Sync data across 2 computers over internet

by Mindstyle06 Aug 9, 2009 7:33PM PDT

Hello All,

I have WinXP desktop and my wife has Vista laptop. She will be moving to another city for job reasons and we need to keep each other's data synced, in case disaster happens on any machine, the data is safe.

I am totally clueless about networking (and so is my wife). We need simple and very safe solution to get our task done.
P.S. - All the files include very personal information, like our financial, insurance and similar documents. Some of the files are as large as 4GB (DVD ISOs of family photos and videos)

I googled a bit and I have few options like use of ActiveSync and few other programs but I prefer computer to computer connection rather than anything sitting in the cloud.

Many thanks for the suggestions.

Discussion is locked

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The bad news is.

by r. proffitt Forum moderator Aug 9, 2009 9:54PM PDT

I've yet to find any software that meets your need of no-cloud, easy to use and works across the OS's like that. For example, the usual Carbonite fails your cloud test plus has issues when backing up and restore across XP to Vista because the directories where things are stored changed.

Maybe the old methods work here. You get a pair of external hard disks and copy what you want to one, put it in the bank vault and then do that again on the second unit and exhange, repeat that as often as it will make you feel safe.

There is no known software I know of today to meet your requirements.
Bob

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Something like dropbox..

by Mindstyle06 Dec 6, 2009 4:58AM PST

You are right. There is no way I can skip the cloud. Now lets say, I remove that condition, is there any program?

Ideally, the program sits on both the computers and both of us select the directories we want to keep synced. Whenever any change happens in any directory, its synced with the one on another computer. Essentially, something similar to dropbox but what dropbox does is, stores files on their server. What I want is, instead of storing files on their server, it directly connects both the computers. Of course, the syncing will take place only when both of us are online.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

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With a little imagination.

by r. proffitt Forum moderator Dec 7, 2009 12:36AM PST

And FTP server software on such machines, SYNCBACK could do this.

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True, still

by Mindstyle06 Dec 10, 2009 6:09PM PST

It may need a bit of intervention on my part. I would like to set it up once and I can just run it once a week to keep the data synced. I have thought of this option and if I don't find anything then I would go with it.

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Powerfolder

by Mindstyle06 Dec 10, 2009 6:07PM PST

I found an application called as PowerFolder that meets the bet. The issue is, its super expensive (also feature rich). If anyone knows alternative to this application, that would be great.

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Sugarsync

by ReviverSoft Dec 9, 2009 3:46AM PST

I really like Sugarsync. Great application for syncing multiple computers. Might be expensive to sync a large amount of data though

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I didn't like Sugarsync

by Mindstyle06 Dec 9, 2009 4:35AM PST

I tried Sugarsync but didn't quite like it. Dropbox was best. The worst part of SugarSync is can't get rid of it. I 'uninstalled' it, still it starts at startup. I disabled the entry so now it doesn't start but its there. Can't delete the directory from Program Files either.

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One Way

by djmaxx007 Mar 5, 2011 5:33PM PST

There are a few programs out there like Goodsync and Allway Sync that can back up to/from FTP servers. They cost about $20-30 bucks, but I think there may be trial or "lite" versions.
Anyway, you could install a free FTP server like Filezilla on one of your computers, then install the sync software on the other computer. This makes one of the computers a file server and the other a client that syncs with the server, avoiding the cloud.
Do do this, you first need to pick which one you want to be the client and the server. If you're at least a little better at computers than your wife, make your computer the server.

FIRST, Go to http://www.dyndns.com/services/dns/dyndns and create your own URL and download the update tool. What this does is give you a web address and updates your ever-changing IP address so that your computer can be found on the internet.

SECOND, Google Filezilla and install the server portion (there is server and client). Create an easy to find folder with the files your want to sync (unless everything is already in a folder). During Filezilla setup, create a username and password and choose which folder you want to share over FTP. Now you can use any FTP client, including common web browsers, to see your files as long as they have your URL that you made up along with you user name and password for the FTP client.

THIRD, your wife needs to install the syncing program on her computer. After she inputs your URL, user, and password once, all she will have to do is click the "sync" button when she knows you're online from then on (it saves the login info of course). The software will reach your FTP server, auto login, and sync whatever files you have on your FTP server.

Conclusion:
You will have to make an adjustment on your router, and I highly suggest a Static IP for the server computer. FTP uses port 21, so on the router, it will look for port 21 on only one IP address. To avoid conflicts, set your IP yourself so that it is always looking for port 21 on the same IP address (the FTP server). Let me know if you need more help.

Sync data across 2 computers over internet

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