Synchronization: It’s Not Just For Swimming!
I have a Mac Pro desktop, recently acquired, but my laptop is a Dell running XP. Yes, networking allows them to talk and share files, but it’s not always that easy. I like to consider them digital acquaintances. I need to connect to the network and sometimes enter my username and password to conect to the other computer. Not a big deal.
But it gets worse. What if I have a document, image, or file that I need on my laptop (which I worked on while I was out of the home/office), and I turned off the laptop. When I get home, I now have to get that laptop, boot up, log in, connect to the network, check to make sure my Mac can see the laptop on the network, then pull the file. Fun, huh? Even if I left the laptop on, I’d still have to log in, connect, check the connection on the Mac, etc. It’s not so much that it’s difficult, but it is tedious, and a waste of time, which I value very much.
Wouldn’t it be nice if I could just put my files on my laptop or Mac in a folder, and have that get pushed to the other computer? And I’m not talking about running a program, and putting a file in there, or uploading to an FTP. I’m talking about opening your standard Windows or Mac folder, and dragging and dropping your files in, and that’s it. Now you check your other computer, and it’s there. Better yet, what if I put the files in the folder, and then turned off the computer, but it doesn’t matter, because the other computer can still access the file? And what if I’m at a different computer altogether, and I need to access it via a web interface.
Enter Dropbox. They do exactly what I said, and more. Of course, this kind of timesaver is something I regularly find over at Lifehacker, and they are running a poll comparing five different file and folder sharing applications, which Dropbox is winning. The problem is that Dropbox is so popular that it’s now in closed beta. You can sign up at the Dropbox site, but only to be notified when they open the beta up to the public again. Or, you can be invited, if someone (cough cough, me) has invites to give.
Read on to find out more about dropbox, including a video that shows the features (oh, I forgot to mention, the file syncing is just one of MANY features Dropbox has), a chance to get in on the beta, and how I use it.
First, the video:
Impressive, huh?
Here’s a sample of their photo gallery in action. I took my last gallery (girls softball) and posted the images, just the images in my dropbox photos folder, in a folder titled softball. It automatically displays as a gallery, all I have to do is right click on the folder, and ask for a public link, which is
http://www.getdropbox.com/gallery/48323/1/softball?h=cd276c
It’s a simple interface, but I love how easy it was. I just put jpegs in a folder into the Dropbox folder. Right click on the folder to get the link, and done. BTW, that’s a simple lightbox application, you can use the left and right arrows to navigate from image to image.
I can also upload a file to my Public folder, right click to get the public link, and post that for you to download. Useful when your email only supports a 10 or 20MB attachment, but you need to move a 40 plus MB zip file. Here’s the hello world doc I have put in my public folder
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/48323/Hello%20World.docx
That’s not all. Let’s say I accidentally delete a document off my desktop, laptop, etc. At one point it was in Dropbox, but I deleted or moved it off. I now lost every copy of it (d’oh!). Well, you can access the web interface, and undelete files that were previously in your Dropbox. I don’t know how long that lasts, and I doubt you could undelete a file from a year ago, but how bout two weeks ago?
Notice it says revisions. Not only can I restore a file that’s two weeks old, but as changes were made, it saved versions of that file. So, if Pensive Parakeet up there (it’s one of the files Dropbox starts you off with to kick the tires) got Photoshopped, that would be a new version of the same file. It still shows up as one file, but you can restore any version of the file. So if someone butchered our bird, and we need the original, you can restore that original.
Of course, you are backing up all your files anyhow, right? (Right? Ok ok, I’ll do a blog post on that. Adding it to the ever growing to do list).
You can also share folders. Make a new folder, right click and enable sharing, then invite people via an email invite system. Now you can all collaborate in one folder.
Oh, and you can access any files, versions, galleries, etc, online. You can even upload via an online interface (so you don’t have to install Dropbox on a public computer to upload files to your Dropbox account).
So, the sad news is that this is in beta. What does that mean? For one, the system isn’t perfect yet. There is a GREAT forum for the users, and the people behind Dropbox often respond to questions, requests, and general comments. So you’re not in the dark about what’s going on with Dropbox.
Next up: It’s not going to be free forever. It’s 2GB for free right now, but at some point, the Dropbox people want to make a profit (silly, huh), so they will open up a pricing structure. It’s up to each of us to determine if the service is worth the price.
So, how do you get in? Email me or leave a comment. I will go in order of the timestamp until my invites run out. So act fast!
So you’re going to upload your files to a webpage instead of syncing them between your 2 computers?
These files you’re going to store there have to be really insensitive stuff else you wouldn’t upload them in the 1st place, right?
Adminblogger, you are correct. Anytime a file goes through the internet, they are prone to some sort of interception. However, you have to temper that with people who actually have the knowledge, and the motive, to do that to you.
Would I put my social security number on there? No. But a jpeg thumbnail of an event? Why not.
Of course, this is very subjective. If you feel your documents, files, or images are sensitive, then you need to decide if it’s too important to pass through dropbox.
Also, dropbox isn’t just a webpage, so you dont have to access a web browser to pass a file from one to many computers. you simply open your dropbox folder, which is very much a normal folder, and then drag and drop files in. It’s the same for windows and mac (and soon linux).
Dropbox isn’t exactly a webpage, it is an encrypted web store. Te files you CHOOSE to make public are public, but private files are AES 256 bit encrypted, and the connection to dropbox is ssl secured.
The disadvantage is when those files are 8GB of photos you just took. You know how long that will take to upload over an internet connection? Small documents and few photos here and there are ok, but when you are dealing with large files, forget about the internet for anything more then backup.
This may be a long explanation, but it is easier in practice.
I use all PC’s at home with a server (windows home server actually, but any server will do, even a desktop acting as a server).
With XP pro you have the option for offline files. So you would share a folder on your desktop, or server. On your laptop, you would map a drive to that shared folder (Hint: if you use the same login name and password both computers you wont have to enter it when connecting) and then once mapped, right click it and choose “make available off line”.
Then when you log off your computer, it will SYNCronize and put a local copy of the data in that folder on your laptop, so when you click on that drive letter, the files still appear even when not connected to the server.
Then you can edit, save new files, delete etc out of that folder while in the field When you come home, plug into your network, login and it will SYNCronize all the changes you made with the data in the share.
And I think that taking the laptop out and syncronizing is faster then trying to upload anything more then 500MB to the internet, and then having to download it again on your other computer.
Tony, you’re correct. 8gb of photos is definitely not something you’d want to synchronize over a product like Dropbox (which btw, in beta is limited to 2gb).
The idea is that for smaller files, Dropbox is a convenience. For larger files, that convenience is outweighed by internet connection speeds.
Windows Home Server is a great idea, if you have one. But I don’t. And I don’t plan to get one. I don’t think it’s a bad product, but it’s an apples to oranges comparison. For large files, something like WHS makes a lot of sense. But what about collaborative folders? Do you have to be on the network itself to have access to WHS files? What about this offline sync, does that work on a Mac? I don’t expect anything to be a perfect solution, but so far, I like Dropbox a lot. Really it’s biggest selling point is it’s convenience. The program IS the folder. If you can teach someone to drag or drop, then you can teach them to Dropbox. I will probably drop you an email at some point though, as I am interested in things like Windows Home Server. I own a Drobo, but also have a 2TB account at Photoshelter (who solve the big files and quantity issue easily - by letting you send in a drive), and keep mirrors of all my work using programs like Syncback and Chronosync. I’m no expert on file backups or digital asset management, but I’m no noob either. I’ll email you.
Hi! I sent you an email but it came back undeliverable??? I am interested in an invite if you have any left. Thanks. It sounds cool. ~Lori
Interesting. It’s been working, as I’ve been receiving emails and sending out invites. BTW, I sent you an invite. Enjoy! And thanks for the heads up on the email.
On the subject of file backup, sharing and storage …
Online backup is becoming common these days. It is estimated that 70-75% of all PC’s will be connected to online backup services with in the next decade.
Thousands of online backup companies exist, from one guy operating in his apartment to fortune 500 companies.
Choosing the best online backup company will be very confusing and difficult. One website I find very helpful in making a decision to pick an online backup company is:
http://www.BackupReview.info
This site lists more than 400 online backup companies in its directory and ranks the top 25 on a monthly basis.
Sounds cool - can you make a specifc part of your dropbox available to only specific people? Like if I wanted to share some files with newspaper A, and different files with newspaper B, but did’nt want either to see what they other was getting?
Any invites left?
Merv.
Merv, you’ve been sent an invite. Look at the video. You can share any folder. First you make a folder, make it a share, then invite people to see it. Only they can see it, and only you can see all your shares. You would want a different shared folder for each paper.
Hi. I’d love an invite, this sounds cool. / E
sounds very cool…i’d love an invite too. thanks so much.
Dropbox looks like a very interesting product, as I soon will be running both mac and pc’s together. Would love an invite. Thank you
Looks pretty cool… definitely something that a lot of people would find useful. When it does get out of beta, I won’t even mind paying for a service like this. Anyway, thanks for all of the great advice. Keep up the good work.
Oh… could I get an invite also…
this sounds great!!! i am planning also to run MAc and PC and I was wondering about this….any more invites? …….. I may be late…..been busy lately
Looks perfect for Office documents! If you have any more invites left, I’d love to give it a shot. Thanks for the product info!