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Can I sync 2 Macs?

S

snerkler

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 14, 2012
1,153
166
I currently have a MBP but am also looking at buying an iMac (although I may wait to see if the rumours are true regarding the retina iMacs) and am wondering if you can sync 2 macs so that they mirror each other? What I mean by this is if I'm using a program such as aperture or photoshop on say the iMac, can I have it set up so that I can pick up on the where I left off if I then use the MBP?

I don't mind having to connect the devices via thunderbolt or whatever, or even doing this via time machine, although with time machine I wouldn't want to do a full restore each time as this takes hours.

Any help appreciated.
 
S

snerkler

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 14, 2012
1,153
166
Just looked into these and the first 3 aren't suitable as it's just for syncing iTunes. What I really want is to sync my aperture and photoshop workflow, as well as all my photos.

Super duper, migration assist and carbon copy aren't ideal as these are one off copies of the system and won't automatically sync when I'm working on my system.

syncfolders and chronosync look like they could be an option, however it depends on how much storage you get? I assume they work similar to dropbox which I already have, but I've only got 2.75GB storage which is nowhere near enough. I'd need a minimum 1TB

Assuming it works like dropbox I assume that any files I have in the software's folder will sync to the cloud and then any device linked to this. Would this work if I moved my aperture library and iphoto library to the specific folder too?
 
FreakinEurekan

FreakinEurekan

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
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2,607
snerkler said:
syncfolders and chronosync look like they could be an option, however it depends on how much storage you get? I assume they work similar to dropbox which I already have
Click to expand...

No, they're not cloud services - they're syncing data directly between two drives.

Syncing workflow for productivity apps is pretty simple, but for Aperture/iPhoto/Photoshop you're dealing with a LOT of data. I assume the purpose is to have access to the work on the MacBook off-network, so you need it to be stored on the MacBook's drive vs. a network share? If so one of the sync programs is your best bet.
 
S

snerkler

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 14, 2012
1,153
166
FreakinEurekan said:
No, they're not cloud services - they're syncing data directly between two drives.

Syncing workflow for productivity apps is pretty simple, but for Aperture/iPhoto/Photoshop you're dealing with a LOT of data. I assume the purpose is to have access to the work on the MacBook off-network, so you need it to be stored on the MacBook's drive vs. a network share? If so one of the sync programs is your best bet.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I'm not very clued up when it comes to networks etc.

What I want is, for example, if I edit a batch of photos in aperture on my iMac (if I buy one), and then swap to using my MBP I want to be able to pick up where I left off with these edits. So any changes I make on one device, it will change the other one too, ie it will always show the latest change. Kind of like iCloud, for example when I put a calendar entry into my iphone it adds the entry to my iPad and MBP.

From what you've said chronosync won't do this via the cloud but would need to do it via a local network either by connecting via my wifi, or by connecting via a cable?

Is it as easy to use as time machine in that it recognises which files have changed and backs those up, or would I have to specify which files/programs to sync/back up each time? If it recognises which files have changed automatically does it just sync the systems based on the latest file/change (whichever system that happens to be on) or do I have to specify which is the 'master' system, ie that with the latest files?

Sorry for all the questions :eek:
 
FreakinEurekan

FreakinEurekan

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
5,550
2,607
snerkler said:
Is it as easy to use as time machine in that it recognises which files have changed and backs those up, or would I have to specify which files/programs to sync/back up each time?
Click to expand...

I'm sure there are a variety of ways these apps could be used. You'd want to download the apps and documentation, to see if they're suitable for your purposes.
 
ohbrilliance

ohbrilliance

macrumors 65816
May 15, 2007
1,010
355
Melbourne, Australia
Have you considered buying a display such as a Thunderbolt display instead of an iMac? That way you get the large screen for desktop use and the laptop for portability, and don't need to worry about synching files.
If not, what features of an iMac are you looking for that a MBP won't handle?
 
S

snerkler

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 14, 2012
1,153
166
ohbrilliance said:
Have you considered buying a display such as a Thunderbolt display instead of an iMac? That way you get the large screen for desktop use and the laptop for portability, and don't need to worry about synching files.
If not, what features of an iMac are you looking for that a MBP won't handle?
Click to expand...

Yeah I have and was the initial plan, and still am toying with that idea. A couple of things that have made me think about getting an iMac rather than TBD are that a Retina iMac has been rumoured (whether they'll launch a retina TBD at the same time or shortly after I don't know?), and that my MBP already gets seriously hot when editing photos (if I have it on my lap it almost gets unbearable at times), and have heard that using it with a TBD is gets even hotter :confused: I wold put it on a laptop stand if I used a TBD which should help keep it a bit cooler, but it is a concern.

The other thing is that it 'buffers' quite a bit using aperture and photoshop and thought that if I bought an iMac I could get an even more powerful one and maybe prevent this happening so much. My current MBP is no slouch though really, running a 2.2GHZ i7 processor with 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD, so how much faster a top spec iMac would be I'm not sure?
 
satcomer

satcomer

Suspended
Feb 19, 2008
9,115
1,973
The Finger Lakes Region
snerkler said:
Just looked into these and the first 3 aren't suitable as it's just for syncing iTunes. What I really want is to sync my aperture and photoshop workflow, as well as all my photos.

Super duper, migration assist and carbon copy aren't ideal as these are one off copies of the system and won't automatically sync when I'm working on my system.

syncfolders and chronosync look like they could be an option, however it depends on how much storage you get? I assume they work similar to dropbox which I already have, but I've only got 2.75GB storage which is nowhere near enough. I'd need a minimum 1TB

Assuming it works like dropbox I assume that any files I have in the software's folder will sync to the cloud and then any device linked to this. Would this work if I moved my aperture library and iphoto library to the specific folder too?
Click to expand...

We'll for Aperture read the blog post How To Move Photos From Aperture to an External Hard Drive.


move an iPhoto Library to an external

Sounds like you need a basic NAS like a Synology DS214PLAY so both Macs can have a central NAS to store/use iPhoto or Aperture Libraries so so when upgrading the database stays the same.
 
S

snerkler

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 14, 2012
1,153
166
satcomer said:
We'll for Aperture read the blog post How To Move Photos From Aperture to an External Hard Drive.


move an iPhoto Library to an external

Sounds like you need a basic NAS like a Synology DS214PLAY so both Macs can have a central NAS to store/use iPhoto or Aperture Libraries so so when upgrading the database stays the same.
Click to expand...
Thanks. That's my other option, moving my libraries to an external hard drive. Ideally I didn't want to do this as I don't always want to be using an external drive with my MBP, but it might be the best option.

As for the server option, not ideal as I'm not always hooked up to the internet (I know, unbelievable in this day and age ;))
 
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