Monday
Nov242008
Hello Dropbox, Goodbye SugarSync
November 24, 2008 at 6:22 PM by EsquireMac
Those who have been following Esquire | Mac know that I had high praises for SugarSync and have used the file synchronization service extensively for a solid 8-10 months. I have posted about SugarSync here, here and here. I did note, however, that despite how great the service is, there are some bugs.
In our office, we synced over 31,000 files, comprising about 1.5 Gigs of disk space. By and large, the process is painless, behind the scenes and effective. However, I have noticed that there are some folders that do not fully sync. I wrote about this problem before, and said:
So far, this problem has not been fixed, and one day a couple of months ago, I had enough. The particular straw that broke the camel's back was a bizarre one. One of our assistants was creating files on her computer - printing, saving, etc. Then, the files would disappear from her computer, but show up on the other computers. This was just too much to deal with for me. I had the office cease to add anything to the synced folders and save all new work to their desktops in a temporary folder. To be fair to the good folks at Sharpcast, I did not seek their support and they may well have been able to assuage my woes.
Meanwhile, Dropbox finally went official. I had beta access for many months by that point, but never really used it to any significant extent. I transferred all of the firm's files to Dropbox and synced the other two computers within a day. The process was pretty much painless.
We added another attorney to our firm and synced up his computer and the files he brought with him with no problems. The files he brought along put us over the 2GB limit for the free Dropbox account, so we upgraded to the 50GB $10/month plan. We are presently using 2.7% of our storage.
So far, so good with Dropbox. What I like about Dropbox over SugarSync is that it feels lighter. There's no icon sitting in the dock taking up space. There's no clunky java interface like SugarSync. Also, I like the fact that I can instantly tell which files are or are not in sync by the "check" or "syncing" badges on each item's icon.
We have been using Dropbox for about 2 months now with no issues at all. "It just works."
In our office, we synced over 31,000 files, comprising about 1.5 Gigs of disk space. By and large, the process is painless, behind the scenes and effective. However, I have noticed that there are some folders that do not fully sync. I wrote about this problem before, and said:
Regarding limitations or problems: I have had a couple of issues. As I said in my post, we sync over 30,000 files. The initial upload from my computer of all of the office files went without a hitch. However, when I did a full sync to the two other Macs, we noticed that some files were missing from the local synched folder on the two other Macs. The files could be forced to downloaded by going into the SugarSync application interface and navigating to the files in question and clicking restore or download. This has to be done one at a time, as I recall. I know that there’s no way to verify that all files have been synched and/or downloaded, and, therefore, no way to force the undownloaded files to be downloaded. So, it’s a bit of a PITA, but the files are available: provided they have internet access when they discover the files are not there. The missing files can also be accessed via the web interface. In my experience, this has only happened with a very small minority of files, and SS is aware of the problem. They state as a known issue that syncing more than 25,000 files can be problematic, and they’re working on it.
So far, this problem has not been fixed, and one day a couple of months ago, I had enough. The particular straw that broke the camel's back was a bizarre one. One of our assistants was creating files on her computer - printing, saving, etc. Then, the files would disappear from her computer, but show up on the other computers. This was just too much to deal with for me. I had the office cease to add anything to the synced folders and save all new work to their desktops in a temporary folder. To be fair to the good folks at Sharpcast, I did not seek their support and they may well have been able to assuage my woes.
Meanwhile, Dropbox finally went official. I had beta access for many months by that point, but never really used it to any significant extent. I transferred all of the firm's files to Dropbox and synced the other two computers within a day. The process was pretty much painless.
We added another attorney to our firm and synced up his computer and the files he brought with him with no problems. The files he brought along put us over the 2GB limit for the free Dropbox account, so we upgraded to the 50GB $10/month plan. We are presently using 2.7% of our storage.
So far, so good with Dropbox. What I like about Dropbox over SugarSync is that it feels lighter. There's no icon sitting in the dock taking up space. There's no clunky java interface like SugarSync. Also, I like the fact that I can instantly tell which files are or are not in sync by the "check" or "syncing" badges on each item's icon.
We have been using Dropbox for about 2 months now with no issues at all. "It just works."
Filed Under Applications, Syncing
Applications, Syncing
Reader Comments (17)
I have been very excited about dropbox, but I am concerned about document security/confidentiality. I am sure that I am missing something basic -- what are you doing to secure your files?
Thanks
Reid
Given that you are apparently using this for work, was not a problem for you having to break your existing data structure and moving everything to the Dropbox folder (because DB does not support syncing any folder)? I have used both too and for me this was a show stopper. I am sticking with SugarSync, also partially because I enjoy accessing all my files using my iPhone. I agree that it's cool the file manager icons to see what is synched. The SugarSync manager client is not a Java app. It's a native Windows/Mac app.
Actually Dropbox does have an iPhone-compatible website, but no iPhone client.
Reid: Dropbox data is secured by SSL and AES256 and all traffic is sent via HTTPS. My take on it is if you trust your email to be secure with SSL and HTTPS, then you can trust your Dropbox. Dropbox uses Amazon's S3 for their backend storage, which is a secure server (http://aws.amazon.com/s3/). There is an excellent discussion about these issues on the MacLitigator blog: http://www.maclitigator.com/?p=74
P Andrade: I did not find any problem moving everything to the Dropbox folder. It was literally as simple as dragging our office folder into the Dropbox folder. To provide easier access, I created an alias (that's the Mac version of a "shortcut" for you Windows folks out there) and put it on my desktop. I am not sure where I got the idea that it was a Java app - quite possibly from the MacLitigator post above. However, I know that it is not a "native" Mac app in that it is not written in Cocoa or Carbon. It certainly has the look and feel (and slowness) of a Java app. I looked for documentation on this but couldn't find it tonight. I know they did a UI refresh a few months ago to make the Mac client look more Leopard-like, but that was just a UI update, not a complete re-write in a Mac native programming language. Disclaimer: I am completely willing to admit that I could be wrong on this, but that's my present opinion!
Alex: exactly.
Thanks for the comments, folks!
I have a similar experience...
I first installed Sugarsync a year ago.. It seemed like the ideal solution, and certainly "LOOKS" like it has more features than Dropbox.. I signed up for the 30 gig level and after a couple of months I canceled. They were kind enough to refund my unused portion..
Later on, I signed up with Sugarsync again, for lack of finding a better value and solution. The simplicity of Dropbox scared me at the time.. Anyways, after a couple of months of using Sugarsync again, the SAME problems returned..
Problems with Sugarsync include being able to maintain a constant connection, files not syncing correctly, files being duplicated for no reason, it's rather slow syncing process (at least compared to Dropbox).. and other headaches...
My last straw was when, in the course of 3 weeks, I sent over 6 emails.. NOT one was answered.
I've had it.. Now their customer supports sucks on top of everything! I totally uninstalled Sugarsync and installed Dropbox. What a difference!
First of all, my computer runs faster! Noticed that immediately. I guess Dropbox has less memory hogging.
Secondly.. it's so simple! Hardly an interface, I have to move every file and folder I want synced in the Dropbox folder.. I got used to it..
The important thing to understand is that Dropbox works! Period! and it works fast and smooth..
I'll probably signed up for the 9.99 plan in a couple of days, but even with the 2 gig free plan, I got more done with this rather than the 50 gigs I have with Sugarsync, only because there are less headaches to worry about with Dropbox..
I think I'll be making the move to DropBox after having had a total disaster with the Sugarsync magic briefcase system (see http://www.freshmango.com/support/kb/networking-protocols-wifi/protocols-firewalls/sugarsync-magic-briefcase-sync-problems/) has anyone used DropBox to sync folders across multiple machines?
Bob
I do and Dropbox works flawlessly...
Not quite flawlessly - it's not saving the metadata such as spotlight comments which though not a major issue for me is a bit of a pain. But it seems sugarsync is not such a good alternative by this discussion.
Problems with Sugarsync
WARNING DO NOT USE SUGARSYNC! SUGARSYNC lost all of my data and could not retrieve it from their own server. This company is a joke, they held my company hostage for 2 weeks trying to find my files that Sugarsync some how deleted from my desktop! Their horribly inept techs could not figure out where my data went so they just decided not to call me back. I finally got in touch with Debbie, Sr. Director, SugarSync Customer Care and she tried to make me feel stupid and that the whole thing was my fault. Sugarsync does not care about small businesses and their customer service is horrible.
Love the free version of Dropbox use it with my website files and it works great
Since DropBox does not (currently) offer read-only access file sharing, have you found a way around that limitation? The ability to share files/folders is great, however, it is only read/write.
Hi Tom, I have not yet attempted to share files in that way with a client. It would be nice to have a read-only portal for clients to check in and see what's new with their case, but I haven't investigated the options out there for that kind of access.
Adam, from your earlier post and in reviewing the related post you referenced on MacLitigator, I don't think you completely understand the security issue. Bluntly, the people who run DropBox can access multiple revisions of all of your files and give access to anyone they want or move the storage locations without your knowledge or consent. From what I understand, the people at (publicly held) Amazon who you (reasonably) do trust cannot even access your files because DropBox encrypts them before storing them at Amazon --using a key that only the people at DropBox know.
Go back to your personal knowledge of human nature now and wonder why DropBox feels they should protect "their" treasure chest of data from Amazon but should not afford the same courtesy to you by, for example, giving you the only private key to the encryption of your data stored at Amazon and elsewhere in their network? It's not practical for them to do that on their shared folders, but clearly it is for your private data --I mean, it's being encrypted anyway so this is a business, not technical, decision they're making.
So it's great they're using SSL transport and AES storage encryption, but their current contracts and procedures as I understand them make them wholly inappropriate for storage of sensitive medical, financial and legal data or electronic assets. I think it's best left to be used for things like school teachers and student research notes or cooking recipes. I wouldn't even store extramarital love-letters on it without concern the spouse's attorney (or paparazzi) could obtain them simply by sending an official looking demand notice (perhaps signed by a postal worker) to those ignorant kids at who blog endlessly about having shared the same apartment together with their servers in the early days of a few years ago.
What's more is that there are people out there who might be interested in offering such a service that's adequate for storing privileged information, but they're going to be turned off from investing in that because they see so many people in the legal, medical and financial world are throwing caution to the wind and going with Dropbox in favor of convenience --at least, until, there's government involvement or something bad happens and the professional services insurance underwriters crack down.
I just tried out Sugarsync for two days, I was excited about the bonus invite offers and sent them out, but it's complete bullshit! People installed the application and I'm not getting my bonuses, their interface is bothering me, it's more invasive that it feels like a trojan horse on my desktop ready to lose my files. Their customer support is so lousy, they don't respond to complaints.
Sugarsync support is horrible. 3 or 4 days just to respond to a simple inquiry and it is clearly being run offshore where English is not the primary language. They fail to understand the nuances of technical questions and appear to answer with scripted responses.
YESSSSSSSS SUGAR SYNC SUCKS THEY OWE ME A REFUND SUDDENLY THEY SAID THERE WAS A BUG SO THE ISSUE IS ON A HIGHER LEVEL..... AND U R NOT GONNA BELIEVE THIS, I WROTE THEM INTO THEIR FB FANPAGE SAYING THAT THEIR SERVICE WAS CRAPPY CUS OF THEIR STUPID BUGS, THEY ARE GOOD CHARGING U BUT NOT FOR REFUNDING AND THEY DELETED MY COMMENT AND BLOCKED ME,. ALSO SUGAR SYNC DOESNT HAVE "search file" OPTION SO THAT IS BAD CUS I HAVE LOTS OF FILES, WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO COMPLAIN, AND AFTER READING MORE BAD EXPIERENCES ABOUT IT IT MAKES ME MAD, MAYBE IVE LOST MY MONEY :(
ALSO THEY HAVE MULTIPLE ISSUES; THEY RESPOND U 1 or 4 DAYS AFTER, WRONG BACK UPS ETC......
I FORGOT TO SAY THAT IST GOING TO BE ONE MONTH AFTER THEY SAID THEY WILL REFUND ME AND I KEEP WRITING TO SUPPORT TO THIS PPL BRIJ and Ranganath AND THEY SAME THE SAME BS THAT THE ISSUE IS ON A HIGHER LEVEL :(