GreatMarko

Locally In order to establish connections with your other (non-local) devices, your secret is encrypted/transmitted securely to the tracker See above answer Not unless it can decrypt your encrypted key (which basically it can't!) - See the first FAQ entry here

Ah, right - got ya! In which case, I agree with you - it's often useful to have different folders named differently on different devices. Forcing sync'd folders to all have identical names in order for them to sync wouldn't be all that great, and wouldn't go down well with existing users (who would be used to syncing any folder to any other folder and then suddenly wouldn't be able to!) There are plenty of alternatives to potential further enhance security - I personally wouldn't want to be forced to use the same folder name on all devices!

Do keep in mind, of course, that the primary purpose of BitTorrent Sync is as a file "synchronization" utility, designed to keep your files in sync across a number of devices, rather than a "backup" utility to backup a computer to an external storage medium. Maybe in time more backup-orientated options and abilities will be introduced into BitTorrent Sync, but I think the main focus at the present time is more on synchronization.

They are currently kept in .SyncTrash indefinitely! ...there is highly likely to be a option to only keep trash files for X days, etc, at some stage, as this has been previously requested... and pretty essential! (especially for users with limited space, or who can't see hidden files/folders, so have no idea of the amount of space taken up by these files!) Also, if a folder has been previously syncing with the "Delete files to Sync trash" option enabled, and the user then decides to "untick" this option, ideally BitTorrent Sync should at that point give the user the option to automatically delete the redundant .SyncTrash

Yup - sounds like it! Agreed - I've no doubt that in time, as BitTorrent Sync matures out of "alpha" phase, there will be a more user-friendly way to view/restore files from the hidden .SyncTrash via the main interface (the same applies to making changes to the .SyncIgnore file - another "hidden" file that many user's won't see!)

I'm not sure I follow? Folder's don't have to have the same name on each device for you to sync them! If you have a folder named "Shared with Bob" on Device A, you can sync this with a folder named "Shared with Nick" on Device B! BitTorrent Sync doesn't care what the folder's are named - the association between folders is based on the same secret, not the same folder name!

Please bear in mind that BitTorrent Sync is still only in an "alpha" phase! Conflict resolution is on the "Wishlist", and the developers have also indicated that a "versioning" system is also planned. The manual does say "depending on OS preferences" in relation to deleting to system trash, or deleting outright. If you've set your OS preferences to delete files outright instead of them going to system trash/recycle bin, BitTorrent Sync will do the same Maybe a silly question, but if it's that essential to your particular needs that files are not deleted outright but can still be restored/a backup kept... why not enable "Delete Files to Sync Trash"??

Both "scheduled sync" and the ability to set different upload/download rates at different times of the day, etc are features that have been requested a number of times in the "wishlist thread", so the developers are aware of this desire

It still has to "monitor" for changes to your folders/files though - so it's can never just sit there doing "nothing" and still be expected to work! I do think the scanning intervals should be configurable though, and I do believe this is an advanced setting which will be added in a future update

I think the question may be; is it possible to sync a folder on an internal drive to a folder on an external drive connected to the SAME computer? - in which case, no you can't sync a folder from one location to another location on the same computer

Hmm... ever so slightly off topic for this thread(!) - Please post feature requests in this thread or for feature requests for a mobile version in this thread.

Selecting "Pause Syncing" followed by "Resume Syncing" from the tray context menu will also essentially trigger an "on demand" rescan

For an ISP to "ban" bittorrent related software, they'd either have to block specific ports (quite difficult given that you can change the port BitTorrent Sync "listens" on), or they'd have to block tracker specific URLS/IP's - which wouldn't completely break BitTorrent Sync, as you'd still be able to sync over a lan which requires no communication with any external servers anyway. To be honest, if ISP's were intent on blocking BitTorrent Sync, it would show just how uneducated they are! BitTorrent Sync is not the same as downloading/sharing torrents, and P2P technology itself isn't illegal! BitTorrent Sync is a private synchronization utility first and foremost, allowing you to keep your own files synchronized between your devices.

Assuming you already have a file on two devices, if you add that file to .SyncIgnore on one device, but not to the corresponding .SyncIgnore on another device, the file will end up being deleted on the second device. I think what I gather from your question is that you want to share certain sub-folders of a parent directory with some users, and other sub-folders with other users? This isn't very easy at present - you would need to setup up separate syncs of each sub-folder (and not on the parent), and then share the appropriate "secrets" accordingly

Yep - fair point! .SyncIgnore is indeed essentially an "exclusion" filter, rather than an "inclusion". I do think editing a .SyncIgnore file is probably a little more "user friendly", and easier to keep track of though, than creating hardlinks/folder junctions/symlinks, etc - especially for those novice users who are perhaps not as computer savvy as the rest of us! I'd always encourage the use of .SyncIgnore for "selective" sync wherever possible - but I do think it would also be a good idea for BitTorrent Sync to have the option for a ".SyncInclude" file instead - which would allow you to specify which folder/files should be included in the sync

No, BitTorrent is only able to sync between online devices - it does not natively sync with any sort of "cloud" storage. However, if you have a supported NAS drive, or an "always-on" WHS (Windows Home Server) for example, you can essentially create your own private "virtual cloud" with BitTorrent Sync If the computer is turned off the file won't sync with that device. If a folder is removed from BitTorrent Sync it will no longer sync (all files will still remain though - they won't be deleted from your computer when your remove a folder from BitTorrent Sync)

Please note this is an old thread, and some of the information contained within is now obsolete - BitTorrent Sync (then known as SyncApp) DOES now support sharing of specific files within folders through the use of the .SyncIgnore file - hardlinks/folder junctions/symlinks are not required in order to selectively sync!

If it's a NAS drive - potentially yes (you'll need to know the drive's operating system and have SSH access in order to install BitTorrent Sync), if it's an external drive connected via USB and you want to sync files from your internal HDD to your external HDD - sadly, not!

...or you could just use .SyncIgnore to selectively sync! So, if you wanted to sync your windows profile, but exclude say the folder "AppData", this could be easily done using .SyncIgnore - there's no need to create directory junctions / symlinks!

Well, I'm basically going off the information the developers have previously provided in a previous thread, namely: "If file has the same name, Sync will detect the latest file, based on modification time, and distribute it across computers. Identical files will stay in folders and differences will be transferred between computers." "It converts time to GMT and then compare it. So it compares time in the same timezone."

Indeed - BitTorrent Sync will have no function on a single PC! Do keep it in mind though if you ever do get a second computer, or need to share large files with friends.. and if you've got a mobile device, there are going to be BitTorrent Sync mobile apps coming too!

BTSync needs a way to be able to compare files in order to determine which ones have changed/are more recent, etc. It does this taking into account the timestamps of the files. "Resetting" timestamps on files that differ by more than 5-10mins would cause all kinds of issues! That aside, your particular timestamp issue - if all your clocks are correct - is indeed a little strange!!

That is correct, BitTorrent Sync is not a "cloud storage" solution like DropBox/SkyDrive/GDrive etc. In order for your files to sync between devices, your devices need to be "on" If you have an "always on" NAS or WHS for example, you can essentially create your own "cloud" with BitTorrent Sync, allowing your files to still sync when your other devices are "off"

Indeed - however, the "real time" monitoring isn't just on linux!

Yes! - You can also use the .SyncIgnore file to exclude files/folders from the sync, but you'll need to ensure the .SyncIgnore file contents matches on all of your devices to prevent files being deleted. Yes, as long as the file sync's to more than one device Yes! You'll need to clarify this - I'm not sure exactly what you mean?