In a previous article, I detailed my awkward experience with Windows Home Server and setting up a stable FTP server. In the end, I converted it into an XP server and assigned my clients with NetDrive so that they could mount the FTP server as a drive letter and browse effortlessly.

Problem is, NetDrive’s performance was subpar with large files, such as PDFs. For example, if I were to open a large PDF, instead of caching the entire PDF and reading it locally, NetDrive would proceed to download the PDF in parts much the same way it works when you view a large PDF from within a web browser. Because many of the PDFs on the server are large (100MB+), this resulted in extremely slow performance. Moreover, a client requested that the files be made available offline so that data from the server could be reviewed and edited while on a plane, for example. Dropbox’s impressive core sync engine evidently left quite an impression, and rightfully so.

I began an epic quest for the perfect realtime, bi-directional sync utility that I could use in conjunction with NetDrive to sync between a local copy of the server data and the server itself — in an effort to essentially replicate the Dropbox-like sync experience.

I must have installed over a hundred sync applications. This was an exhausting and defeating endeavor. Many sync software applications are remarkably similar and there is heavy competition among them. At one point, I had a near-perfect sync using this remarkably capable (albeit not-entirely-user-friendly) program called FTP Auto Sync which I could get working about 80% of the time. However, all of the programs were unable to handle multi-client scenarios. My server is intended to handle changes from multiple users simultaneously. So, one user may delete a file while another user adds a 10GB worth of new files somewhere else. What I was essentially asking all of these programs to do was “check whatever was done last on the server and sync it back with whatever I did last locally and figure it out.” A tall order. Problem is, a locally residing program is blind to the changes the remote FTP server is doing while offline and is unable to monitor all folders at all times anyway.

Let’s say I delete four files from the server. How is the local client to know whether to delete the files from the local client, or the sync the local files back to the server? To get around this, some programs maintain a database of changes, however, they still do not work in a multi-client environment unless I were to switch to an entirely different platform, such as iFolder. Many programs simply were unable to handle syncing in realtime between a pseudo-drive such as NetDrive altogether.

I ended uninstalling everything, including NetDrive and installing WebDrive to replace it after discovering that it had advanced caching and offline synchronization features. The main WebDrive interface may look similar to NetDrive, but the underlying technology is much more robust and feature rich.

By default, WebDrive is configured for “Single User” under Cache Settings. This infers that you will be the only one affecting changes on the server. Since my server data will be changed by many users, I wanted mine to be Multi-user which makes WebDrive check the modified date/time on the server files to verify that the cached files are up to date, if they are not, it will re-download the files as necessary.

You’ll also note that on the bottom, there are two additional options for flushing the cache upon connecting. Since this is the default behavior for Multi-user, I selected Custom and unchecked these two so that the cached files would remain.

Once you have connected to your FTP server, WebDrive has a useful little tool called the WebDrive Monitor. You can access it by right clicking on the WebDrive system tray icon and selecting “Show Monitor.” The Monitor displays the raw FTP commands as they are executed between the client and server as well as file transfers, speed, and a handy progress bar. In addition, the WebDrive system tray icon flashes a world icon whenever data is being transferred. Whenever there is any kind of delay, it’s nice to be able to open up the Monitor and see what is slowing things down, or even to troubleshoot an issue on the server if necessary.

Now, to test the offline sync, I created a test folder entitled “server copy”; I placed four PDFs in the folder and selected the drive made available offline. To prepare a system to be ready for offline files unfortunately requires a few steps to be taken. Those steps can be found in complete detail here, so please refer to that PDF and read it entirely if you intend to use WebDrive for this purpose. First, I open the WebDrive program settings and check both “Synchronize Offline files at Connect time” and “Synchronize Offline files at Disconnect time” for full synchronization. With the server in “online mode” I right click on the “server copy” folder and under WebDrive> select “Make Available Offline.” Since I have the Monitor open, I can see that they are “Set offline.”

Once the files are marked for offline mode, I reconnect to the WebDrive in “offline mode” by checking the “Connect Offline” box next to the Connect button, then reconnect. Of course, you must first disconnect from the server in order to reconnect, even in offline mode. Once connected, I then VNC’d to the server unit directly and deleted 4.pdf and added a new text file called “server.txt”; on the local “offline” copy, I deleted 1.pdf and 2.pdf and added a new text file called “local.txt”

WebDrive has several ways to perform a sync: (1) you can right click on the drive letter itself and select WebDrive > Synchronize Now; (2) right click on the system tray icon, select your WebDrive and then choose Synchronize Now; and (3) simply going back into Online mode where WebDrive will automatically perform a sync on connect. I right clicked on the system tray icon and selected “Go Online” to initiate an auto-sync. The sync was near instantaneous since my files sizes were trivial.

I was hoping for a solution that would free my clients from having to right-click and generally be reminded so much that they are using a workaround for Dropbox, but without Dropbox’s core sync engine, this is as elegant as it gets. I am informed that Novell/kablink’s iFolder (server software not available for Windows) and SparkleShare (not yet available) as well as other utilities such as Unison (no longer under active development) could potentially solve my FTP sync issues as well. My quest is over, at least for now, and while it may not be entirely seamless, my clients will be given the closest thing to the perfect sync.

admin@variableghz.com

Update: See our Top 5 Free Online Storage Reviews (11/1/2010) for more cloud storage goodness.

I’ve been in search of truly unlimited online storage for quite some time. I don’t mind paying, as long as it’s really unlimited. In my quest, I’ve come across a wide variety of services that fall short of their claims because they require the use of a proprietary client to facilitate the backups, thereby effectively making an online RAID 1 mirror. The catch is that if you delete something on your local machine, it will be deleted (typically within thirty days). So, they’re obviously not too worried about you using too much space since it is unlikely that you’ll have 100TB of data on your machines.

Nevertheless, Livedrive also offers a “briefcase” feature that essentially functions exactly the same as Dropbox, except with unlimited online capacity which is a very good deal if you were in the market for that. Aside from that, I’m going to dive right in and see if Livedrive can offer me with the kind of online storage that I require. I’d like to be able to upload a 250GB Acronis True Image .TIB file, for example… we’ll see if Livedrive can fill my needs.

Installing the Livedrive client is simple, though requires a reboot.

After the reboot, Livedrive starts up automatically and prompts you to login with the account you already registered online. There is no e-mail verification, though signing up for the free trial does require your address and phone number.

Thereafter you enter in your computer name, and then choose which folders to backup via a simple checkbox UI. The defaults are Documents, Pictures, Music, Desktop, Firefox Settings and “Favourites.” There is a button to “Add Folder” as well. A little window shows how to set Livedrive to backup new folders via right-click.

So far it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to upload a massive 250GB .TIB file and leave it there “backed up.”

I right clicked on a folder to add it to “monitoring” and sure enough it lets me know that it will auto-backup whatever changes I make. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no way to make a one-way archive/backup or a single file without having it be a “monitored” or “mirrored” folder existing on both the local computer and the Livedrive servers.

Disappointed, I signed up for the Livedrive “briefcase” which enables an “L:” drive which is accessible via any PC you link up to it. During the initial pitch, it said that you could upload files directly from the web UI. I realized shortly thereafter that whatever you upload must also stay synced to whatever PC you have set to have an L: drive, so you cannot have the data reside only in the cloud. Moreover, there doesn’t even appear to be a way to upload files directly from the web UI in the Briefcase. I can make a new folder, but that’s about it.

What bothers me about this is that it isn’t a true “backup service” in the sense that I cannot take a full image of a massive PC and then keep it in the cloud. No, instead I have to use their provided client and keep the image in both places. I can appreciate the convenience, and I can see how this tool is useful for most people, but I wouldn’t recommend it for those who are technically inclined. We’ll need to look elsewhere. That’s too bad.

Sam
admin@variableghz.com

Recently, I’ve had to work on a number of machines that have had Outlook as their primary e-mail client for a number of years and in doing the requisite work on these systems that I’ve come to see a broad issue with locally stored e-mail and the way Outlook in particular makes it very difficult to get away from. What is surprising to me is just how many people are still falling for the locally stored e-mail trap. Don’t get me wrong, allow me to explain. Some people (such as those who heavily value privacy, manage their own e-mail servers, etc.) can benefit heavily from such a system, but an average user who doesn’t know the difference between Gmail and an Exchange Server should certainly not be using the latter.

At first, Outlook seems like a great tool. It’s got everything in one place, e-mail, tasks, calendars, notes and so on. As you continue using Outlook over the years, I imagine it becomes familiar as you begin to make folders and subfolders, add to your calendar and make reminders for your calendaring. I get that.

Now, here’s the thing. Outlook was created a long time ago when most people barely even had a single PC, let alone two or more that is commonplace now. So, Outlook starts to really show its issues when synchronization is attempted between multiple computers. Outlook was never originally intended for this — so every attempt at having smooth synchronization is a convoluted process. Not to mention incredibly expensive.

There are many other small issues that compound as well. Such as, let’s say you have a new domain and you have your e-mail currently downloading via POP to a desktop system. Alright, not a problem. However, let’s say we start downloading the mail onto a laptop as well. Now we have to check whether the e-mails are stored on the server after they are downloaded. If they are, for how long? Will Outlook double-download them if they stay on the server for too long?

There are many things that cloud-computing may be wrong for, but e-mail is not one of them. By leaving your e-mails in the cloud, you could be free to use Outlook with IMAP as a synchronized e-mail platform. However, what about calendars, contacts, tasks and notes? Ah, right. For that you might need another solution such as SYNCING.NET or an Exchange Server. Both solutions which I do not recommend.

In general, my advice would be to stay far far away from Outlook and use something with the strength and versatility of Gmail. I can understand many instances in which Gmail wouldn’t suffice (privacy concerns, for one); however there are hundreds of competitors to choose from and a great percentage of them will be far superior than any minor advantages you might get from using Outlook. However, if you’re just now trying to get away from Outlook — you can actually import your Outlook data into Gmail, which is a pretty good solution.

admin@variableghz.com

Well, there’s certainly quite a few Outlook sync competitors, but I chose Syncing.net due to price and the pitch. They have a nice little flash demo showing everything going perfectly. Now, Syncing.net doesn’t only sync Outlook PST’s between computers, they also have a Dropbox-like folder sharing capability which allows you to “invite” other people to your shared folder(s). I did not use this functionality.

Syncing.net, in theory, is pretty easy to set up. According to tech support, you simply install Syncing.net on the host/master computer, then “invite” your other computers as necessary.

Syncing.net manages its syncing capabilities by using a secure P2P (peer to peer) connection as well as a “store and forward” feature which allows Syncing.net to use its own servers to temporarily store up to 250MB of data temporarily if one of the computers is off — thereby preventing the possibility of a P2P connection from taking place.

I tested Syncing.net on a pretty zippy dual-core Athlon based system running Vista Ultimate x64. At all times I had plenty of available memory and since I built the system there was no additional bloat from any other trialware or anything else. I used Office 2007 with Syncing.net.

The Syncing.net software is curious in that whenever it is running and has an Internet connection, it has a circle and a green checkmark in the system tray. Fine, but it’s really not clear as to what it’s doing because of this; the only way to tell if it’s transferring data is to open the software and look at the lower right corner and see that it is in fact transferring data at a certain KB/s rate. Additionally, you can view transfer status via a menu option to see additional options. But it won’t give you any indication of when it’ll be finished. No percentage or anything. They say this is because sync is inherently never “done.” Fair enough, but some kind of progress bar would be appreciated.

Upon the initial sync with the second computer, Syncing.net managed to make a mess out of it. There were duplicate folders and e-mails, calendar entries, folders within folders that had no business being there, etc. I had to instruct my client to essentially delete whatever was necessary to restore it to normal. Tech support was dumbfounded and told me to send them an error report using their built in error reporting tool — which failed (on every system I tried it on, by the way; I had plenty of opportunity to test it out). I asked them why it failed, they told me the usual, anti-virus, firewall, etc. However, I disabled my local firewall and set the router to use a DMZ (Demiltarized Zone) to ensure that there were no conflicts and disabled any anti-virus/anti-spyware to ensure that they had no excuses — still no dice. So I had to send it to them manually via a convoluted process of digging around in my hidden application folder for a huge ZIP file. Fine for someone like me, but what if I didn’t know what Windows Explorer was, or what a zip file was? Or how to browse around hidden folders?

Anyway, tech support is in Germany so they take a pretty long time to get back to you. When they got back to me in this instance, they just told me to do the sync again. Okay.

So this second time around, I deleted everything on the second machine so that it would gracefully accept the data from the master system without any hitches. An unnecessary yet recommended step according to tech support. I performed the sync again which took many hours (due to the large amount of data, primarily). When it was done I was shocked to see, again, that somehow Syncing.net had messed it up. I had practically the same duplicate folders such as “Inbox_1″ which would contain partial e-mails from Inbox, and it wasn’t clear why some were in those folders but not others.

To make matters worse, once I had my client “clean” everything up, Syncing.net would always seem to be one step behind and throwing up little prompts saying that I had made a change on a different system, asking which change I wished to keep. That’s odd because there’s only one person using any given Outlook at any particular time, so, how can these magic “simultaneous syncs” be happening? Tech support certainly had no idea.

My final qualm with the software is that it consumes an enormous amount of resources, mostly in disk activity, which is the worst kind of resource to be hoarding. It causes the computer to slow down enormously with intense I/O sometimes for nearly 20 minutes at a time, even when no changes to Outlook have been made. It really locks the system up — all 3 I tested it on, Vista and XP.

So, my issues with the software and service are as follows:

- No progress bar or any indicator of completeness (or even that it is doing anything, without manually clicking and checking or seeing the intense disk I/O);
- Poor resource management (hogs the entire hard drive without waiting for idle time);
- Incessant prompts which are difficult to permanently solve (“conflicts” resulting from supposed simultaneous changes);
- Difficult and generally unhelpful tech support;
- Extremely time consuming;
- Inconsistent (sometimes it syncs files perfectly, other times it skips several e-mails, even with the “store and forward” feature enabled).

If the software fixed the resource and inconsistency issues, it would be a passable solution. However, because of the compounding issues I cannot recommend this software, just as I cannot recommend Outlook as an e-mail solution. Sorry.

Look elsewhere for your e-mail needs and try to detach yourself from Outlook as soon as you can!

admin@variableghz.com