Looking for: Selective sync between computers (External HDD Cloning) Software

Forums › Desktop computing › Looking for: Selective sync between computers (External HDD Cloning) Software

pomtom44

128 posts

Master Geek

#273082 3-Aug-2020 13:13

Hi all

Not sure if this is the best place to post, but since im after windows software it may be the best

At work we have 2 USB drives which we have our archived data and important backups on
Regularly I have to connect the drive in my office to my PC, and get someone in our second office to connect the drive to a old laptop they have,
Get them to send me the TeamViewer ID so I can remote in,
Open up a FTP connection back to my PC (As I cant seem to get shared folders to work properly)
and then do a sync compare on the two drives to copy over any new changes to my drive to our backup drive

While this may not be the worst way to do it, its far from the best, and im looking for a easier solution to use to try speed this process up

Ideally what im after is some software I can install on both my PC and the remote laptop where I can just connect the two drives, and hit go and let it sync and compare both drives

All the software solutions I have found either set themselves up as a "Cloud Sync" style where it constantly compares and uploads the latest version, (wont work for us as the drives are offline most of the time)
or they require a shared folder on the remote end to map to (as above, i just cant get it to work properly)

Does anyone have any ideas of a good solutions I can use for this?

trig42

5799 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2533724 3-Aug-2020 13:40

Why don't you use a cloud service (OneDrive, iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox...) and copy the whole drive to that.

Most do archiving (so an accidental deletion can be recovered) and that way both computers have the files. You can have offline files too (so that you don't need to be internet connected to use them).

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pomtom44

128 posts

Master Geek

#2533732 3-Aug-2020 13:50

trig42:

Why don't you use a cloud service (OneDrive, iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox...) and copy the whole drive to that.

Most do archiving (so an accidental deletion can be recovered) and that way both computers have the files. You can have offline files too (so that you don't need to be internet connected to use them).

Business doesn't want to store their data in the cloud, even if it is encrypted and protected.
And even if they did, these drives are the last resort drives
If we loose everything from ransomware or natural disaster, these drives have enough data on them to be able to get a basic setup back up and running,
Including passwords for services and encryption keys, etc

littlehead

214 posts

Master Geek

#2533734 3-Aug-2020 14:03

You could do this, at least I think what you want, with Syncthing. Setup the originating drive as a send only folder and the other drive on the other computer as a receiving only folder. If you are syncing the whole drive on each end and not a sub folder then it should work. See the question about removable hard drives here.

I use Syncthing myself for one-way syncing files, though not with removable hard drives. Works really well for my needs.

frankv

5678 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2533747 3-Aug-2020 14:09

Try FreeFileSync.

pomtom44

128 posts

Master Geek

#2533750 3-Aug-2020 14:11

littlehead:

You could do this, at least I think what you want, with Syncthing. Setup the originating drive as a send only folder and the other drive on the other computer as a receiving only folder. If you are syncing the whole drive on each end and not a sub folder then it should work. See the question about removable hard drives here.

I use Syncthing myself for one-way syncing files, though not with removable hard drives. Works really well for my needs.

I did have a look at this, but it looks like it runs as a service in the background with a web gui to access it?
Id rather have a program which runs only when its being used, rather than something on always in the background

pomtom44

128 posts

Master Geek

#2533752 3-Aug-2020 14:13

frankv:

Try FreeFileSync.

Doesnt look like it does what i need.
Looks like it needs the shared folder access which I can't get working properly

ripdog

548 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#2533757 3-Aug-2020 14:16

Have a look at Goodsync. It's not FOSS, but it should do what you want. It does file sync and backup over a tonne of protocols, and can run in the background automatically or in the foreground manually.

1101

3121 posts

Uber Geek

#2534283 4-Aug-2020 10:07

pomtom44:

Regularly I have to connect the drive in my office to my PC, and get someone in our second office to connect the drive to a old laptop they have,
..
and then do a sync compare on the two drives to copy over any new changes to my drive to our backup drive

Sounds like its just a matter of time before something gets messed up ?
are you also trying to get the 2 offices files all synced up ?

Would it be better to either
- setup a backup to USB drives in the actual 2nd office . Seems simpler
- or, setup a site to site VPN and have a single repository for all company docs & files in the main office . Then a single simple backup

- or a single NAS Drive for both office's docs.
NAS drives have VPN functions built in. The 2nd office's PC's VPN directly to the NAS in the main office
All company files stored at main office. NAS will have a backup to USB option built in.
This actually works really well, and you can give the option of access to Docs from out of office(at home, on the road) if neeeded

pomtom44

128 posts

Master Geek

#2534291 4-Aug-2020 10:26

1101:

pomtom44:

Regularly I have to connect the drive in my office to my PC, and get someone in our second office to connect the drive to a old laptop they have,
..
and then do a sync compare on the two drives to copy over any new changes to my drive to our backup drive

Sounds like its just a matter of time before something gets messed up ?
are you also trying to get the 2 offices files all synced up ?

Would it be better to either
- setup a backup to USB drives in the actual 2nd office . Seems simpler
- or, setup a site to site VPN and have a single repository for all company docs & files in the main office . Then a single simple backup

- or a single NAS Drive for both office's docs.
NAS drives have VPN functions built in. The 2nd office's PC's VPN directly to the NAS in the main office
All company files stored at main office. NAS will have a backup to USB option built in.
This actually works really well, and you can give the option of access to Docs from out of office(at home, on the road) if neeeded

This isnt our primary backup
We do have proper backups in place,
This is just a grab and go backup type deal where if worst case happens, we have a drive with our important info on which will then allow us to get back up and running as fast as possible
(Archive of important data, password lists, supplier contacts and agreements etc)

Im not looking for a full backup solution, im looking for a way to do what the company policy is to keep two offline drives synced up

The drive I keep with me gets updated every few weeks with changes to agreements, any new passwords we have,
and any archived data which the business deems to be important

Im just after a easy way I can plug both drives in once a month or so and make sure any changes I have made to my drive get replicated to our backup drive off site.

Yoban

445 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2534312 4-Aug-2020 10:47

pomtom44:

littlehead:

You could do this, at least I think what you want, with Syncthing. Setup the originating drive as a send only folder and the other drive on the other computer as a receiving only folder. If you are syncing the whole drive on each end and not a sub folder then it should work. See the question about removable hard drives here.

I use Syncthing myself for one-way syncing files, though not with removable hard drives. Works really well for my needs.

I did have a look at this, but it looks like it runs as a service in the background with a web gui to access it?
Id rather have a program which runs only when its being used, rather than something on always in the background

I use Syncthing and this does work well. My setup is very similar to yours in the sense that I sync from one PC to another and use a USB disk on the 2nd PC. Yes it can run as a service of which I do and by this approach it will keep checking (can setup the frequency) for the USB drive. As soon as I plug in the usb drive, sync happens automatically. Good aspect is the user at the other end does not need to worry about starting any software etc. - just plug the drive in.

The alternative is to install SyncTrayzor https://github.com/canton7/SyncTrayzor/releases/tag/v1.1.24 which can be autolaunched or in your case manually started and it will manage syncthing service. Can also configure via this app.

ripdog

548 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#2534633 4-Aug-2020 17:18

OP, did you see my post? I'm pretty sure Goodsync will do what you want.