BitTorrent reveals Sync, a new file synchronization tool • Hacker News Board

jasonkolb wrote: post #8

This is what I've been waiting for. A dropbox-like service that uses BitTorrent. Seriously, with the way BitTorrent is integrated into all kinds of services and devices, it would be like instant Dropbox integration, with everything. You could start using the cool Torrent scheduling stuff to, for example, automatically transfer large files to a partner, quickly, as they're produced on the other end. Or to your TV, wha…

I use git-annex assistant for that. When a new file appears in a certain directory in my VPS, the Assistant will automatically sync it to my Desktop machine (which has a 2TB disk). When the VPS disk space gets low, a script will run "git annex drop --in=here --in=desktop", which deletes files that have already been copied to the Desktop (but not without first checking if they're there).

Then, on my laptop, I can just do "git annex get [file]" and it'll fetch it from the best source automatically.

Seriously, it's a great piece of software.

Re: BitTorrent reveals Sync, a new file synchronization tool

#24

Post by masklinn » Fri, Jan 25, 2013, 4:54 PM UTC

fredsted wrote: post #2

I guess a big difference is that your data isn't stored at a 3rd party somewhere. That's one of the things that are good about Dropbox - if you delete your stuff, you can go back and fetch it.

> I guess a big difference is that your data isn't stored at a 3rd party somewhere.

I think a word which could be missing here is "necessarily". I see no reason why you couldn't have "remote" sync devices provided by third parties, including but not limited to Dropbox. So if you want to store your data at a third party, you can. If you want a remote storage under your control, you can. If you don't want remote storage, you can.

On your own terms, with your own conditions.

Re: BitTorrent reveals Sync, a new file synchronization tool

#25

Post by rgbrgb » Fri, Jan 25, 2013, 4:56 PM UTC

I've tried to hack together something like this but had trouble getting the initial torrent to seed from behind a NAT. After reading up on the BT protocol, my conclusion was that it really works best when you have a large swarm of peers. For sharing a file between my 2-3 devices or with 2-5 friends/coworkers, I want a protocol that works to establish the fastest connection between me and 1-2 other peers (taking advantage of local networks), not one that's designed to peer me with 15 other people. I'd encourage anyone interested in this to check out AeroFS.

Also, I think I had seen an earlier iteration of this that was using some kind of technique where they sucked the data you wanted to share into their seedbox. I wonder how they got around that.

Re: BitTorrent reveals Sync, a new file synchronization tool

#26

Post by bentcorner » Fri, Jan 25, 2013, 5:04 PM UTC

rgbrgb wrote: post #25

I've tried to hack together something like this but had trouble getting the initial torrent to seed from behind a NAT. After reading up on the BT protocol, my conclusion was that it really works best when you have a large swarm of peers. For sharing a file between my 2-3 devices or with 2-5 friends/coworkers, I want a protocol that works to establish the fastest connection between me and 1-2 other peers (taking advan…

One thing dropbox and other cloud-based sync providers have going for them is that they've solved peer-to-peer NAT fairly well.

I've always thought that the simplest way of solving the problem of "I want to sync an arbitrary amount of content between two computers, and I don't care that it's not available 'in the cloud' when all my machines are off" is to build a communication channel on top of dropbox (or something else). Although it's likely that Bad Things could start happening once your usage profile starts getting attention.

Re: BitTorrent reveals Sync, a new file synchronization tool

#27

Post by officemonkey » Fri, Jan 25, 2013, 5:57 PM UTC

This would actually be tremendously handy for my geographically-distributed extended family.

For example:

* My mother could see all the pictures we've taken of her grandchild.

* My sister would know that all her PhD research is backup on a computer half-way across the country.

* I don't have to email my wife documents she asks me to scan, because she has everything I scan in her folder, even if she's out of town.

I love Dropbox, but being able to roll my own solution with my own family is great.

Re: BitTorrent reveals Sync, a new file synchronization tool

#28

Post by urza » Fri, Jan 25, 2013, 6:43 PM UTC

icebraining wrote: post #23

jasonkolb wrote: post #8

This is what I've been waiting for. A dropbox-like service that uses BitTorrent. Seriously, with the way BitTorrent is integrated into all kinds of services and devices, it would be like instant Dropbox integration, with everything. You could start using the cool Torrent scheduling stuff to, for example, automatically transfer large files to a partner, quickly, as they're produced on the other end. Or to your TV, wha…

I use git-annex assistant for that. When a new file appears in a certain directory in my VPS, the Assistant will automatically sync it to my Desktop machine (which has a 2TB disk). When the VPS disk space gets low, a script will run "git annex drop --in=here --in=desktop", which deletes files that have already been copied to the Desktop (but not without first checking if they're there). Then, on my laptop, I can just…

Does it work on windows yet?

Re: BitTorrent reveals Sync, a new file synchronization tool

#29

Post by eps » Fri, Jan 25, 2013, 6:45 PM UTC

Logmein's Cubby does pretty much the same thing, in same p2p fashion and has an option to get a server-side storage. Doesn't have the cool kid factor associated with BitTorrent, but the point is that the tehnology has long been there and it has been wrapped into the products.

Sync success hinges largely on whether BT can market it well, not on what it does or how it does it.

Re: BitTorrent reveals Sync, a new file synchronization tool

#30

Post by tteam » Fri, Jan 25, 2013, 6:55 PM UTC

We do this in Tonido as well. Using your primary computer as a sync server and sync clients in all your other devices.

Your data is completely private and secure. Since it is a sync and have the same files on all your connected devices you really don't need 3rd party cloud storage systems like dropbox. Because often the argument is made for public clouds that it provides offline backup not only sync.

Many small businesses use the product especially who have sales personnel in the field.