Symform

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DravidDavid

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#173777 5-Jun-2015 17:02

Has anyone tried Symform?

The idea of encrypted P2P storage sharing service intrigued me, so I decided to give it a go.

First impressions were good although missing basic features other applications have. It seems as though uploading anything is extremely slow. It's running on average hardware, but has the full 100/50 pipe to it's self and is only utilizing between 500kbps to 3.75Mb/s.

Have confirmed P2P isn't being throttled either and have tried over-riding their own bandwidth management system, which didn't change my results at all. It's not quicker than conventional cloud storage as they promised, that's for sure.

Thoughts? Has anyone else tried it?

Dynamic

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#1318097 5-Jun-2015 17:14

I use it for replicating backups at work off site. Our server backs up to a USB HDD, and once the backup finishes this is copied to my office desktop computer's secondary hard drive. This folder is Symform'd to the cloud and a hot copy replicated on my computer at home by symform. Occasionally I test the home copy.

I've never actually checked the performance.

I'm going to experiment replicating client backups using Symform. They backup to a local cheap NAS capable of running Symform. This backs up to the Cloud and hot-copies to our office. I have a cheap NAS on my home fibre connection providing storage to Symform so we don't have to pay for storage.

I believe Symform was recently bought by someone reputable, so I have high hopes for its future.

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

timmmay

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#1318137 5-Jun-2015 19:20

I lost data once (year 2000 or so) when a cloud storage vendor went under, so I wouldn't trust data to a small player. 10GB free is very generous, maybe too generous given they need multiple copies, backups, etc. I'd go with Crashplan/Backblaze/Dropbox for piece of mind personally.

Dynamic

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#1318148 5-Jun-2015 19:42

timmmay: I lost data once (year 2000 or so) when a cloud storage vendor went under, so I wouldn't trust data to a small player.

Small players go under all the time unfortunately. Strangely people using Cloud technology often think the Cloud stuff does not need to be independently backed up. Just because the data is in someone else's datacentre does not mean that mistakes (both business and technology mistakes) do not happen.

Symform has been around for a couple of years now quietly working away on their technology. They are doing well enough to be recognised and purchased by a larger player (Quantum), which in itself is a huge endorsement IMHO. (If you are sh*t, nobody would want to buy you.)

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams