Filed under: .Mac
How do you sync multiple Macs?
Merlin Mann at 43Folders wants to know how you keep your Macs in sync (other than dot Mac, of course. That's the obvious choice). Are you using a custom-built solution, commercial products or a combination? I use this combination:
- iDisk for files. Any "reference" material I may want access to - documents for a project, receipts, confirmation emails, etc. - live on my iDisk. I've created a folder called "Reference," which in turn contains 26 sub-folders, labeled "A" through "Z" for simple alphabetical filing.
- Google Firefox browser sync handles my web bookmark synchronization. It's worked flawlessly since day one, which is a lot more than I can say for .Mac bookmark sync. All that's required is Firefox and a few minutes time for the initial upload to Google's servers.
- Highrise by 37signals manages my contact information, as well as conversations I want to save or that need follow-up. It's a terrific tool.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Brian said 3:37PM on 10-12-2007
I have an rsync script I run whenever I leave the house. I work on my iMac at home, then when I need to go on the road I run the script to my laptop. And wen I return, run it again back.
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Charlie Wood said 3:39PM on 10-12-2007
Lots of our users use Spanning Sync to sync their calendars between two or more Macs. We're currently beta testing v1.1, which has some additional duplicate-prevention features specifically for that scenario.
Regards,
Charlie
Spanning Sync
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Martin Chamberlain said 3:45PM on 10-12-2007
I use Plaxo (free, from www.plaxo.com) to synch my contact list and calendar between my Macs and Outlook on my Windows PC.
I use ChronoSync to synchronize files amongst my Macs and my Windows PCs. You can get that here: http://www.econtechnologies.com/site/index.html
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Danny Tang said 4:01PM on 10-12-2007
I use foldershare to sycn files and Safari bookmarks between my MacBook and Mac mini and use gSycn to sycn my iCal's.
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g said 4:01PM on 10-12-2007
I use Martian Slingshot
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Ricky said 4:02PM on 10-12-2007
I use Foldershare (free, www.foldershare.com) to sync my computers. This can be used to Sync a PC or Mac (or any combination). It works automatically and almost instantaneously (no scheduling needed - things are always kept in sync because the client monitors file changes in real-time). I just wish it worked with Linux, too.
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Absent One said 4:02PM on 10-12-2007
Don't forget the notmac challenge winner.
http://www.notmacchallenge.com/
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Paul Halliday said 4:15PM on 10-12-2007
rsync or Unison. I use FreeNAS, which supports both, connected via a VPN tunnel to my remote places of work.
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Dave said 4:35PM on 10-12-2007
I have an rsync script to my dreamhost server that sends pictures, movies, music, documents every night at 2am - I am on FIOS and since it's rsync, there is never much to do.
I then have a script on my office mac that sync's down each morning at 7:30 a.m. before I arrive.
I also have a mac laptop that I use when travelling to remote offices, 90% of the time it stays in my bag so it does not sync automatically... the day before I go somewhere, I run the same "down sync" script on it so that it's ready to go.
A little knowledge of cron jobs and rsync makes it work perfectly... and in addition to staying in sync, I have an off-site backup for everything in the Dreamhost Server.
Cost: $10 per month
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andreas32 said 5:30PM on 10-12-2007
Ben Spink's 'notmac' has replaced my dotmac synching and given new life to an old B&W.
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pop said 5:38PM on 10-12-2007
Second on FolderShare; Second on Spanning Sync. FolderShare keeps files synched, without prompting or scheduling, does it for free, and is agnostic. Spanning Sync not only keeps the iCal/gCal synched, but allows an assistant to change up appointments through gCal and they get synched back to iCal
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Bob Mc said 6:14PM on 10-12-2007
I use Microsoft's FolderShare to keep my documents in sync between my work computer, my work laptop, and my MacBook Pro at home.
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Rob said 8:20PM on 10-12-2007
Thanks for the tips on FolderShare.... I'll be checking that out.
Up to now, I've been using .mac for calendar, address book, etc. and ChronSync for files. It all works "ok", but I have a sense that there's a better way...
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Joel said 8:35PM on 10-12-2007
Can you believe it's so difficult to accomplish these tasks? I use an iMac at the office, and an iPhone and MacBook for my (frequent) travel. I have to use .mac for my calendars/contacts/bookmarks (except for the iPhone, which can't access .mac), then Chronosync for folders, and IMAP to keep email synched, except for some Yahoo accounts which don't have IMAP. And something else for iTunes and iPhoto, I guess.
Why can't the bright people at all these separate companies come up with ONE solution where I just check off a box (a la the iPhone section in iTunes) for everything I want to sync:
- iTunes
- calendars
- email (and I mean ALL the email, including messages)
- photos
- contacts
- folders
etc.
Why does it have to be this tough???
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Jon said 8:55PM on 10-12-2007
@joel: hear, hear. and to expand: why is synching so p**s-poor, slow, and error prone? ten-plus years after the original palm pilot, why isn't sync one of those things that Just Works?
even rsync isn't perfect; you still have to tell it how to treat moved or deleted files. shouldn't syncing and replication be built into filesystems by now?
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Tony said 9:22PM on 10-12-2007
ChronoSync + Home Zone = works wonders
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Scott said 9:44PM on 10-12-2007
another for FolderShare for files. Its not exactly fast, but I love it. I wish it did resource-forks though (damn you Quicken). Contacts are handled, fortunately, by a corporate sponsored Exchange server. Email is just gmail.
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Alfredo Padilla said 9:56PM on 10-12-2007
Folder Share is a great solution for synchronizing files between multiple computers, plus it works on PC's as well.
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Cabbage said 2:35AM on 10-13-2007
Leopard Server and Portable Home Folders!
I'm hoping to give notmac a try in the near future.
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trekkinglemon said 3:17AM on 10-13-2007
I use unison for syncing almost everything between my laptop and a desktop at work that serves as backup and number crunching machine: files, mail, contacts, smart folders, calendars. Marco Polo is used to detect my network settings and fires up unison automatically when dock my laptop at work.
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