Distributing files among machines

[Maury]

We have a Time Capsule at work that we're using primarily as a file and print server (not that it's really good at either, but...)

We have a mix of PC's and Macs, all of them laptops. We do a lot of work on the road. We'd like to keep all our files on the file server, but this isn't practical.

So I would like to hear any suggestions one might have for a cross-platform system (or two apps, that's fine) to allow us to "sync" our files with the file server.

Maury

 

[andrewoc]

https://www.dropbox.com/

 

[iamvexed]

+1 for dropbox. Really sweet service/app.

 

[FourCandles]

Another vote for Dropbox - plays very well cross-platform too, at least with Office files.

 

[Maury]

Dropbox is internet based though, I'm looking for something similar where the "main store" is on the Time Capsule (or other local file server) instead.

Maury

 

[FourCandles]

Dropbox is internet based though, I'm looking for something similar where the "main store" is on the Time Capsule (or other local file server) instead.

Maury

Dropbox will use the LAN for synchronisation if available, but the folders do have to be on a Mac/PC/server rather than a NAS.

 

[r0k]

Dropbox is internet based though, I'm looking for something similar where the "main store" is on the Time Capsule (or other local file server) instead.

Maury

On windows I used syncback to keep folders in sync between my machine and a network drive. There should be something equivalent for OS X but I haven't used it yet. I'm thinking I will soon. I have a firewire drive for my photos. When I connect my digital camera, I drag the photos to my firewire drive. Then I copy them to a network drive. I'd rather have something like syncback where I can simply run it and walk away and everything gets copied and synced. So I can solve the windows part of your situation with syncback (freeware version) and when I find an OS X equivalent that I like (and trust) I'll come back and update this thread.

That was quick. After googling and eliminating the spammers and scammers offering free downloads of windows software in OS X search results, I found several. The most promising is silverkeeper which is free software offered by Lacie (the company that makes a lot of external hard drives).

A list of OS X backup programs can be found over at Ohio State.

 

[ScoobyMcDoo]

Dropbox is internet based though, I'm looking for something similar where the "main store" is on the Time Capsule (or other local file server) instead.

Maury

I'm kind of lost as to how you want to do this syncing. Do you want to sync while on the road? Or just when you get back to the office. Do you need to deal with situations when more than one person is modifying files? I.E. two people both get a copy of a file, both modify it, then they both want to "sync" it with the server.. What kind of files are you dealing with?

 

[Maury]

I'm kind of lost as to how you want to do this syncing. Do you want to sync while on the road? Or just when you get back to the office. Do you need to deal with situations when more than one person is modifying files? I.E. two people both get a copy of a file, both modify it, then they both want to "sync" it with the server.. What kind of files are you dealing with?

Sync when back at the office is fine.

Two person modification will need to be handled, but a simple "this one is newer" is good enough.

Mostly Word and Excel files. Lots of PDFs too, but read-only.

Maury