syncing folders on same computer (network folder, external hdd)

[peadair]

I would love a feature to sync folders on same computer; I wanted to use BitTorrent Sync to sync folders on from a network location (hdd plugged to router and accessed via network shared folder) to a local folder. And between a local folder and a external hdd folder.

[kos13]

Sorry, this is not possible with Sync. Sync will works over network only.

[johnmarshall4]

@peadair - I've made the same request. I'd really like to reduce the number of tools I have running to keep everything in sync. I am syncing data between machines. I also want to sync data to an external drive for additional backup. Today that means running BTSync and also some other folder mirroring software. The thought was that since they already had folder monitoring, sync, merge logic etc. they could just add local sync as well. But it doesn't sound like it will happen.

The only solution seems to be to get a cheap NAS that will run BTSync and move your external HDD to it.

[romeograham]

The only solution seems to be to get a cheap NAS that will run BTSync and move your external HDD to it.

So we need to install BTsync on the NAS, then generate the Secret from that machine somehow? I imagine that BTSync will only work on a machine that has the client installed on it, correct?

I'm also wanting to use this to keep data backed up to a network location.

thanks!

[GreatMarko]

So we need to install BTsync on the NAS, then generate the Secret from that machine somehow? I imagine that BTSync will only work on a machine that has the client installed on it, correct?

Yes, in order to "backup" (or rather "sync") a computer's internal drive to an externally connected drive, that external drive would need to be a supported NAS drive, also running a copy of BitTorrent Sync as well as the computer itself

[perora]

Sorry, this is not possible with Sync. Sync will works over network only.

A computer has the ability to network with itself, refer 127.0.0.1, localhost and loop.

I used bittorrent this way before so it is quite a surprise that btsync would not support this feature.

It is quite stupid that because I wanted to avoid clogging and save time on my 70GB transfer I plugged my external hdd in the upstairs computer and now btsync refuses to work but If I plug it downstairs and render the wlan unusable for other people for hours then it would work.

In fact requiring a network of computer to be able to sync folders is quite stupid and such a limitation that btsync loses much of its appeal to me. I don't want to juggle with several tools to keep my files in sync so for now btsync is out and rsync is still in.

[eseelke]

In fact requiring a network of computer to be able to sync folders is quite stupid and such a limitation that btsync loses much of its appeal to me. I don't want to juggle with several tools to keep my files in sync so for now btsync is out and rsync is still in.

Yes, but BitTorrent itself is basically a network protocol. So, to me, this means an app called BitTorrent Sync would sync across the network, not locally.

As you said there are other tools to sync locally.

You could ask for this in the wishlist, but it still seems to go against the whole idea of a network syncing program.

[kenyob]

Its unfortunate that bittorrent sync cant sync local folders.  

To solve this problem I use http://www.freefilesync.org/ .

It is by far the fastest, multiplatform, and most powerful app Ive come across.

The way it crawls folders using multiple threads tremendously speeds up looking for new / changed files.

Edited September 18, 2015 by kenyob