Sweeter Syncs With SugarSync

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If you are using more than one computer, you’ll know the hassle of keeping all of your important files in sync across them. And when it comes to backing up, we all know we should do it but considering how troublesome it is, not many of us do. What if I told you that there was a solution that was not only elegant but just as effective in getting all that done and more? Enter SugarSync.

You may have heard about this service from Sharpcast which was launched not too long ago. I heard rave reviews about it when it debut but I thought it was not for me. I use mainly one computer and there was nothing I really wanted to sync. But boy was I wrong. The more I looked, the more I liked it. If you were like me and have forgotten about SugarSync, let me tell you why you’ll want to reconsider it.

Introduction

SugarSync is an online commercial service. Plans start from $2.49 per month for their 10GB version and goes up to $24.99 per month (about $20.83 if you pay annually) for their biggest 250GB plan. Not sure if it’s for you? Well, they have a 10GB trial plan that runs for 45 days which you can give a go to see if this is the service you’d want to stick to.

But My Hard Disk Is Huge

When I told my friends about SugarSync, the number one complaint I heard was that their hard disk were huge which meant they had to get one of the higher plans. Not true if you look into it.

Of my 100GB hard disk, I would say about 50GB of it is contained within My Documents, where most of my important files are. And within those 50GB, I found out that only about 2.4GB of those files are those that are dear to me (important documents, photographs and the likes). So instead of spending $14.99 a month on their 100GB plan, I would now only need to spend $2.49 a month to get their 10GB plan. If you think your needs are rather higher, I would recommend that you find out just how much you need.

Now that we’ve got that covered, here’s why you’d want to (re) consider SugarSync.

Easy Backup

We all know how time consuming this can be so many of us do not actually practice what we preach. I used to be one such user but things have changed since I got my Network Access Storage. And while I initially had to get applications and set it up to get it the way I want, I would have preferred a much easier way.

With SugarSync, that’s just exactly what you can expect. Install their manager on your PC or Mac, select the files and folders you want to backup/sync and you’re all set. It’ll upload your selection to it’s server in the background so there’s nothing you have to touch. Made some changes to the files you uploaded? Not to worry because SugarSync will reflect those changes on it’s servers as well.

Easy Restoration

Say you got SugarSync and your computer crashed. You got your replacement. Now what? Well restoration is just as easy as backing up with SugarSync. Just install the manager on your new computer and grab the files and folders available. Grab a cup of coffee or go watch a movie (depending on how big your files are and your connection speed) and when you come back, chances are your important files are now native on your computer. Impressive!

Multi Computer Sync

So what about having maintaining your files across several computers? Well SugarSync can help you do that too, and like the backup and restoration process, it’s just as quick and easy to be up and running.

There are 2 options that you can go with when it comes to syncing and it would depend on what you want to accomplish as well as your limitations.

Lite Sync

This is the default sync when you set up SugarSync on the first computer for the first time. The files and folders that you have selected are copied to SugarSync’s servers and synced with this first computer.

When you set it up on the second computer, you’ll notice that the files on the first computer are not copied to your second computer. That’s how it works though you can change it just as easily.

However, if you need to make any edits on a file on the first computer, you can just access it using the Manager on the second computer. Any changes made will be reflected in the first computer when you access it there.

Full Sync

In this option, the files are copied to the second computer. Again, any changes made on the second computer are reflected on the first (and vice versa).

So Why 2 Sync Options?

Well that would depend on what your needs are. If your desktop has 250GB of space and your laptop is an ASUS EEE PC with only 4GB of space, you’d not want to do a full sync due to space constraints on the laptop. This is where Lite Sync comes in handy because you can get access to all the files on the desktop without having to compromise on storage space on the laptop.

Then why would anyone want to use Full Sync you ask? Well if you are in an area with no internet connection, say on board an airplane, you’ll no longer be able to access the files on your desktop from your laptop. This is where Full Sync comes in handy. When fully synced, all the files on your desktop are now on your laptop so you could make the changes while in flight. Once you land and have internet connection, the files on your laptop are synced with the server such that the next time it is accessed on the desktop, the user would see the updated version.

Remote Access

What if you need to access a file on your desktop which contains some important travel information and you are now thousands of miles away. SugarSync has you covered as well. You could go to an internet cafe, and without having to install the manager application, you can still access your files. How?

By going to your personal website which is located at xxx.sugarsync.com where xxx is your username. From there, you could do just about anything to the file. Open, rename, copy, move, zip, delete and even send it to your contact. You could even upload files from that computer to your SugarSync server so you could access it from another computer later.

Send To Contact

While still on that same trip, your boss may ask you to send him an important file. Now, you’re on holiday and the file is on your computer which you’ve left back home. With SugarSync, as long as that file is synced, you can easily send it to your boss from your personal website without having to download it and them emailing it to him (although you can do that if you want to).

Share Your Files

Documents are not the only things you can send with SugarSync. If you have a photo album that you would like to share with your contacts, SugarSync allows you to do just that as well. Personally, I have Facebook for that but for those looking for an alternative while on the go, SugarSync might work pretty well for you.

Mobile Access

One advantage SugarSync has over similar online service is it’s mobile application. Through this application, you can view photos of you that you have uploaded to SugarSync’s servers as well as share them with your contacts. You could even view your contact’s photos if they have shared it with you.

To access files, you’ll have to use the mobile web version. There’s a shortcut from within the mobile application that will open up the link in your default browser and you can navigate it almost like you do on a PC.

There’s really nothing to shout about when it comes to the mobile application and I would prefer it if it were more powerful. I do cover some suggestions to improve it later on.

Web Archive

So you can backup and you can sync. But what if you wanted to clear some space on your computer but still retain those files? That’s where the Web Archive comes in. This feature can be found in the SugarSync Manager when you set it up and it’s basically an online storage area.

All files uploaded to this folder (you can create subfolders for it) will not be synced with any computers and any changes made after the initial upload will not be reflected. These are great for files that take up a lot of space that you do not need to access on a regular basis like photographs or videos. Just upload them to the Web Archive and once the upload is complete, you can then delete them off your computer. Storage, photographs and videos saved.

So Just How Secure Is This?

Considering you are trusting a lot of your important files with SugarSync, just how secure is it?

When you upload and download files, they are done using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) which is the industry standard for secure web communication according to SugarSync. That means your files are encrypted before they leave your computer and decrypted at SugarSync’s server’s end. What about on their servers?

Once your data reaches our servers, files are encrypted with 128-bit AES, the same level of hacker-proof protection used by major banks. Your data is stored and backed up in two geo-redundant, carrier-grade data centers, including Amazon’s S3 facility. SugarSync does not just sync your files, we back up the synced copies as well.

So it seems that your data is pretty safe and very well protected. I doubt many, if not any of us, would go to such measures to secure our files and it’s nice to know that such a service does.

With all these features in mind, it would seem that SugarSync is a great service. It is but there were some drawbacks which I encountered:

Mobile Application Is Weak

I can’t say much for the BlackBerry version considering I only used the Windows Mobile application but the WM version was really weak. For starters, I could only use it for photo sync and if I wanted to deal with files, I had to use the web version. If only it incorporated files like the desktop/laptop versions of SugarSync.

Another thing I noticed was that if you wanted the photos on your Windows Mobile to sync, you’d need to launch the camera application from the SugarSync application. This was troublesome in my opinion and what was worse was that on my ETEN Glofiish X500, it did not launch the camera and crashed on some occasions when I tried. In the end, I had to manually import the photos which was even more troublesome.

No Outlook .PST File Sync

If you use Outlook on multiple computers and are looking for a sync solution, you’ll still be out of luck with SugarSync. It does not allow you to select the .pst files because hidden files and folders do not show up on it’s directory list for selection. However, this is one of the biggest requests and I would not be surprised to see it being added in the near future.

No Linux Support

Considering the rising popularity of Linux lately, it was rather disappointing to see that SugarSync does not support this platform at the moment. After some discussion with my contact at SugarSync, he mentions that Linux support is currently being worked on and should be available some time soon. This is something I think that will make it even more enticing for users to dual-boot Linux and Windows.

Bandwidth Control

At the moment, there is no bandwidth control when it comes to SugarSync’s Manager. When I did my initial setup and had to upload a a huge amount of file, I did encounter some slowdown as it was uploading the files even though I was in no hurry to get it all synced at that time.

By having bandwidth control that supports scheduling, users would be better able to control the flow so whether they’re in a hurry to get everything sync before their flight or just want to take it easy, they’ll can choose either.

No Network/External Drive Support

At the moment, you can only choose files from your main drive on your computer. If you have an external or network drive attached or connected to it, it would not show up on SugarSync which means you’ll not be able to sync them as well.

Again, this is another feature that is hotly requested and they’re working to get it out but at the moment, there is no exact date as to when you’ll see it.

What I Like

• Easy to setup and can forget about it after the initial setup.
• Competitive prices (though going lower would certainly help).
• Painless back ups and restorations (if needed).
• Sync multiple computers.
• Choice of lite of full sync, depending on situation.
• Remote access capability from any computer.
• Web Archive allows you to upload files that you do not want to sync.
• Secure transfers and storage. Files are mirrored across multiple servers.

What Could Be Improved

• Make Mobile application more like desktop application.
• Support for Outlook .pst file sync.
• Ability to sync on Linux platforms.
• Support for bandwidth control and scheduling.
• Ability to back up network drives and external storage.
• Not able to upload files using Windows Mobile Pocket Internet Explorer.

Conclusion

I think SugarSync fills many needs in one simple and easy to use package. It does backup, sync and even remote access, all for as low as $2.49 a month. There are other alternatives out there that you could consider but you factor in the ease and robustness of this service, I don’t think anything comes close. Give their trial a go. You’ve nothing to lose for 45 days with 10GB of storage. If you’re ready, chose from their 10GB, 30GB, 60GB, 100GB and 250GB plans.

Do you use SugarSync? What are your thoughts on it?

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