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FreeFileSync: Open-Source File Synchronization and Backup

freefilesync.org

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Re: FreeFileSync: Open-Source File Synchronization and Backup

#21

Post by brnt »

cosmojg wrote: post #13

How does this compare to Syncthing or rsync?

Freefilesync gives you a (good!) gui to observe and then resolve differences between file trees. This is useful if the keep-latest strategy all of those 'blind' sync tools doesn't (always) work for your use case. Freefilesync has let me catch accidental deletes countless times for instance. I use Syncthing and rclone as well, but for some use cases I need 'eyes'.

Re: FreeFileSync: Open-Source File Synchronization and Backup

#22

Post by sidpatil »

nisa wrote: post #9

see also: https://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/

I've essentially stopped using Unison in favor of FreeFileSync. Its GUI is much more featureful and informative, not to mention easier to use.

For example, I get live stats (bandwidth, files/second, etc. on a chart) during sync operations when using FreeFileSync. Unison only shows bandwidth, and it's usually inaccurate.

Though, I haven't used FreeFileSync with large backups yet, so I don't yet know how it compares to Unison in terms of performance.

Re: FreeFileSync: Open-Source File Synchronization and Backup

#23

Post by lunfard000 »

rcoilliot wrote: post #2

How come this awesome software not more discussed here ? Anyone here use it ? It literraly been a life changer for me in my backup strategy and I can't recommend it enough to everyone.

I dont see the benefits tbh, as much as people here dislike them, a web interface would be better than its own desktop application in order to manage your homelab backups from different computers.

Also, the "Donation" edition is smelly, just be honest and call it "Pro" version to give consumer rights to the buyer.

Re: FreeFileSync: Open-Source File Synchronization and Backup

#24

Post by orev »

For anyone mentioning rsync, I would assert that rsync is very poorly named, and has polluted the ‘sync’ namespace with a meaning outside of what most people understand synchronization to be.

Outside of rsync, the ‘sync’ term almost invariably refers to bi-directional synchronization, with data going between both systems, so when the process is complete, both sides match. Rsync does not do this—it sends files one way only, which is what most people would refer to as a ‘mirror’.

Every other “sync” tool does things bidirectionally, so rsync really doesn’t belong in a comparison with other sync tools.

P.S. I’m aware that people who have never known a world without rsync may not realize that there’s a very real dividing line here, and this concept is very much one of the first the needs to be explained to people when first learning rsync.

Re: FreeFileSync: Open-Source File Synchronization and Backup

#29

Post by smarx007 »

orev wrote: post #17
ZoomZoomZoom wrote: post #15

The killer feature of this over rsync or rclone (which I love and use almost daily) is pre-run inspection and conflict resolution for each individual file. You know when you need it, and when you do, FreeFileSync shines. For those mentioning WSL enabling using rsync on Windows: have been using it with Cygwin for years, zero issues. So, WSL wasn't a hard requirement.

I can also recommend Cygwin, and I really don’t understand why so many people seem to have either completely overlooked it, or outright dislike it. It’s so much better than having to keep a full blown WSL “VM”/container just to get access to basic tools.

I have a happy setup of Cygwin + Bash script invoking find/mv and a Windows Scheduler cron job to run it every 5 minutes. But to be honest, FreeFileSync is my first choice, but it was not viable for my use-case (moving files in Dropbox without downloading them, FFS and rsync do copy/delete).
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