Quickly: What is the most important component of your computer? Is it the monitor? No, you can replace it. The graphics card? No, you can live without it. Oh what then?
It’s your data!
Think about it. No matter what kind of a user you are, data is always of prime importance. Now the obvious question, do you back up your data?
“oh um.. Actually I.. NO”.
That’s the scenario with most users.
Let’s take a look at Syncplicity - another excellent backup software. Not only it backs up your data, but it also keeps it synchronized across multiple computers and also allows you to share data with your friends.
Real-Time Backup: Murphy’s Law doesn’t pay attention to the clock. Syncplicity backs up your files not once a month, once a week, or even once an hour, but immediately. Create a masterpiece only to accidentally delete it three seconds later? Skip the sinking feeling. Just go straight to the Syncplicity website and get your precious data back.
Sharing made Simple: Share any folder with anyone with a simple click of the mouse. Since your files are already in Syncplicity, others get access right away. So if they choose to use the Syncplicity client, the files simply show up on their computers.
Access anytime, anywhere: Access your files while away from your computer through the Syncplicity File Explorer. Are you at a friend’s computer, and need to print out a file? Grab it from the File Explorer and print it out. Find a typo along the way? No worries. Just make the change and upload it back. The edited version will be waiting for you on your computer when you return.
Multiple Computers, One View: Keep all of your computers in sync. With Syncplicity, it doesn’t matter which machine you use. Writing a letter at home on your desktop, but need to run? No problem! Just save the file like you normally would, grab your laptop and go. Your letter will be on your laptop, ready and waiting.
An Elegant Experience: Pleasant and powerful. The Syncplicity client is built to be second to none. It intelligently synchronizes your computer and is never intimidating. The client integrates tightly with Windows so you can see the status with just a glance and perform common actions with just a right-click. Want more information or help? The client walks you through common tasks with ease.
Bridges the Online and Offline Worlds: A one-of-a-kind platform breaks free of limitations that restricts you to a single website or set of computers. With Syncplicity, your files follow you to where you want them, including web applications such as Google Docs and Facebook.
Secure: Syncplicity transfers all your data using 128-bit SSL, the same encryption used for online banking. On the backend, your files are stored encrypted using AES, military grade encryption. Only you can access your files.
Those are all listed on the site. Now for the fun part. Let’s take Syncplicity for a ride and see if it measures up to what it promises to accomplish and then quickly list the results.
Step 1: SignUp
Sign up went smooth and fine. The sign up is free.
Step 2: Download and Install the Desktop Client
The desktop client is Windows only with a Mac client coming up soon. The client itself is small in size but requires .NET framework 3. So if you don’t have it installed, the download size will increase. Except from that everything went smoothly.
Step 3: Login and Sync
Now you can fire up the client and login with the details you provided in step 1. You can choose which folders to synchronize and which ones to skip.
The whole process is easy and smooth, It surely delivers on the ease of use and effortless criteria. Once you follow the above 3 steps you can forget that you have syncplicity installed. It does everything silently. [ 1 Cheer(s), 1 Boo(s) ]
The backup is instantaneous (at least it starts the moment you update a file, although I experienced slow uploads more than once. It’s in beta so we can overlook it for the moment). [ 2 Cheer(s), 1 Boo(s)]
Synchronize multiple computers? Works good. [ 3 Cheer(s), 1 Boo(s) ]
Access to files online? Works good, nice, clean interface. [ 4 Cheer(s), 1 Boo(s) ]
Integration with Google Docs? Mmm.. not quite good, Maybe because the files created on the desktop have more formatting, but whatever, it presents a stripped down version in Google Docs so editing is difficult. [ 4 Cheer(s), 2 Boo(s) ]
Sharing Folders work great (especially if your friend also has the Syncplicity client) and it is a nice feature. You can add, remove and manage the shared folders as well as whom you want to share them with. You can also give a read-only or read-write access to the user. Although the other person has to have a Syncplicity account as well (which sucks!). So this one stays neutral. [ 5 Cheer(s), 3 Boo(s) ]
If you have not tried it, go to syncplicity.com and give it a try while its free! (although they say that it will continue to have a decent free option in the future as well). Let us know if you like Syncplicity or which one backup/sync service you use and think is better (and why?), so that readers trying to make a choice can benefit!
(By) Varun Kashyap - Tech Enthusiast, Programmer and Blogger who likes explaining technology, tweaking software, and Ubuntu. Check out his latest latest tweaks, findings, reviews and much more at Varun Kashyap’s Tech Crazy Blog
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Filed Under: Cool Software Apps ¦ Cool Websites ¦ Mac ¦ Windows
Tags: backup, file sharing, online storage, synchronize
How is it fair to give it a negative rating (aka a boo) for the fact that you don’t know 100% sure if it is going to stay unlimited ? They dont state anywhere they are going to introduce a limit, neither do they state that they won’t. At the very least this should just be rated neutral.
Maikel they are sure to introduce some limit after the Beta period is over(I mailed them and clarified). They also mention it in the FAQs. What is not clear is the fact that how free and useful the free plan will be, the idea of a Boo (aka Negative Rating) is that what if I already have more data than the free storage they offer? I would have to upgrade to the paid plan then. Right? or remove my data, neither of which is appealing. So I was referring to the obscurity when I said Boo!
You wont believe i just downloaded it before opening muo site..
i don’t believe you!
Why not ?
Does this refer to Monica’s comment or the article
Have you tried FolderShare? How does Syncplicity compare? Does Syncplicity allow you to limit the files you sync, or must you sync everything?
You have total control on the folders you want to sync. You can pin point the exact folder you want to sync from an entire hierarchy of folders no matter how deep it is!
I think she was asking whether you could specify which files in a folder to share, rather than the whole folder. I prefer to share whole folders, because it makes it easy to add new content, and makes it clear exactly what you are or are not sharing. I recently started using FolderShare, and really like it. (It even installs without admin privileges.) This service sounds virtually identical.
Oops! I thought Jeanne was asking about individual folders.
Anyways, It syncs the complete folder Jeanne, so you would have to make a special folder and put your files in it, if you want to sync some particular files only.
You said that “The whole process is easy and smooth”, yet gave that section 1 boo - howcome? What turned you off to the install process? Was it because of the .Net 3.0 install?
Dave that was the cumulative “Boo” score from the previous section. It installed fine on my machine, although I am finding more and more people having problems similar to what Mark mentions below.
I just tried to download and install the client and since I don’t have net framework 3 installed it offered to install that for me. So I agreed and the installation went ahead and towards the end it failed with the message that this wasn’t a valid Windows Installation Package.
Although this sounds like a useful service, it does not bode well when you can’t even get it to install. Yes, I know it’s in beta, but you can’t test what you can’t install.
Hi Mark (and Monica),
I’m sorry to hear you had trouble installing our app. We’re still trying to iron out all the quirks around .NET 3.0’s setup.
I would love to get an email from you (ondrej at syncplicity dot com) with the details. In the meantime, you can download and install .NET 3.0 directly from Microsoft’s site @ http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=10CC340B-F857-4A14-83F5-25634C3BF043&displaylang=en. I know, it’s a hassle, but it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.
Ondrej
I wanted to test run it but i got the same problem as Mark did..
I’ve been using Syncplicity for a week or so and find it to be a fantastic product. I did not have any problem installing on 2 machines.
I am coming over from 2.5 long years with Foldershare, where I lost 1 harddrive and had multiple conflicts. I wish the people at Syncplicity all the luck.
Nifty…I would like to see a Linux client too, because I’ve mostly been using Linux lately and I’m trying to stay away from Windows in particular.