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Multi Computer Sync

A

alansmallen

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Hey guys. So I have two computers, a MacBook Pro and an iMac. I take the MBP to school everyday and work on projects, notes, etc. I want to be able to automatically sync the files on my MacBook Pro with the ones on my iMac. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Alan
 
Several options:

- Use iDisk if you have a MobileMe account
- DropBox is great, free for <2GB of data
- Use a sync utility like Chronosync

The iDisk and DropBox options are automatic, Chronosync - not so much, but excellent
 
In the MobileMe System Preference Pane, set your iDisk sync to "On". This will create a copy of your iDisk files in a sparseimage on your system. The syncs between your local copies and the ones on MobileMe happen automatically.

If you set iDisk Sync to "On" on both systems, then both systems will automatically sync with the MobileMe server. If you update a file on one, it will sync to MobileMe. Then when the other system syncs, it will sync with the updated file.
 
blodwyn said:
In the MobileMe System Preference Pane, set your iDisk sync to "On". This will create a copy of your iDisk files in a sparseimage on your system. The syncs between your local copies and the ones on MobileMe happen automatically.

If you set iDisk Sync to "On" on both systems, then both systems will automatically sync with the MobileMe server. If you update a file on one, it will sync to MobileMe. Then when the other system syncs, it will sync with the updated file.
Click to expand...

Awesome. I'll try it later.
 
blodwyn said:
In the MobileMe System Preference Pane, set your iDisk sync to "On". This will create a copy of your iDisk files in a sparseimage on your system. The syncs between your local copies and the ones on MobileMe happen automatically.

If you set iDisk Sync to "On" on both systems, then both systems will automatically sync with the MobileMe server. If you update a file on one, it will sync to MobileMe. Then when the other system syncs, it will sync with the updated file.
Click to expand...

I don't get it. Where is this sparse image?

Should I use that as the area to save all my documents to?
 
You don't need to worry about where the sparseimage is, just save your files to the iDisk and keep them there. The sparseimage sync happens automatically, and you don't need to know it's there.

The best way to try it is to enable the iDisk sync and wait for it to complete (in the Finder there will be a small sync animation next to the iDisk icon in the sidebar). When it's finished, disconnect from the internet and you'll find you can still use the files on the iDisk, because you're using the sparseimage copy. Change a few files and save them, and then reconnect to the internet, and the iDisk sync to the server should take place. You can force a sync by clicking on the thingy next to the iDisk icon in the sidebar.
 
alansmallen said:
Hey guys. So I have two computers, a MacBook Pro and an iMac. I take the MBP to school everyday and work on projects, notes, etc. I want to be able to automatically sync the files on my MacBook Pro with the ones on my iMac. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Alan
Click to expand...

Setup a cron job that uses rsync every x minutes (you choose how often).

At least one of the machines must be visible on the network (presumably your iMac). Then you need to setup the cron job on the MBP (and possibly use a dynamic dns setup for your home machine).
Every x minutes your MBP will sync its files with the home machine wherever you are. I have such a setup.
 
linuxophile said:
Setup a cron job that uses rsync every x minutes (you choose how often).

At least one of the machines must be visible on the network (presumably your iMac). Then you need to setup the cron job on the MBP (and possibly use a dynamic dns setup for your home machine).
Every x minutes your MBP will sync its files with the home machine wherever you are. I have such a setup.
Click to expand...

So on my iMac, do I save to the iDisk?
 
linuxophile said:
Setup a cron job that uses rsync every x minutes (you choose how often).

At least one of the machines must be visible on the network (presumably your iMac). Then you need to setup the cron job on the MBP (and possibly use a dynamic dns setup for your home machine).
Every x minutes your MBP will sync its files with the home machine wherever you are. I have such a setup.
Click to expand...

Did you update rsync a lá Bombich (http://www.bombich.com/mactips/rsync.html)?

What rsync preferences are you using? I think this is what I need to set-up.
 
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