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Is there anything out there that can keep files in sync between computers without keeping a copy of the data on a remote host?

I love dropbox and Wuala but don't feel the need to sync my things (also read: PAY to sync my things) to a server that I don't need them stored on.

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Remotely? Or only within your local network (at home)? – iglvzx Dec 27 '11 at 21:13
Have you looked into RSYNC? rsync.samba.org – kobaltz Dec 27 '11 at 21:14
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rsync is powerful, but hardly as automated or polished in terms of "automatic-ness". The beauty of Wuala or Dropbox is how well they monitor the filesystem for changes. – AaronJAnderson Dec 27 '11 at 21:16
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Sure rsync is awesome for its own uses, but synchronization means in both directions, which not even two opposite rsync's achieve in a non-destructive way. – grawity Dec 27 '11 at 23:18
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@grawity: This is true. Managing conflicts is a pain. – surfasb Dec 28 '11 at 7:18
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5 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

If you want something readily available, mature, and polished for Windows, the news isn't good right now. I've been curious about this type of software as well and have been lazily keeping an eye on a few projects. I'll tell you what I know, but I haven't gone about using any of these yet, as all are under heavy development and none are stable.

If you don't need Windows or iOS support (yet), there's SparkleShare. If you do and you've got the requisite skill set, I'm sure they'd appreciate the help. :-) It's using Git as a storage backend. This lets you use your own Git server or any public or private Git repository. I assume that the end goal is for servers to be available on Linux, Mac and Windows and clients on the previous 3 along with Android & iOS.

Update: SparkleShare recently released a Windows version. I haven't had a chance to test yet to see if it's client-only, client & server, or requires Git to be installed as well. All I've found is that there's an .msi available to download.

IQBox is another project along the same lines as SparkleShare, but uses Subversion as a storage backend rather than Git. Currently in Alpha on Windows, no other clients available.

Acid Rain is another of the same, only using Mercurial for the backend. Server is Linux only and a Windows client is available.

AeroFS is another "Dropbox on your own systems" setup. It's pretty early in development as well, and currently invite only.

Syncany is a cloud syncing application that allows for a wide range of backend storage (Local Folder, FTP, IMAP, Google Storage, Amazon S3, Rackspace Cloud, WebDAV, Windows Shares, SFTP). Still in heavy development, primary development target is Linux but Windows appears to be a high priority as well.

My gut says that SparkleShare and Syncany have the potential to become the primary projects that the OSS communities support (and $deity knows that there can't be only one -- it wouldn't be proper OSS without a holy war :-) ), but that's purely a feeling with no evidence to support it.

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acidrain is a new one to me, and probably needs poking at - it looks more polished than the other two, though the documentation is a bit horrid. Syncany interests me due to the wide variety of backends. If any of these gets finished enough, this might be worth a future SU blog post ;p – Journeyman Geek Dec 28 '11 at 0:01
Acid Rain looks GREAT. – AaronJAnderson Dec 28 '11 at 19:17
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up vote 7 down vote

There is a variety of software out there to sync you data privately.

Wuala actually is very private because it encrypts your data before sending it to their servers. It's still on their servers and it still, costs though.

My most recent discovery is Microsoft's own Live Mesh that allows you to sync an unlimited amount privately1. Mind that you can still sync 5 GB with their server if you really always need to ensure access to your data all the time. What I really love about it is that it allows you to sync any existing folder without constraints to a certain folder on your computer. In this respect it is a lot like Wuala. Windows Live Mesh is for Windows and Mac, no Linux. And it's free.

Syncing any folder is one feature that AeroFS does not have yet. I managed to get an invite and the service is pretty slick and will run on all Desktop OS platforms. Though I barely use it because I have to use the AeroFS folder. I don't feel like moving my files at all. A lot of scripts and macros depend on my current folder structure.

If you are able to run your own FTP server from home you can create a - Windows only - syncing solution around Gladinet. True, it costs a one-time fee, but in addition to various existing cloud storage services you are able to use any FTP server for Backup and Syncing.

1: You are limited to syncing up to 200 folders, each up to 50 GB in size and containing up to 100,000 files.

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Doh! I can't believe I forgot to mention Live Mesh. – afrazier Dec 28 '11 at 0:48
Can you use symlinks in the AeroFS folder like others use for syncing other folders via Dropbox? – afrazier Dec 28 '11 at 19:43
@surfasb thanks, mate! Did not read that info well enough! – user 99572 is fine Dec 28 '11 at 23:37
@afrazier I'm sorry, I don't know. Never used Dropbox much. Don't know if they support symlinks. They definitely plan on supporting any-folder-sync – user 99572 is fine Dec 28 '11 at 23:42
@user99572isfine: NP. Anytime. – surfasb Dec 29 '11 at 1:22
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up vote 2 down vote

A couple people had mentioned rsync. Bitpocket may be worth a look.

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up vote 2 down vote

OwnCloud is similar to Dropbox but you set it up on one of your own computers.

From wikipedia:

ownCloud is an open source implementation of cloud storage and cloud computing services. It can be installed on the personal web server of the user. It requires PHP and a database (one of SQLite, MySQL or PostgreSQL).

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This looks awesome. I installed it (quick and easy) but interfacing w/ windows is pretty sad. Windows doesn't do webdav file sharing very well. This would need a local application that syncs a directory w/ OwnCloud to really be effective. – AaronJAnderson Dec 31 '11 at 13:27
@AaronJAnderson there are some tricks on the their page even if you will have to repeat them after reboot owncloud.org/use/webdav/#Windows – tidbeck Dec 31 '11 at 13:42
@AaronJAnderson and there are clients under development for various platforms on Gitorious. – tidbeck Dec 31 '11 at 13:47
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up vote 1 down vote

You could try Acrosync. It is a native win32 rsync client with auto sync. You have to visit the site and email them to beta test it, at the moment

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