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Get in Sync!

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There’s a lot going on with online file sync these days, they offer pretty much the same things (free space, multi-system, cross-platform syncing, file explorer integration, web access with sharing and photo gallery powers, etc.) but have some significant differences. I will present you three of the most popular services so you can start to thinking to be “in-sync”.

Dropbox is the first service i have used and i’m very satisfied from the speed, the web interface and the support from these guys. These are the key features:

  • The ‘killer’ feature for me is that Dropbox also includes a versioning system. For those not familar with versioning systems, it allows you to keep multiple versions of a file. This helps in case you need to ‘roll back’ a change if you are coding, or just for general use and tracking of updates. It also helps on the backend because if only changes of a file need to be sent to the server, so much bandwidth can be saved.
  • Another neat feature is a built-in photo gallery. Drag photos to the “photos” folder and they are automatically available for viewing on the web in a simple manner

 

The SugarSync provides the same functionality as Dropbox the main differences are the following:

  • SugarSync lets you add folders anywhere on your system to be synchronized, while Dropbox sticks to a single-bin-for-everything mindset (although there’s a symbolic link work-around for that)
  • SugarSync’s free accounts limit you to syncing two computers, while Dropbox seems unlimited.
  • SugarSync has working clients for iPhones, BlackBerries, and Windows Mobile phones—some of which we’ve heard is on the way for Dropbox, but not released yet.
  • SugarSync does not support versioning

Last service on my review is syncplicity. Syncplicity have an explicit versioning feature that preserves different editions of your files as they are synched, added, and removed (like dropbox). You can access an older version of a file by right-clicking the file and examining a list of the versions Syncplicity has tracked since the original upload. The list includes buttons for downloading a version to your local computer or reverting to that version. Syncplicity bills itself as a backup service, but its interface doesn’t include any special backup commands: the online copy of your synced folders is your backup. Syncplicity’s claim is perfectly fair, since it stores on its servers not only copies of past versions but also copies of deleted items. Syncplicity’s free service will delete older document versions after 30 days, however. In addition, Syncplicity offers integration with Facebook and Google Docs, and has announced partnerships with Picnik, Scribd, and Zoho, so you can sync your photos with Facebook and your documents with Google Docs. Look under my Account on the Syncplicity site to set the features up. Syncplicity’s free account caps out at 10,000 files, 2GB of storage, and two PCs, with limits on numbers of file versions and how long they’ll be kept.

As you can easily realize the services have some minor differences so you can choose the one that fit’s best to your needs so get in sync now!

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