Dropbox and MacBook Pro Hard Drive Storage Question

What you describe is how Dropbox is supposed to work. It's like a hybrid cloud storage service. It allows you to have access to your files in the cloud and offline - if you don't have an Internet connection.

Other services are purely cloud-based and store nothing on the computer.

SandboxGeneral is right.

Also, you might not like a "cloud-only" storage system they're sluggish compared to accessing files on your local drive.

But, you could try this...and it works relatively well:

If you don't already have one, set up a new Gmail account. Then, if you don't already have it, download and install Cyberduck. Next, start Cyberduck and open a connection of the "Google Docs" variety (drop down menu) and enter your login credentials. From here you can drop files and folders in (to upload) and drag them out (to download). Or, you can right-click a file and "Edit with" the application of your choice...this way the file doesn't get downloaded.

Google now allows a total of 15GB of free storage for email and documents. If you're not using the email you can use it all for documents. Also, file version history is saved at Google if something needs to be recovered but you'll have to use the web interface to access that.

Be aware that if you work this way and don't come up with a backup method you've only got one copy of what's up there.

I am also looking for the same thing to make the best use of my 128gb hard drive.

BrianBaughn said:

Cyberduck. Next, start Cyberduck and open a connection of the "Google Docs" variety (drop down menu) and enter your login credentials.

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For a moment I was excited to finally find a solution like this, I just downloaded Cyberduck, but couldn't manage to make it work for Google Drive.

Then I've found this: It looks like they have dropped support for Google Drive and Dropbox.

Any other suggestions?

abertram said:

Do I just have a completely wrong idea of what "the cloud" is?

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You have a completely wrong idea of how Dropbox works. If you want a totally cloud based storage solution then you need to look elsewhere. As pointed out above, be aware that there may be performance concerns with cloud-only solutions -- especially with larger files and slower connectivity.

takeshi74 said:

You have a completely wrong idea of how Dropbox works. If you want a totally cloud based storage solution then you need to look elsewhere. As pointed out above, be aware that there may be performance concerns with cloud-only solutions -- especially with larger files and slower connectivity.

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Actually, Dropbox does support some of what the OP is asking for (assuming I understand the question correctly). They keep it "somewhat hidden"... but the function is called "selective sync"... and it restricts selected folders from being synced to certain computers. Here is a link to the function:

https://www.dropbox.com/help/175/en

As far as I know (I do not use selective sync)... the data should still be available from the dropbox website.

Having said that... I agree that dropbox is not primarily designed to be a service where your data is solely stored in the cloud. Dropbox is an incredible tool to synchronize data across several computers. As a user of two primary computers (iMac and MBA)... this is extremely valuable. I also use it to share data with friends and family. From what I've seen... Dropbox is best in its class.

/Jim

flynz4 said:

Actually, Dropbox does support some of what the OP is asking for (assuming I understand the question correctly). They keep it "somewhat hidden"... but the function is called "selective sync"... and it restricts selected folders from being synced to certain computers.

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Fascinating, I wasn't aware of that feature and I'll have to investigate it. Thank you!

From what I've seen... Dropbox is best in its class.

/Jim

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Much agreed.

Yigit said:

I am also looking for the same thing to make the best use of my 128gb hard drive.

For a moment I was excited to finally find a solution like this, I just downloaded Cyberduck, but couldn't manage to make it work for Google Drive.

Then I've found this: It looks like they have dropped support for Google Drive and Dropbox.

Any other suggestions?

Click to expand...

Download the last version to support Google Drive.

BrianBaughn said:

Download the last version to support Google Drive.

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Are you using it yourself with Google Drive? Because I couldn't manage. And this is what it says on that page:

[Remove] Dropped support Google Drive connections (Google Docs)

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Yigit said:

Are you using it yourself with Google Drive? Because I couldn't manage. And this is what it says on that page:

Click to expand...

Yes I am. I'm using the last version that supported it. Just below the dropped support line is the link to version 4.2.1.

BrianBaughn said:

Yes I am. I'm using the last version that supported it. Just below the dropped support line is the link to version 4.2.1.

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Oh now I see what you mean, I had not realised the download links. Cheers

I tend to use Dropbox and an external store device best of both worlds then. Don't simply only rely on Dropbox that's my suggestion.

Cloud Storage

You might want to check out a company called Bitcasa. They offer a what seems to be a great version of cloud storage.