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Clone Dropbox with a Raspberry Pi and BTSync

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Re: Clone Dropbox with a Raspberry Pi and BTSync

#41

I'm uncomfortable about the opacity of BTsync's privacy architecture. AFAIK even the protocol isn't documented. The code obviously isn't open source. I wouldn't use it sync anything except Truecrypt volumes. :)

On top of that (literally and figuratively) is Pi's ARM's TrustZone hypervisor..

Re: Clone Dropbox with a Raspberry Pi and BTSync

#43
post #15

I installed and played with BTSync yesterday. It was really easy to get it all up and running syncing between two local machines and a remote server. The config was really simple compared to other stuff I've used. Sometimes it could take a while before the syncing would start which is a bit of a pain. We run a system where we have a lot of data on a server that we want to see locally. Edits are made both locally and…

We tested AeroFS and BTSync on a variety of data in shared folders, and consistently found sync issues with BTSync. We eventually abandoned BTSync for AeroFS, and while it hasn't been perfect, it's been considerably better at handling syncing issues. Anecdotal, and just one case, but hope someone finds it helpful.

Useful to know. I only tested btsync briefly yesterday and it wasn't picking up changes as quick as Aero. Again, single data point but I'd recommend Aero from what I've seen (and we use it all day every day).

Re: Clone Dropbox with a Raspberry Pi and BTSync

#44
It is the umpteenth time I see a "Dropbox clone" on HN, but none of them is.

I badly want an open-source sync online storage client and server, cross-platform, with encryption at least om a server side, that I can install on my own VPS or my own host at home.

Online storage became an important element of a digital life, pretty much like Web earlier. I know that Dropbox is an YC company, but I wonder where are Apaches and Nginxes of the online storage?

Re: Clone Dropbox with a Raspberry Pi and BTSync

#45

It is the umpteenth time I see a "Dropbox clone" on HN, but none of them is. I badly want an open-source sync online storage client and server, cross-platform, with encryption at least om a server side, that I can install on my own VPS or my own host at home. Online storage became an important element of a digital life, pretty much like Web earlier. I know that Dropbox is an YC company, but I wonder where are Apaches…

See jewel's comment below https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6648109

Re: Clone Dropbox with a Raspberry Pi and BTSync

#46
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That happens with Dropbox too though.

Actually not. Dropbox has a feature called Selective Sync which lets you choose which files are synced to which computers.

We're not using that. Dropbox is a shared drive for the company.

My question, still unanswered, remains whether anyone has made btsync work well in a setup where it's used as a shared drive for 10-20 people who interact with many files, though usually not the same file simultaneously (though that happens occasionally, and Dropbox seems to support it...)

Re: Clone Dropbox with a Raspberry Pi and BTSync

#47

It is the umpteenth time I see a "Dropbox clone" on HN, but none of them is. I badly want an open-source sync online storage client and server, cross-platform, with encryption at least om a server side, that I can install on my own VPS or my own host at home. Online storage became an important element of a digital life, pretty much like Web earlier. I know that Dropbox is an YC company, but I wonder where are Apaches…

I think Seafile checks all your boxes. I run it on a VPS and use the Windows, Linux and Android clients daily without any issues. I haven't tried the encryption but it allows you to password-protect folders.

http://seafile.com/en/home/

Re: Clone Dropbox with a Raspberry Pi and BTSync

#48

I'm uncomfortable about the opacity of BTsync's privacy architecture. AFAIK even the protocol isn't documented. The code obviously isn't open source. I wouldn't use it sync anything except Truecrypt volumes. :)

though BTsync is "meant for large files" I wouldn't really advise syncing truecrypt files as it syncs the entire file not just updating lines in the file... (though that would probably be much more efficient) even still using truecrypt would still require entire file syncs the second anything changed. :/ maybe instead encrypt each file separately using AES... might be slightly better as you won't be syncing whole gigs of files if you only changed a small text file...

Re: Clone Dropbox with a Raspberry Pi and BTSync

#49
post #15

I installed and played with BTSync yesterday. It was really easy to get it all up and running syncing between two local machines and a remote server. The config was really simple compared to other stuff I've used. Sometimes it could take a while before the syncing would start which is a bit of a pain. We run a system where we have a lot of data on a server that we want to see locally. Edits are made both locally and…

We tested AeroFS and BTSync on a variety of data in shared folders, and consistently found sync issues with BTSync. We eventually abandoned BTSync for AeroFS, and while it hasn't been perfect, it's been considerably better at handling syncing issues. Anecdotal, and just one case, but hope someone finds it helpful.

We have had the same experience. I loved the idea of BTsync, but we encountered too many issues. We tested sparkleshare and lipsync too. Unfortunately, none of them dealt with conflicts and merges as they were meant to.

BTsync would often not pick up changes (using osx and linux clients), and/or overwrite new files with an older version. It also had a slow latency when a file did change. As to the open source nature of it, you can supposedly limit its access to the shared servers through configuration, but this caused more sync problems.

These tests made us appreciate the Dropbox implementation even more.

Unfortunately, we need non-cloud syncing for our data, so I wrote a complex cron/rsync/inotify hack with its own issues - but at least we know the limitations and have custom workarounds. Personally, I hope BTsync will mature and be a feasible alternative.

Re: Clone Dropbox with a Raspberry Pi and BTSync

#50
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We tested AeroFS and BTSync on a variety of data in shared folders, and consistently found sync issues with BTSync. We eventually abandoned BTSync for AeroFS, and while it hasn't been perfect, it's been considerably better at handling syncing issues. Anecdotal, and just one case, but hope someone finds it helpful.

We have had the same experience. I loved the idea of BTsync, but we encountered too many issues. We tested sparkleshare and lipsync too. Unfortunately, none of them dealt with conflicts and merges as they were meant to. BTsync would often not pick up changes (using osx and linux clients), and/or overwrite new files with an older version. It also had a slow latency when a file did change. As to the open source nature…

That's starting to sound like a pattern on BTSync now.

What do you mean by non-cloud syncing? Have you tried Aero? I thought about doing a inotify/unison solution - apparently unison is good at dealing with conflicts and the like.

With all these syncing tools it's the uncertainty that causes issues. You're always worried about what data is going to end up where in the edge cases. As you say - at least with a few scripts glued together you know what's happening (and how to fix it if required).

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