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diff --git a/syncthing-syncing.post b/syncthing-syncing.post new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f655ef8 --- /dev/null +++ b/syncthing-syncing.post @@ -0,0 +1,62 @@ +;;;;; +title: Syncthing: Syncing... +tags: software, file-synchronization +date: 2014-07-05 22:06 +format: md +;;;;; + +[SyncThing](http://syncthing.net/) is a very interesting distributed +file sharing option. It is a lot like (what I understand of) Dropbox +and the file sharing capabilities of ownCloud, as well as +SparkleShare, SeaFile and others. The biggest difference compared to +all of these, though, is that SyncThing is distributed, or +peer-to-peer, there is no central server used in the file sharing. + +Setting it up is a breeze. Install it, run it and you're almost done. +Once you have it installed on at least two computers (or know someone +else who has installed it), you have to let them know eachother. You +do this by exchanging their node ids. SyncThing know two things: Nodes +and Repositories. Nodes are the different machines you want to share +with and repositories are the different directories you want to share +with certain nodes. Exchanging node ids requires an actual exchange. +If you're managing both machines yourself it shouldn't be too hard to +manage, if you're sharing with someone else you need another channel +of communication to get this data across. Once you've exchanged node +ids and your firewall is setup properly (it needs to let through a +special TCP port for global discovery) your machines will connect. If +you're both on a local network it should happen quickly, if you're +across a large gap of land it should still happen fairly quickly. + +After both your machines are connected, or even before, you should +setup some repositories and share them with the node you just +connected with, otherwise nothing will happen. Again there's some +communication involved here, because both sides will have to share a +repository with the same name. If either side doesn't share a +repository with the other side, it won't sync. After you've +communicated which names to use, though, all should go smoothly. It +check once every 60 seconds whether or not anything's changed and if +it has it'll try and sync with the other machine(s). + +One downside to this program, at least on Linux, compared to ownCloud, +at least using the ownCloud Client, is that there is no notification +of newly arrived files. So again you'd have to send the person owning +the node you're sharing with a message telling them that something new +should be waiting for them. + +A very nice thing on the other hand, is that everything is encrypted. +And because there's no central server involved, only the people you +choose to share with (and possibly they choose to share with) will +have the files. There is no single server that can get hacked into +where all your files can be found. It's also open source, which of +course makes it possible for you, or anyone else, to look at, improve, +audit or do anything with the code you want to or need to to ensure to +yourself that it's not doing anything it shouldn't be doing. + +I haven't been able to test it thoroughly in the real world. I'm +currently just sharing between my desktop PC and my laptop, and I'm +sharing with a good friend of mine. So I'm looking forward to seeing +more of it. + +<!-- Local Variables: --> +<!-- mode: markdown --> +<!-- End: --> |