move from computer to computer. Trying to backup 300gb manually is taking way too much time, but I don't like the idea of not having a backup on each machine just for security and in the event I need to do something and don't have access to my backup drives.

Any ideas?

CH

[JDay]

I have a thumb drive, an external HD, a work laptop, home laptop, and home desktop. I would like to find a program that will sync up large data folders to my external harddrive, and some smaller confidintal files to my thumb drive, as I move from computer to computer. Trying to backup 300gb manually is taking way too much time, but I don't like the idea of not having a backup on each machine just for security and in the event I need to do something and don't have access to my backup drives.

Any ideas?

CH

Get a home server, place backups on there and another set on an external. Setup a VPN for remote access. No need to keep this stuff on two laptops, and the stuff you do keep on the laptops needs to be encrypted. Windows server lets you setup automated backups on a schedule.

[Crazyhorse]

I wouldn't begin to understand how to do that I was hoping something like an old PDA I had that I just plugged in and it sync'ed with my outlook.

Thank you though,

CH

[medic5073]

I use a program called ViceVersa Pro 2 on all my computers. Whenever I connect my thumb drive, it automatically syncs all the files that are common between them. Also, anytime i have it plugged in and change a file, or add one to a common folder, it syncs that as well. Costs about $60.

Greg <><

[patman]

Yeah, that auto sync with outlook is nice. I think there is a "power tool" from microsoft that is for sync purposes. It may be the replacement for "briefcase."

If you want some manual control, BeyondCompare v3 works pretty well. Works great for determining and removing duplicates on the same drive.

I've also been using winscp with a linux file server (any file server with sshd/sftp server) and "synchronize (both directions)" feature. My NAS is the core while laptops and desktops sync to it. I have a "data" folder on each of the machines that is "synchronized."

Once in a while I think about going back to using svn. Use SVN over SSH to checkout the data directory or "documents" directory, work on the files, then SVN check-in before logout/shutdown.

Use what you feel comfortable with. Just remember to encrypt the 'confidential' stuff.

[problemchild]

Your really backing up 300GB? Thats your data or your whole computer. I would only put essential data in a folder in my docs on each machine. Then use microsft synctoy to back up essential data to a thumb drive. Make sure you set synctoy to do the exact files you want to save for each machine.

You might also look into creating a hosting account with Mozy. Have each machine do a full backup every night but that costs money.

[Crazyhorse]

Your really backing up 300GB? Thats your data or your whole computer. I would only put essential data in a folder in my docs on each machine. Then use microsft synctoy to back up essential data to a thumb drive. Make sure you set synctoy to do the exact files you want to save for each machine.

You might also look into creating a hosting account with Mozy. Have each machine do a full backup every night but that costs money.

Nope, not my whole computer just my files. It's a combination of programs, website backups, images, reports, contracts in pdf, and a ton more. The issue is out of 300gb that I backup I only use and modify maybe 10-20 files a day but different files everytime. If I had a sync program that would just copy the 20 files at 5-10mb total it would take 5 seconds and I would be done. The way it is now I don't remember what files I used or changed through out the day and just rebackup everything.

I'll have to play with sync toy but I think it didn't work last time I checked it. I can't put the files in my docs because that folder is backed up to our main server and IT doesn't want 300gb+ profiles on the server, not to mention it slows my computer to a crawl to sync it through out the day. Also like half of the data is for another company and I wouldn't want those files on the server.

CH

[twang35]

Robocopy (command line) or robocopy GUI. It only syncs the files that have changed.