Get In Sync with File Syncing Software : Get In Sync with Syncing Software
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: file, sync, backup | Themes: Software
- 1. Get In Sync with Syncing Software
- 2. GoodSync Software Review
- 3. SyncBackSE Software Review
- 4. Allway Sync Software Review
- 5. FolderMatch and FolderClone Software Comparison
1. Get In Sync with Syncing Software
Get In Sync with Syncing Software
Data backups are becoming increasingly important for every computer user. But what about synchronization software - and what’s the difference between the two? As it turns out, there is a subtle but very important difference and usage scenario for backups versus synchronization. With backup-only solutions, you typically specify one-way synchronization so that whatever is on your PC gets backed up to your storage solution.
Synchronization solutions are two-way solutions where folders and files are synchronized to keep two or more locations in step with each other. While backups work for archival storage and disaster recovery, synchronization is useful for people that move between different physical PCs but want to keep their data synchronized across locations.
There are a number of different usage scenarios for synchronization. For example, synchronization makes a lot of sense with USB flash thumb drives in particular. Let’s say you’ve got a file on your work PC that you want to bring home, so you could keep a thumb drive and your main PC hard drive continuously synchronized. Take the USB drive home (or anywhere else), work on your file, then bring the USB key back to work and synchronize folders. Then again, you could just use software that will let you synchronize two PCs over a network, too.
In this review, we look at a number of different tools designed to help facilitate easy synchronization for different scenarios. We look at GoodSync, SyncBackSE, Allway Sync, FolderMatch/FolderClone, SyncToy, BeInSync and FolderShare to see how they compare.
- Next page GoodSync Software Review
Dsynchronize by domio is free and can handle all sorts of syncing scenarios without the fruity looking interfaces.
Dsynchronize by domio is free and can handle all sorts of syncing scenarios without the fruity looking interfaces.
Dsynchronize by domio is free and can handle all sorts of syncing scenarios without the fruity looking interfaces.
www.powerfolder.com
you forget to mention that one
No SuperFlexible File Synchronizer? Too complicated for you?
Foldershare has been in beta for years - I think it's abandonware (though I use it and love it)
You seem to have forgotten the tried and proven robocopy from the Windows Server 2003 resource kit. It runs in a simple batch file, which can be generated by robocopygui. It's ugly but works extremely well, can be scheduled using Task Scheduler, can sync changes in both directions, and is a favorite business solution that works just as well for me at home, even in Vista x64.
i like unison
http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/
freeware, open source, and works cross platform and remotely.
allows remote SSH sync, too. pretty simple, no automated options, though. pick one dir, then another (local or remote) to sync it to...and it does the hard part. asks about files it is not sure about.
peace.
maybe not open source. there is a link to the source code...but it is broken. well, free, anyway. ;-p
Hey ! Where is MirrorFolder? you missed the best !
You definitively forgot PowerFolder!!! (http://www.powerfolder.com)
You definitively forgot PowerFolder !!!
www.powerfolder.com
mmhh nice list a little bit late for me
. i finally came to PowerFolder. I think its better and i can run my smaller clients
What about Windows Offline Folders and My Briefcase?
I was surprised you left out Microsoft Groove. In addition to being an amazingly easy to use sync program, it also has wonderful team collaboration features built in. I can drag a file in to groove and auto-sync with an unlimited number of computers across the interet, lan, or even wireless ad-hoc.
When I worked overseas, we used Groove to handle a 4 man project team's collaboration efforts. Whenever one of us updated a directory on our computer that was setup as a shared directory, the other users were updated automatically. Wonderfully easy to use.
Allway Sync is rather buggy and has several times during sync deleted all files on both shares.
Capivara works very well for me!
www.capivara.org
Vice Versa is hands down the best tool. Archiving function is awesome
http://www.tgrmn.com/
imho, by far the best sync software is vice versa 2 pro (not tested here)