Workflow - 2 Machines

[dmn8]

I have searched and can't use DropBox for this was hoping for some advice on how other's handle this.
I have a rMBP and iMac and I want the two of them to remain in Sync so I can work from either one and have the same information. Applications can be managed from the App Store, email, contacts, cal are all handled by iCloud/Exchange.

I think all I need is a way to have the Home folder for my user synchronized just trying to find the best way to accomplish this.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[maflynn]

Why doesn't dropbox work?

What applications/data are you looking to synchronize?

 

[yjchua95]

I have searched and can't use DropBox for this was hoping for some advice on how other's handle this.
I have a rMBP and iMac and I want the two of them to remain in Sync so I can work from either one and have the same information. Applications can be managed from the App Store, email, contacts, cal are all handled by iCloud/Exchange.

I think all I need is a way to have the Home folder for my user synchronized just trying to find the best way to accomplish this.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Microsoft OneDrive works very well for this.

You can download the OneDrive app off the Mac App Store.

I use it to keep my 11 Macs in sync all over my home.

 

[Steve121178]

I found OneDrive/SkyDrive would often make duplicates of my documents and did a very bad job at managing the synchronisation of my docs.

Dropbox on the other hand works flawlessly, plus Dropbox has LAN Sync which I personally find invaluable.

 

[The Mercurian]

I use it to keep my 11 Macs in sync all over my home.

11 ? Why 11 ?

(Forgive my noseyness I merely cannot conceive of a need for 11 machines in a house!)

 

[Cassady]

11 ? Why 11 ?

(Forgive my noseyness I merely cannot conceive of a need for 11 machines in a house!)

Would also love to know the answer to that!

On a more serious note - subscribing to this thread, since I too plan on either getting an iMac or Mac Mini at some point - but cannot really see the use in treating them as separate computers. I'd like to try and get something set up that will allow for a more "integrated" approach between my MBP, and whatever I else I eventually purchase...

Not sure if that is even possible, or feasible for the layman - who knows nothing about setting up home networks/Back to my Mac etc. - but hopefully someone here can at least mention was *is* possible, so that I know it's something worth researching/looking for?...

 

[The Mercurian]

Also subscribing as use 2 machines and have yet to figure out a good workflow. At the moment I use them more-or-less separate machines, I work on some project on one machine and others on another. This is ok-ish as the differnet work has different needs - one machine is purely for writing on, the other does the heavy duty stuff, but also some writing. and in truth I have not got an efficient flow yet and sometimes want data from one on the other etc.

I did trial Chrono-Sync which someone recommended for synching between machines but found it too manual and awkward - was just as easy to drag and drop stuff on and off dropbox (note - I don't really want to store stuff there but transfering via dropbox can be useful)

 

[koerk]

Isn't BitTorrent sync an option?

 

[dmn8]

I don't think that DropBox and/or OneDrive would work because I am looking to do everything in my home folder, not just documents, iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes, etc.

Also, I have OneDrive for Business and there isn't a Mac client available yet.

 

[leman]

I am trying to solve this for several years now and I still haven't found a good solution. You can try the OS X Server and its Portable Home Directories feature to do this. So far, its the best way I have experienced, but it still has a number of flaws.

 

[simonsi]

I don't think that DropBox and/or OneDrive would work because I am looking to do everything in my home folder, not just documents, iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes, etc.

Also, I have OneDrive for Business and there isn't a Mac client available yet.

I use Dropbox for exactly this, just reconfigure iphoto, itunes etc to use libraries etc that are in Dropbox. Symlinks for anything else although I have no problem opening docs from the Dropbox folder rather tham Home, that is just habit and Dropbox is much better at UI integration than the other cloud offerings imho.

Any solution you will need to make some system changes.

 

[jdelgado]

Also subscribing as use 2 machines and have yet to figure out a good workflow. At the moment I use them more-or-less separate machines, I work on some project on one machine and others on another. This is ok-ish as the differnet work has different needs - one machine is purely for writing on, the other does the heavy duty stuff, but also some writing. and in truth I have not got an efficient flow yet and sometimes want data from one on the other etc.

I did trial Chrono-Sync which someone recommended for synching between machines but found it too manual and awkward - was just as easy to drag and drop stuff on and off dropbox (note - I don't really want to store stuff there but transfering via dropbox can be useful)

I use Chronosync and keep my MBP (main computer) and a mini (backup machine) in sync. Although it requires a little work to set it up at first, it works seamlessly. There are a few tricky things to be careful about (syncing pop email, for example), but the procedure was explained in Chronosync's website.
If you only want to sync only documents, it may be overkill, but it works just fine for me.

 

[yjchua95]

11 ? Why 11 ?

(Forgive my noseyness I merely cannot conceive of a need for 11 machines in a house!)

2 13" Haswell RMBPs: one base (won from a raffle, 2.4/4/128) and one maxed out (2.8 i7/16/512). My mom uses the base one while I use the maxed out one, for college work (software development and running two VMs at the same time, with some light Photoshop thrown in).

1 15" Haswell RMBP (maxed out 2.6/16/1TB/750): primary work machine for 1080p video editing, medium-heavy Photoshop work and also for gaming (it handles BF4 in a mix of high and ultra, FXAA and 16xAF at an average of 47fps, with the lowest being 35fps and easily shooting into the 50s and 60s in quite a number of situations, all at 1680x1050)

Early-2011 15" cMBP (2.3/16/512GB 840 Pro/1GB 6750M/AG screen): It was my primary work machine from 2011 until it succumbed to Radeongate 3 days after Apple Care expired (early March 2014). I still haven't found a good place for reballing. Logic board replacements don't work because all the 2011 15"/17" board have the same manufacturing flaw.

1 2010 17" (2.8 i7/8/250GB 840 Evo): Guest laptop usage, permanently on the living room table. It used to be my dad's work machine until he switched to a 2012 15" cMBP, which I've never used.

1 21.5" Haswell iMac (3.1 i7/16/256GB SSD/750M): My desk machine for the same tasks as my RMBP minus gaming. It's also used for editing 4K videos (clips of 10 minutes and below).

1 27" Haswell iMac (3.5 i7/32/512/4GB 780M): For medium 4K video editing (clips around 30-45 minutes) and also for gaming. I also use it to run 4-5 VMs together, with at least 4GB of RAM assigned to each.

2 12-core nMPs (12c/64/1TB/12GB D700), paid for by my dad's employer: These two are almost always used by my dad for heavy rendering work (he's a physicist working at CERN). I only get to use them for maybe two days each month

1 maxed 2012 Mini (2.6 i7/16/1TB FD): Home server computer, with the occasional VM and light video editing used by my mom.

1 maxed mid-2013 Haswell MBA (1.7/8/512): Used to be my carry-everywhere machine, doing the tasks of my 13" RMBP minus video editing and only 1 VM until my dad needed it for his portable usage machine.


I know, crazy number of Macs I have, but hey, my dad bought them

Besides, the Malaysian government offers a USD300 discount for every Mac purchased for students. Add that on top of education discounts that came with some of the Macs and there you go