Syncing a very large folder

[1VDJ]

Good Day, I am pretty new to Sync.  I am attempting to use Resilio Sync as an offsite backup of a very large folder 7.2T.  But what I have is that data on my studio hard drive array, and I have an external hard drive which currently has all of the same media.  Is it possible to set up Resilio sync to a folder than directly copy that data into that folder then sync, rather than wait for 7.2T to transfer in to that folder?  Basically use the data that matches as a starting point?

Thanks,

D.J.

[luomat]

Hi, and welcome to the forums!

I'm a little unclear what you're asking, so let me restate what I think you're saying and asking, and if that's correct, then I can answer it, but if I'm not correct, then I'll need some clarification.

1. You have "A" and "B" (where "A" is "studio hard drive array" and "B" is "an external hard drive
2. "A" and "B" currently have all of the same media/data on them, but you want to move one of them (presumably "B") offsite
3. Given that setup, you want to know if you can now add "A" and "B" to Sync, and will Sync be smart enough to figure out "Hey, these are identical" and not transfer all of the data again.

If I have #1 and #2 correct, then the answer to #3 is YES. You can add them both to Sync. When you add the second one, it will prompt you and say something like "This folder isn't empty, do you want to continue?" Say yes, and it will start to sync.

Now, I believe that the first time it is setup, it might take a little time for Sync to compare both folders and see if they are identical, and the length of time that takes will probably depend on whether that 7.2TB is a bunch of large files such as audio and/or video, or, say, 3 gazillion Word documents going back to 1987.

If it was possible to bring the computer which "B" will eventually be connected to and add that computer to your LAN (with "B" connected), I assume that initial check would go faster, because it is all local rather than having to go across the Internet, but that might not be possible.

 

 

 

 

[jdrch]

@1VDJ I must admit I find your wording confusing, but in my years of using Sync since 2013 the best way get going is to start with an empty destination folder on the target machine. Probably not the answer you want to hear, but it's the path that's least likely to result in issues.

[1VDJ]

@luomat you are 100% correct.  Sorry I couldn't figure out how to describe accurately what I was attempting to do.  But you gave me the exact info I was looking for.  The hard drive is full of large video files.  I just am hoping for it not to take all of my available bandwidth for the next 2 years to complete the first sync.    This was very helpful. I hope to try to start the first sync today. 

Thanks,

D.J.

[iPhone]