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synchronize files via W10 home network

HerrKaLeu

i have 1 main and 3 secondary PCs with W10. I'm able to share files manually (make folder readable to other devices and can open and copy the file from one to another PC). So far so good.

 

My main PC has the data. It also has a secondary SSD for backup and we use OneDrive for backups. But for the purpose of this post all the secondoary PCs have a spare HDD. We use them as an additional backup. Within the network I can access the data folder of the main PC from the secondary PCs. 

 

so my problem is I want to use a file synchronization software so Only files that got added or changed get updated. In the past I used Microsoft FileSync. But that is not supported anymore, and doesn't seem to functioning properly anymore. I also used FreeFileSync that used untill a while ago. but it can't recognize the folder from the main PC anymore (even if the explorer can). that seems to be a problem, and there is a workaround with mapped drives. i tried that to no avail. 

 

So is there a (hopefully free) software or method that actually works within a home network (I know MS doesn't call it home network anymore)? I also have the UAC disabled on the secondary PC. the problem seems to be with the file sync software and not with access since the explorer can access the main PC with no problem and I can manually " steal"  files from the main PC. 

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DSynchronize http://dimio.altervista.org/eng/

 

This is what I have been using for years to do something similar to your setup (on less computers though)

I have it running on my windows file server pointed at specific folders I want to keep live backups of and it synchronizes the files for me. 

 

The best gaming PC is the PC you like to game on, how you like to game on it

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robocopy, which is included in windows.

It's commandline, but since it is setup and forget does not matter too much.

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On 1/30/2021 at 8:12 PM, Archer42 said:

robocopy, which is included in windows.

It's commandline, but since it is setup and forget does not matter too much.

i tried that and it is currently copying files. i found these commands. it first didn't copy anything and i needed to add the " /e" 

I assume for a " mirror"  I want to use the " /purge"  option? OR which one? and how do i set it so that it will copy mirror automatically? is that what the " /mon:"  option does? 

 

Am I right to assume the copy software uses robocopy and just uses a front-end to set the same parameters? 

 

On 1/30/2021 at 5:45 PM, GhostRoadieBL said:

DSynchronize http://dimio.altervista.org/eng/

 

This is what I have been using for years to do something similar to your setup (on less computers though)

I have it running on my windows file server pointed at specific folders I want to keep live backups of and it synchronizes the files for me. 

 

I tried DSynchronize, bit it can't find the network folder. windows also tried to warn me from downloading and installing. 

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53 minutes ago, HerrKaLeu said:

i tried that and it is currently copying files. i found these commands. it first didn't copy anything and i needed to add the " /e" 

I assume for a " mirror"  I want to use the " /purge"  option? OR which one? and how do i set it so that it will copy mirror automatically? is that what the " /mon:"  option does? 

 

Am I right to assume the copy software uses robocopy and just uses a front-end to set the same parameters?

I usually do it like this:

robocopy c:\source e:\destination /mir /copyall /r:5 /w:5 /mt:64 /log+:c:\logs\sync.log

Put it into cmd file and create task in windows scheduler to execute it whenever i want.

Here "/mir" mirrors dirs/files (copies new/changed ones, delete deleted ones), "/copyall" copies all attributes (dates, security etc), "/r:5 /w:5" is number of retry attempts and delay between attempts so it does not get stuck on files it cannot read for some reason, "/mt:64" - multithreaded operation, speeds up things when there are a lot of small files, "log+:..." writes log so that i can check that everything is working when i want to.

 

I honestly never played around with "/mon" option, theoretically it is useful, but since synchronization affects performance i prefer to be able to control when it happens based on time (scheduler), not changes/delays.

 

As for other software using robocopy - may be, depends on software, but not necessarily.

 

Also - if you are using network shares it is better to use full path (\\server\share\destination) instead of mapped drive, but you also have to make sure the user from which the task runs can access said share. The easiest way for non-domain environment will be logging in to that user and mapping network drive there with saved credentials.

 

One thing to be aware of - this are not backups. If something gets damaged/deleted in source it gets synchronized into destination and you loose it. If you want backups use some software which can create actual ones with version history, increments and such. I've been using veeam agent to do this, for example.

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1 hour ago, HerrKaLeu said:

I tried DSynchronize, bit it can't find the network folder. windows also tried to warn me from downloading and installing. 

have you mapped the network folders or are you trying to have the program look through the network to get to the folders? Mapping the folder would allow you to select the folder. Currently I have the drives mapped and they appear in the program as just another disk to select from. 

The best gaming PC is the PC you like to game on, how you like to game on it

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 2/3/2021 at 11:00 PM, GhostRoadieBL said:

have you mapped the network folders or are you trying to have the program look through the network to get to the folders? Mapping the folder would allow you to select the folder. Currently I have the drives mapped and they appear in the program as just another disk to select from. 

Thanks. Mapping worked. I'm running it now. Looks like they also have options to set real-time sync etc. 

 

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