Home based cloud storage?

[definitive]

I would like some advice.. I'm looking for network-based storage solution which would allow me to automatically sync my documents, and similar files across the network just like with DropBox, but something that I could use at home without the need to constantly upload and download files using my internet connection. I've been doing the copying of work files between computers manually, and eventually got tired of having to do this all the time, so I'm looking for some kind of an automated process which would at the same time provide backup. I already have a USB backup drive, but would like a second one which could work like DropBox cloud.

Any recommendations?

 

[MikeDTyke]

http://www.pogoplug.com/

or other similar NAS drive with sync'ing capability.

 

[blueroom]

You could use any NAS that supports FTP or WebDAV (Synology, QNAP...)
Trick is the folder sync software, Dropbox is a beauty but I've no idea about a comparable equivalent OSX version.

Edit. Something like GoodSync might work.
Edit#2 GoodSync seems to be just fine with WebDAV and a Synology NAS.

 

[definitive]

http://www.pogoplug.com/
or other similar NAS drive with sync'ing capability.

Thanks, but I already checked out PogoPlug, and while it does look nice, the reviews were too mixed.

You could use any NAS that supports FTP or WebDAV (Synology, QNAP...)
Trick is the folder sync software, Dropbox is a beauty but I've no idea about a comparable equivalent OSX version.

Edit. Something like GoodSync might work.

Do you know if GoodSync will work with any drive that's connected to the router through an ethernet cable?

 

[blevins321]

Synology supports a specialized cloud infrastructure with their new 4.0OS. Right now there is only a windows Dropbox-like client, but a Mac is in the works.

 

[definitive]

Synology supports a specialized cloud infrastructure with their new 4.0OS. Right now there is only a windows Dropbox-like client, but a Mac is in the works.

Yeah, I was checking their website, but didn't find the version of Mac, which is what I use.

Anyone have any other recommendations? I'm looking for a simple home solution, preferably with a single hard drive which would connect to my router through an ethernet port.

 

[shwc]

just synch the various instances using synching software?

some examples: carbon copy cloner (free), Synk pro (or synk standard), Chrono synch, and superduper.

 

[definitive]

some examples: carbon copy cloner (free), Synk pro (or synk standard), Chrono synch, and superduper.

I tried several of those applications, and the problem with most was that I either had to dig through a ton of confusing prompts/settings to find something, or I had to have the application running, and send files through it.

What I'm looking is a very simple solution, and I can't seem to find it:

1) Attach hard drive to network router
2) Create a folder called Documents on said hard drive
3) Set it up to sync in real time with two computers which have a folder named Documents as well
4) Once I save a file on one computer's Documents folder, it automatically gets pushed to the hard drive, and to the second computer's Documents folder.

It just seems like a lot of these apps are making this process very tedious and more confusing than it has to be. That's why I like DropBox, but don't want to deal with sharing my work files with a third party, and don't want to pay additional fees because 2Gigs of storage is not enough for me.

 

[samh]

I tried several of those applications, and the problem with most was that I either had to dig through a ton of confusing prompts/settings to find something, or I had to have the application running, and send files through it.

What I'm looking is a very simple solution, and I can't seem to find it:

1) Attach hard drive to network router
2) Create a folder called Documents on said hard drive
3) Set it up to sync in real time with two computers which have a folder named Documents as well
4) Once I save a file on one computer's Documents folder, it automatically gets pushed to the hard drive, and to the second computer's Documents folder.

It just seems like a lot of these apps are making this process very tedious and more confusing than it has to be. That's why I like DropBox, but don't want to deal with sharing my work files with a third party, and don't want to pay additional fees because 2Gigs of storage is not enough for me.

Powerful software that is simple to use as the end-user is usually not simple to create. Especially now that Lion supports file versions, etc. - what you are asking for is not a simple thing. Sync is almost never "simple" unless a developer is plugging into somebody else's framework.

In addition--and somebody here can correct me if I'm off-base on this--but if you're just looking to sync files in a traditional file system structure across a network, that's not really a "cloud" solution. I'm not trying to be pedantic, but if you keep looking for a "cloud" solution that's probably not going to do what you're asking.