Syncing with FolderShare

A few weeks ago our friend Jim dropped us a note asking what we'd recommend for synchronizing data in two locations. This was a topic we explored perhaps a year ago and Jim's request was all we needed to take another look at what is now available.

The reason Jim wants a directory synchronization tool is that he travels a lot. Being on the road so much means he needs to be able to get files that are back at the mothership, as well as back up documents and e-mail he has on his laptop.

In our previous search for synchronization tools we found a few promising candidates but nothing that really made synchronizing simple. Our first stop was to check out some of the projects on SourceForge and, while there were a few that look interesting, they all have a complexity overhead that makes them somewhat harder to use than we'd like.

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A few weeks ago our friend Jim dropped us a note asking what we'd recommend for synchronizing data in two locations. This was a topic we explored perhaps a year ago and Jim's request was all we needed to take another look at what is now available.

The reason Jim wants a directory synchronization tool is that he travels a lot. Being on the road so much means he needs to be able to get files that are back at the mothership, as well as back up documents and e-mail he has on his laptop.

In our previous search for synchronization tools we found a few promising candidates but nothing that really made synchronizing simple. Our first stop was to check out some of the projects on SourceForge and, while there were a few that look interesting, they all have a complexity overhead that makes them somewhat harder to use than we'd like.

Anyway, somewhere along our search path we stumbled upon FolderShare from ByteTaxi. FolderShare is a folder synchronization product that uses a server-based directory to manage computers that are to share a "library," ByteTaxi's term for a synchronization connection. The subdirectories to be synchronized at either end will most likely have different names and be located in different subdirectories, but the library name will be the same for all computers.

Once the connection is established via the FolderShare server, the exchange of files - or, for current files that have been modified, just the updated blocks - is done using a peer-to-peer protocol. This protocol is proprietary to ByteTaxi and encrypts all content using 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard along with a homegrown end-to-end authentication system.

The FolderShare server is what makes FolderShare powerful. Once logged on from any PC (even one that isn't running the FolderShare client - what ByteTaxi calls the "satellite" software) you can create, edit or delete libraries and then assign two or more PCs to each library. You can invite people to use libraries, and if they aren't already a FolderShare user, they are sent e-mail with a link to download the software. If they are a Foldershare user then the FolderShare application will notify them that a new library is available.

The synchronization process can be continuous or on-demand. Once a library is created and the participating computers defined, the directory tree details for either end are exchanged. Files not yet transferred are allocated placeholders - empty files using the file's original full name (say, gearhead.doc) with the file type .p2p appended (thus our example becomes gearhead.doc.p2p).

In continuous mode the files are eventually downloaded, while in on-demand or continuous modes opening a .p2p file forces its download. When the file is completely downloaded the original file name will be restored. The on-demand mode is very important for users on low-speed dial-up connections.

FolderShare accounts are licensed at three levels: basic (free), limited to two libraries, each with no more than 500 files along with one upload or download at a time; personal ($50 per year), limited to 100 libraries with 20,000 files and five simultaneous transfers; and professional ($100 per year), with a maximum of 250 libraries with up to 50,000 files each and no limit of the number of simultaneous transfers.