local & network folder sync

[jpallman]

Hey all,

I'm not a network Guru by any means, so maybe there is a simple solution I'm just missing (I hope)

We are using a windows 2008 server and all xp computers. We have a folder in one of the server shares we keep all the media files in so the pastor & others can access them easily. What I need to be able to do, is to have a local copy of that folder on our main Media-shout computer so we can still function on Sundays if the server is down and we don't get any lag in the videos caused my the network.

I'm not finding a way within either the desktop OS or the Server08 to keep the local copy & the server copy in sync though. Is there something I'm missing?

This is the software I have used before for this, I just keep thinking there should be some way to accomplish this without using extra software. My only complaint with syncback is it loses it's schedule every few months so i have to go and re-set it up regularly.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[Dad4Now]

I am just learning about this at work. Our company is working to roll out virtual workstations and this was a solution to allow older software to be installed and maintained per user, not per workstation. Do a search for Junction.Exe. My search turned up these 3 links as examples. I don't know if this will work for your need, but my understanding of this is when you copy into a folder, say on the server a junction will also set a pointer to the location you specified and make a copy there. There are some cautions. If you delete a file it deletes both places. It's as if the 2 are one. I have plans to use this but also plan to do some testing first. I would not start with the intended folders. I would create a folder at each location, make the junction, and then try different events that might happen - copy a file to one, copy a file to the other, delete a file from one and so on. You might also want to do some testing if either of the junction points happen to be offline. What happens when the missing device comes back online, say after you copied or deleted a file on the online device? I would not try it until you are comfortable with understanding what can or will happen.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb896768.aspx
http://benjisimon.blogspot.com/2009/01/junctionexe-making-my-temporary-laptop.html
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=205524

[blonborg]

You will need a separate tool to accomplish what you want to do.

In the past, I've used Microsoft's Robocopy, either as a one time operation, or as a scheduled task to replicate data between a pc and a server. This is a command line utility (although a GUI version is now available), with a lot of switches.

While I've known about SyncToy, I've never used it. SyncToy (now at v2.0) is another Microsoft tool, originally developed for sychronizing pictures. I quickly skimmed the doc's this morning and believe it would work for you.

Bill

ps: Junction won't accomplish what you want to do. With it, the files are one kept in one location. There's a pointer that specifies where to look for the actual files.

[Dad4Now]

Oops

[yagabu]

I use synctoy as a startup script every day. I curently only use it to sync two computers and a NAS. It works great in our situation.

Greg

[Tekguy]

Use synctoy it works great and it's free.

[Gracetech]

Wow this is an old thread but here is my two cents worth. Make a shared/network drive on your server and apply it under group policy to the machines you would like or all if you like. Then on the individual machines right click on the drive and click make available offline. The drive now syncs to your local machine. Just make sure you have enough space on your local computers hard drive.

crt

[Arlin]

Depending on your needs, Dropbox might be another alternative.
Our volunteers use Dropbox & shared folders to build presentations & share media files.
https://www.dropbox.com

[Richard Tarr]

I'll second the comment on Dropbox, we have been using for several months to transfer semon and announcement graphics between the church office and the members of the media team.

[Jay M]

I absolutely love Dropbox! I collaborate on sermon mastering with a lot of people and we all use it. I can even stream a wav file in Dropbox to my iPhone over 3G.

I also use synctoy because Dropbox can't see network drives. I use Synctoy to sync a network folder to a local dropbox folder. You need to set up a script for synctoy to run automatically. It's kind of a pain to set up, but once it's done, it's done.

Dropbox by design is always checking for changes and immediately updating as needed.

with Dropbox you get 2 gigs for free. If you invite new users you get additional space for free. Otherwise it's $10 a month for 50 gigs.

~Jay

[EricE]

Originally Posted by Gracetech

Wow this is an old thread but here is my two cents worth. Make a shared/network drive on your server and apply it under group policy to the machines you would like or all if you like. Then on the individual machines right click on the drive and click make available offline. The drive now syncs to your local machine.

If all your clients are Windows 7, this works great. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy with XP. Dunno about Vista - skipped it.

I can also second SyncToy - works great. For those with Mac's looking for something similar, I love Chronosync and wish they would come out with a Windows version. My only complaint is their UI is a little obtuse (especially for a Mac program!) but once you get the hang of it it's fast, powerful and reliable. It just works!