

BitTorrent reveals Sync, a new file synchronization tool - Sami_Lehtinen
http://thenextweb.com/2013/01/25/bittorrent-launches-sync-in-pre-alpha-a-new-app-to-compete-with-dropbox-and-icloud/

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jasonkolb
This is what I've been waiting for. A dropbox-like service that uses
BitTorrent. Seriously, with the way BitTorrent is integrated into all kinds of
services and devices, it would be like instant Dropbox integration, with
everything. You could start using the cool Torrent scheduling stuff to, for
example, automatically transfer large files to a partner, quickly, as they're
produced on the other end. Or to your TV, whatever.

~~~
icebraining
I use git-annex assistant for that. When a new file appears in a certain
directory in my VPS, the Assistant will automatically sync it to my Desktop
machine (which has a 2TB disk). When the VPS disk space gets low, a script
will run "git annex drop --in=here --in=desktop", which deletes files that
have already been copied to the Desktop (but not without first checking if
they're there).

Then, on my laptop, I can just do "git annex get [file]" and it'll fetch it
from the best source automatically.

Seriously, it's a great piece of software.

~~~
urza
Does it work on windows yet?

~~~
csears
Not yet. See: <http://git-annex.branchable.com/todo/windows_support/>

------
yk
And where are the files stored? If I create a 'Sync'ed file, switch off the
computer and start the laptop, the file needs to be stored somewhere. And if
this somewhere is the torrent swarm, then I would expect an interesting
discussion on cryptography and (perhaps) fountain codes etc. ( Unfortunately
the blog post [1] is even less detailed than OP's submission.)

[1] [http://blog.bittorrent.com/2013/01/24/test-bittorrent-
sync-p...](http://blog.bittorrent.com/2013/01/24/test-bittorrent-sync-pre-
alpha/)

~~~
lloeki
I suppose it can be seen as twofold:

1\. an AeroFS-like part, i.e your files reside only on your machines and are
synced via a P2P protocol, so not-yet-synced files are unavailable when your
source is offline (unless like AeroFS, they are opt-in stored in the cloud).

2\. a content-hashing part, which means files on your machines that happen to
have an identical file elsewhere can be obtained from that elsewhere, even if
your machines are offline.

Still, no source => no data, but that's a given.

Technically, 1. is of course a special case of 2. It's just that AeroFS
restricts peer requesting to your machines (and — optionally — their cloud
storage).

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lucian1900
Several companies have been using BitTorrent this way to move data in between
machines (backups, builds, etc.). This may be inspired by such anecdotes.

~~~
nextparadigms
Probably. I've been looking for easy ways to share large files between 2
computers, and I've noticed some people were recommending to just create a
torrent with utorrent (apparently you can do it just by dragging and dropping
the file on utorrent), and then send that person the torrent to download the
file.

So I think this has a lot of potential, as a much more secure alternative to
"cloud storage" as this is being more like "personal cloud storage".

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fredsted
I guess a big difference is that your data isn't stored at a 3rd party
somewhere. That's one of the things that are good about Dropbox - if you
delete your stuff, you can go back and fetch it.

~~~
lucian1900
It is also one of the things that are bad about Dropbox: even if you delete
your files, someone else still has a copy. Worse, it's almost never encrypted
client-side.

That is often not an issue of course, Dropbox is great.

~~~
diminoten
Dropbox has its demons, however, and it's probably not something you should
rely on for its security.

I used to use it as a means of keeping an encrypted file synced across
machines, but when you re-lock up the file it... well, encrypts it, which
means re-arranging ALL the bits, so a diff (how dropbox syncs) is just the
whole damn file.

------
rgbrgb
I've tried to hack together something like this but had trouble getting the
initial torrent to seed from behind a NAT. After reading up on the BT
protocol, my conclusion was that it really works best when you have a large
swarm of peers. For sharing a file between my 2-3 devices or with 2-5
friends/coworkers, I want a protocol that works to establish the fastest
connection between me and 1-2 other peers (taking advantage of local
networks), not one that's designed to peer me with 15 other people. I'd
encourage anyone interested in this to check out AeroFS.

Also, I think I had seen an earlier iteration of this that was using some kind
of technique where they sucked the data you wanted to share into their
seedbox. I wonder how they got around that.

~~~
bentcorner
One thing dropbox and other cloud-based sync providers have going for them is
that they've solved peer-to-peer NAT fairly well.

I've always thought that the simplest way of solving the problem of "I want to
sync an arbitrary amount of content between two computers, and I don't care
that it's not available 'in the cloud' when all my machines are off" is to
build a communication channel on top of dropbox (or something else). Although
it's likely that Bad Things could start happening once your usage profile
starts getting attention.

------
trvz
It wasn't "launched", only "revealed".

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officemonkey
This would actually be tremendously handy for my geographically-distributed
extended family.

For example:

* My mother could see all the pictures we've taken of her grandchild.

* My sister would know that all her PhD research is backup on a computer half-way across the country.

* I don't have to email my wife documents she asks me to scan, because she has everything I scan in her folder, even if she's out of town.

I love Dropbox, but being able to roll my own solution with my own family is
great.

------
kirchhoff
Seems similar to AeroFS.

~~~
k2enemy
And git-annex assistant (<http://git-annex.branchable.com/assistant/>)

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nacs
I have been using AeroFS ( <https://www.aerofs.com/> ) for a couple months now
and it works similarly.

The files sync between all your AeroFS computers (and supports selecting
syncing too) instead of to a single server so I basically have literally 100s
of GBs of 'cloud'/Dropbox-like storage available. And as a bonus, its
completely free for all this 'unlimited' storage.

------
dochtman
I just want to know if it does client-side encryption.

~~~
k0ban
AES256 client side

------
eps
Logmein's Cubby does pretty much the same thing, in same p2p fashion and has
an option to get a server-side storage. Doesn't have the cool kid factor
associated with BitTorrent, but the point is that the tehnology has long been
there and it has been wrapped into the products.

Sync success hinges largely on whether BT can market it well, not on what it
does or how it does it.

------
r00fus
Interesting. Questions come to mind:

Encryption? (or would that require another layer a-la BozCryptor?)

Error/collision management - when Dropbox syncs files, there is a master
repository (Dropbox.com) and a file isn't synched unless it exists there.

------
Ecio78
How do you think it compares to Crashplan multi backup feature
[http://support.crashplan.com/doku.php/feature/multi_destinat...](http://support.crashplan.com/doku.php/feature/multi_destination_backup)
?

~~~
mutagen
As a Crashplan user, I see it as only slightly related. Crashplan is a backup
solution, with multiple versions available for restoration. These are stored
in a compressed and optionally encrypted blob of folders and files with
restoration controlled by Crashplan's GUI.

BitTorrent's Sync application appears to be a way to keep the current version
of files syncronized on multiple computers without a cloud (server)
intermediary and without a history of previous versions.

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criley
Am I missing something? Other people have my files? Peer-to-peer sounds
horrifying for my personal files.

I'll take SSL between me and one server, thankyouverymuch, and I'd prefer if
100 different seeders didn't have my personal files!

Or am I only seeding between my own personal machines? I sync to my four
devices and I can leech off of any of my own devices connected? But that
doesn't seem very "cloud".

Does anyone honestly feel comfortable syncing their files to peers?

Why not just hop on and peer everyone for the sole purpose of harvesting
people's files?

~~~
k0ban
Files are stored only on your computers, there is no cloud part. Sync uses p2p
to create a cloud from your computers. You will need to care about your setup,
to have 24x7 availability of the files.

------
tteam
We do this in Tonido as well. Using your primary computer as a sync server and
sync clients in all your other devices.

Your data is completely private and secure. Since it is a sync and have the
same files on all your connected devices you really don't need 3rd party cloud
storage systems like dropbox. Because often the argument is made for public
clouds that it provides offline backup not only sync.

Many small businesses use the product especially who have sales personnel in
the field.

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minm
Seems like Tonido Sync (<http://www.tonido.com/app_sync_home.html>)

