Fling Automates Remote Backup And Network Transfers

I use a similar program called Replicator, from KarenWare. Works flawlessly (Win XP), easy to use, freeware and hard working, amicable programmer!

[www.karenware.com]

lifeh4xor

I might have to give this a shot. I'm using Syncplicity for my main stuff but this could be useful in transferring recorded TV episodes between PCs.

Branden Silva

I'll have to check this out. I was using a mirrored array (I know, I know... not supposed to be used for backup) but I only really want to backup my music and documents. I could care less if I lost some TV shows.

I'll have to check this out. I was using a mirrored array (I know, I know... not supposed to be used for backup) but I only really want to backup my music and documents. I could care less if I lost some TV shows.

Careful- sync isn't backup. It replicates your mistakes (and viruses) too. FTP is horribly inefficient compared to modern backup technologies.

CrashPlan (free) enables you to backup on-site, off-site and online. While it doesn't do "sync" part, it does back up your data.

Personally, I wouldn't mix the two. But then again, I work for CrashPlan so consider the source. :)

dornquast

a) Does anyone use FTP anymore? Folks, you're crazy if you do, even on internal networks. Seriously folks, please don't use FTP with a login any where. Anonymous FTP is a different situation, but you wouldn't be backing up web site files with that.

b) **Never** heard of "FTPS" before looking at that web page.

c) sftp **is** the proven, secure, solution. sftp is part of the ssh protocol and just retains the same PUT/GET commands as FTP to make using it trivial for anyone used to FTP.

TheFu

Careful- sync isn't backup. It replicates your mistakes (and viruses) too. FTP is horribly inefficient compared to modern backup technologies.

CrashPlan (free) enables you to backup on-site, off-site and online. While it doesn't do "sync" part, it does back up your data.

Personally, I wouldn't mix the two. But then again, I work for CrashPlan so consider the source. :)

dornquast

Holy cow, bout time. Was looking for something like this. Now to see if it works as advertised.

I like this and will try it out.

At home, I have a WHS, a desktop and 3 laptops that I would love to have information auto-sync'd on. Things like family photo's, individual's documents folders. I've tried multiple things to do this. My desktop uses mapped drives for documents (pix, music, docx, etc) so thats no problem. but my laptops are giving me fits. I used synctoy for a bit - i even scheduled syncs. Then I tried Always Sync and thats working 'ok'. But I need something event driven - like when my wife's laptop connects to the homeserver, it should sync her docs and pictures. she's not a power user, so she doesn't open the laptop up everyday. WHS does WOL, though I haven't gotten it to do this wirelessly yet. This means I have to hunt down her notebook 2-3 times a week and power the thing on. I thought about writing a login script/add-on for the homeserver console, but i think thats a violation of the eula.

anyone got better solution to my issue than Fling?

This is a handy little sync app you might give it a try if your needs are over a LAN:

[www.kish-d.com]

CopyTo has multiple options for only copying diffs, full overwrite, excludes, etc. Works well for on-demand sync'ing.

@lifeh4xor: Karen's Replicator does not support FTP, which is the major point of this article/software. It's similar in that it's sync software, but it's not really that similar.

@dornquast: I'm interested in CrashPlan. When you do a backup between two computers over internet, does the data get stored at CrashPlan site or does it get cached at their site or is it just an encrypted peer-to-peer connection?

I like the program so far (15 minutes of going over everything) and I am checking out all of the support site. I may find the answer to my question there but it doesn't hurt to ask.

@Net Profiles on her laptop to start SyncToy or Allway Sync when it connects to your home network. You could have another program running elsewhere that syncs everything else.

Instead of using a script or Net Profiles, you could have a sync program running every x minutes on her laptop, connected or not - either one that supports such scheduling, or via Windows' Task Scheduler. If you're interested in Fling because it can be run as a service, DSynchronize also has an "autostart as a service" button in its timer options.

One thing to note: SyncToy and AllWay Sync, and Unison are the only sync programs I know of that properly handle deletions in a bi-directional sync, as they keep databases of previous changes. All the others (DSynchronize, Karen's Replicator, SyncBack, SyncExpert, Fling, Toucan) just scan the current directory states, so they can't tell the difference between a file deleted from the destination and a new file in the source, or vice-versa.

I really like SyncBack. The free version has served my needs for many years.
[www.2brightsparks.com]

spacelord

Symantec identifies this as a Trojan Horse?

BurtonLebanon

I'd love to find a good program that would automatically on a schedule download via ftp. That way I could keep my websites backed up. Any ideas?

hatazi

I'm a robocopy script geek however one thing it lacks is the FTP destination. Might have to give this a try.

Why would you want to use FTP when there are several great RSYNC based clients out there, that can determine the changes in a file and only transfer the changes and not the whole file? More specifically Deltacopy comes to mind.

Chris Casey

Why would you want to use FTP when there are several great RSYNC based clients out there, that can determine the changes in a file and only transfer the changes and not the whole file? More specifically Deltacopy comes to mind.

Chris Casey

@Mesothelioma:
It goes direct between computers. If you think about it, FREE would not be sustainable if all bandwidth went through us. Best of all, encryption happens before transmission... extremely secure. As others have attested to, everything is protected from destination including meta data like filename, date modified, folder, etc.

Glad you like it! support.crashplan.com is the best place to start for green consumer version.

Our business model is simple, if you like it for home, you may suggest it at work. That's where we make our revenue.

dornquast

@Mesothelioma:
It goes direct between computers. If you think about it, FREE would not be sustainable if all bandwidth went through us. Best of all, encryption happens before transmission... extremely secure. As others have attested to, everything is protected from destination including meta data like filename, date modified, folder, etc.

Glad you like it! support.crashplan.com is the best place to start for green consumer version.

Our business model is simple, if you like it for home, you may suggest it at work. That's where we make our revenue.

dornquast

@demonicume:

I know this is going to make a lot of people crazy - but I've always loved the simple "Make Available Offline" feature for My Documents built into Windows XP Pro and Vista. This might be a good, easy solution for your wifes notebook delemma (assuming she's running Windows).

It's been around for so long that it's become part of the scenery. But it's pretty easy to set up:

Change the destination of her My Documents folder to a share on your WHS, and copy all of the files and sub folders to the share.

After that, right click on the My Documents folder and select Make Available Offline from the Context menu.

Now, when she brings her laptop home and connects it to the network, it will initiate a connection with the WHS and do an incremental sync.

When she uses the notebook off your home network, it attempts to sync, then fails and closes the window.

Buried deep in the setting menu lies a nifty configuration option that lets you choose which events trigger then sync, or lets you set it to sync during idle.

It's not without its shortcomings, but it's always served me well for mobile users in a small business IT dept.

@demonicume:

I know this is going to make a lot of people crazy - but I've always loved the simple "Make Available Offline" feature for My Documents built into Windows XP Pro and Vista. This might be a good, easy solution for your wifes notebook delemma (assuming she's running Windows).

It's been around for so long that it's become part of the scenery. But it's pretty easy to set up:

Change the destination of her My Documents folder to a share on your WHS, and copy all of the files and sub folders to the share.

After that, right click on the My Documents folder and select Make Available Offline from the Context menu.

Now, when she brings her laptop home and connects it to the network, it will initiate a connection with the WHS and do an incremental sync.

When she uses the notebook off your home network, it attempts to sync, then fails and closes the window.

Buried deep in the setting menu lies a nifty configuration option that lets you choose which events trigger then sync, or lets you set it to sync during idle.

It's not without its shortcomings, but it's always served me well for mobile users in a small business IT dept.

@dornquast: I know it was a crafty plug, but thanks for letting us know about it. Trying it out now.

@dornquast: I know it was a crafty plug, but thanks for letting us know about it. Trying it out now.

If only anybody could come up with something slick to use with Sky Drive. Now I have to use a combination of Gladinet and Synchback to make it work.

CGA

@TheFu: "Seriously folks, please don't use FTP with a login any where. "

...Why?

beala

Hey, What Are Those Two Icons Next To The X, minimize, and maximize buttons on the top of the window.

How to: 2 way, real time sync, of new and modified business files between a Dell Vostro 420 PC/ Vista Business and an iMac booted in Vista Business, (via wireless network - dells card,Apples Airport,and a DLink DIR 825 dual N Band wired/wireless Router). Both computers will run the same 2 PC Business apps: a Dental Patient Management app (patient info, insurance info & submissions, accounting, treatment plans and treatment notes) and a Dental Imaging app(where digital xrays, photos, & scanned docs are captured, cataloged, and tagged to the patient name in the Mgmt app). The Front desk imac records the Original File: Pt/Ins info,>>(then auto sync's this to the Dell)>>The treatment room Dell captures and tags the images, receives proposed & actual treatment notes,this automatically appears on the ledger >>(the Dell then auto sync's this back to the iMac)>>, the iMac does the ins submissions, billing, scheduling>>(then auto sync's all of this back to the Dell). Sort of automatic, & redundant backup via real time sync, as the files are entered & modified. ***HOW IS THIS BEST ACOMPLISHED?***
Dare I venture Q2: How is this done with the imac running Virtual Vista Business via Fusion? Many, Many, Thanks!

ststephen

The best tool for backup of folders and/or synchronisation i've ever found is at [dimio.altervista.org]

DSynchronize is a stand-alone utility that let you periodically synchronize two or more folders on Hard Disk, Floppy Disk, LAN, USB Key, CD-DVD (with packet writing software) and FTP server.

It is also possible to specify the time and the day to schedule the synchronization to run, and to create some additional "filters" for other factors.

Real-Time sync is also supported.

Mr_Belvedere

@spacelord: The menu system for adding and changing sync'd files is rubbish though...

@hatazi: Use the abovementioned SyncBack.

It has the ability to back up from a local destination to a server via FTP, but all you need to do for your purposes is to swap the original location and the backup destination.

I have been doing this for a while to back up several websites. Works flawlessly.

TJOHO

It's from a program called UltraMon. It gives you extra functionality in Windows if you're running two monitors.

SharadaEquiesterer