Sharing with a large number of users

[a1anwilliamson]

Got very excited at BTSync but sadly it is just not as polished as what DropBox is, at doing the very thing it should be doing extremely well, syncing files.

When there is maybe one or two people sharing a folder, then things are fine. However, if you have 20 people all sharing the folder, with files under a 1MB then things go really wrong.

• Files are randomly deleted all at once ... "Remote Peer removed file" is the message in the window; but we have no one called "Remote Peer".
  
• Files getting duplicated; we have so many files named "current_file_name.1.xls" "current_file_name.2.xls" "current_file_name.3.xls" and so on. It just doesn't seem to handle this very well.
  
• We have 22 users all sitting within the same network sharing a folder that has literally 25 files in it. Everyone is on Windows and everyone using the latest BTSync software.
  

Such a shame ... it was showing so much promise.

[GreatMarko]

Got very excited at BTSync but sadly it is just not as polished as what DropBox is

Bare in mind that Sync is still only in "beta", and it only left "alpha" a couple of weeks ago!

However, if you have 20 people all sharing the folder, with files under a 1MB then things go really wrong.

Please make sure the system clock is correct on all your devices - if one or more clocks is wrong, this can lead to the various issues you describe

Files are randomly deleted all at once ... "Remote Peer removed file" is the message in the window; but we have no one called "Remote Peer".

"Remote Peer" is not the actual name of a device!! - it's a generic term meaning "another computer you're syncing with"

Such a shame ... it was showing so much promise.

Give it chance!! ...and remember It's still just a "beta"!

[innoman]

• Files are randomly deleted all at once ... "Remote Peer removed file" is the message in the window; but we have no one called "Remote Peer".
  
• Files getting duplicated; we have so many files named "current_file_name.1.xls" "current_file_name.2.xls" "current_file_name.3.xls" and so on. It just doesn't seem to handle this very well.
  
• We have 22 users all sitting within the same network sharing a folder that has literally 25 files in it. Everyone is on Windows and everyone using the latest BTSync software.
  

I think the famous breakup words, in reverse, apply here BTSync says "It's you, not me". I'm relatively new to BTSync, I am by no means an expert.

1. Files being deleted most likely means someone somewhere deleted a file and that deletion is "syncing" across the board. It appears BTSync places a folder within your sync folder titled ".SyncArchive", these is where deleted files go to stay when someone else removes them (best I can tell). I'm guessing you can prevent this by choosing 'Read Only' when creating secret keys for other users.
   
2. Files getting replicated likely means users are editing them and copies are being made. I don't think BTSync is built to handle this sort of file sharing. If you have a file and I have the same file, synced to BTSync, and we both edit it at the same time, there is no way for BTSync to know how to keep that file synced. It's not designed to actually merge data from excel and word documents, it just syncs files between users.
   
3. Honestly, I just don't think BTSync is currently designed for your purpose. If you have files you need to transfer between users or sites, BTSync is definitely the program, but if you are wanting to keep actual spreadsheets, documents, databases, etc... shared and in sync and update them across multiple users who are on the same site; your best option is going to be some sort of network sharing (with a version of office that allows users to edit files and locks them when in use--I have some experience here, we do this at work) or something such as Google Docs. Think if BTSync as more of a bulk data syncing tool.
   

I think it's safe to say that there aren't many,if any, data syncing tools that will keep multiple working documents/spreadsheets in sync, when they are being updated in multiple locations. Additionally, I agree with GreatMarko, it's a beta... You can't be disappointed with a beta! Also, keep in mind that Drop Box is a little different than this. I think this tool is geared more towards those who want to transfer files that Drop Box cannot. There are a ton of syncing options out there but most can't do large files. This program can do really large files.

[a1anwilliamson]

Being a prominent open source developer I am fully aware of the "beta" tag - so no need to remind me. However that does not mean you can't be disappointed. I can be. Of course I can be. I can tolerate a lot with an "alpha" tag and I tolerate a little less with a "beta" tag.

BTSync is definitely needing some polish and to that end, I fear what this project is lacking is a formal bug tracking system to allow us to report formal bugs and see progress on them and know when they are resolved in the release notes. We the community wants this to be the best product available so give us the tools to better service you.

DropBox is not that a different animal, but it does work extremely well in the scenario I was hoping to use BTSync for. Now please note, in my scenario, there are NOT multiple people working on the same file at the same time. They all work on their own file. So again, this is something I would expect BTSync to do extremely well. DropBox does.

As far as keeping the machines all in time sync that surprises me as a requirement. The protocol should be intelligent enough to allow for time drift (especially over different timezones). I can't believe the BT protocol doesn't allow for this already.

Thank you again for your replies.

[GreatMarko]

BTSync is definitely needing some polish...

...and that's why it's still in BETA!!

I fear what this project is lacking is a formal bug tracking system to allow us to report formal bugs and see progress on them and know when they are resolved in the release notes.

There is a formal bug tracking system - just email your issue to syncapp@bittorrent.com, and a ticket will be automatically opened for you on https://syncapp.zendesk.com/ allowing you to track progress on your bug/issue

DropBox is not that a different animal,

It really is! - If BitTorrent Sync was a Cloud Storage solution, then yes, it could be directly comparable to DropBox - but BitTorrent Sync isn't a Cloud Sync or Cloud Storage solution as DropBox is, therefore, they are two very different products!

As far as keeping the machines all in time sync that surprises me as a requirement. The protocol should be intelligent enough to allow for time drift (especially over different timezones). I can't believe the BT protocol doesn't allow for this already.

It does! Please read the user guide - specifically the section on the "sync_max_time_diff" setting(!) Also, timezone is irrelevant as Sync references everything back to UTC anyway.

[goli]

BTSync is definitely needing some polish and to that end, I fear what this project is lacking is a formal bug tracking system to allow us to report formal bugs and see progress on them and know when they are resolved in the release notes.

You might go to the wishlist thread and as for a bug tracker. Both wishlist threads, the regular one and the mobile one also allow for things that are only related to the apps. There's some "please provide .apk files for download for those who do not have Google Play Store" post that got replied to positively. So asking for a bug tracker does have a real chance to at least get an answer, whatever the answer may look like.

We have 22 users all sitting within the same network sharing a folder that has literally 25 files in it.

What does Dropbox do in this case? Is if fast enough or does it behave just the same way?

I would suggest not to work that way around. I would drop a little NAS right in the middle of the office that does both, exposing its storage as SMB and providing your network with a LAN/broadcast btsync for that particular folder.

Then your works can just mount the SMB mount and work right in there.

If you workers need to have a local copy for offsite work, then they can add the btsync folder to their local sync, too. But when being at the office, they should go for plain SMB.

This scenario would allow you to use the "simultaneous editing" functionality of Word and Excel.

And another thing for the wishlist thread: Maybe there is an API for that wich makes btsync aware of the "simultaneouse editing" thing of Word and can interact with it. That would be quite aweson. Since I'm pretty excited abut this feature, I will go to the wishlist thread and post it there.

Kind regards,

Stephan.

[sagdusmir]

I think the "beta" tag was rushed. From my experience the core functionality is far from being usable for most people.

I am trying to sync 340GB payload in 40k files. I have 4 devices (latest version). I am the only one who actively edits files (one device runs crashplan on the same set of files). It does not work (yet). I do really want this to work for me so badly. It gives me a mess on all devices.

The idea is great but i think most people using btsync in "beta" will loose data to some extent. I seems to work perfectly on fewer files and it does sync large files very well (maybe due to the fact that bigger files are usually used in a different way than smaller more "editable" files). Very nice proof of concept. This makes it an "alpha" from my point of view.

Everyone must be aware that an unstable sync tool has the potential to trash all your synced data on all synced devices. The SyncArchive folder will not prevent this from happening.