Syncing Of Media Servers Over The Internet


zicoz

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Hi, I currently have 2 separate media servers. One in my apartment (Server1), and one at my parents house (Server2). Up until now I have been ripping the content to Server1 and then every month or so I have brought a hard drive with the new content to my parents house to add it to theirs as well.

 

But now that I am getting a fiber connections I want to start using Sync instead. And I am what will happen when I activate the sync in the following scenario.

 

I recently did a cleanup on the content on Server1, I used to have a multiple versions of one movie (for instance a DVD rip and a Blu-ray remux), but in the cleanup I removed all the lower quality versions. But I have not done this on Server2 So now it looks something like this:

 

Server1:

Movies\HDRemux\Attack the Block\Attack the Block.mkv

 

 

Server2:

Movies\DVDRips\Attack the Block\Attack the Block.mkv

Movies\HDMovies\Attack the Block\Attack the Block.mkv

 

 

(The Remux version is not yet added to server 2)

 

 

 

What will happen if I activate a "read only sync" from server 1 to server 2, will it only add the remux version, or will it add the remux version and remove the other 2 versions?

 

Am I better off just wiping Server2 and starting fresh?

 

For syncing on my local network I am using SyncToy and I love how it has three options for it sync job:

 

 - Synchronize: Everything (new files, renames deletions etc) is moved from A to B and B to A.

 - Echo: Everything (new files, renames deletions etc.) is moved from A to B only.

 - Contribute: New and updated files, as well as renames are copied from A to B only.

 

Would love to have similar settings for BitTorrent Sync

Edited by zicoz
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If you did a full sync between the two, everything only on server 1 would be copied to server 2, and vice versa (BTSync doesn't transfer files that are already the same).  Changes on either side would sync over to the other one (similar to the 'synchronize' option in synctoy. 

 

If you did a read-only sync from server 1 to server 2, everything only on server 1 would be copied to server 2, but nothing from server 2 to server 1 (kind of like the 'echo' behavior in synctoy).  

Once the sync is complete, if you change a file on server 1, the changes would sync to server 2.  Any files (or changes to files) that were only ever or server 2 will not be synced to server 1.  Additionally, if you change one of the synced files on server 2, it will break the connection with server 1 and no longer be updated from there (unless you have the option to "restore modified files" checked, in which case it will delete the modified file and transfer a new copy from server 1). 

 

 

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your goals), if you did a read-only sync from server 1 to 2, BTSync will not remove anything that is only on server 2.  

So say server 1 has files A and B, and server 2 has files C and D. After a read-only sync from server 1 to server 2, server 1 will have files A and B (as previously). Server 2 will now have files A and B from the sync, and then also its original files C and D.

Any future change to file A and B from server 1 will sync to server 2, but if files C or D are changed on server 2, or file E is added to server 2's folder, none of those changes will sync to server 1. 

 

I think there is a feature request thread that read-only folders remove non-synced items (in the example above, with this feature BTSync would remove files C and D from server 2, to keep it in strict read-only sync with server 1).  However, this is not an option in sync right now. 

 

 

There is also not a 'contribute' option per se in BTSync, where it would only add/change the files and keep files deleted from server 1.  There is a sort of workaround though.  Deleted files are moved on server 2 to the .syncarchive folder, and remain for however long they are set in the options; I believe using '0' for the number of days option there allows them to remain forever (assuming enough disc space) - kind of a workaround to get 'contribute'-like functionality.

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