July 22nd, 2008 in Lifestyle, Technology

Dropbox: A Simple Syncing Solution

dropbox

Over the years, I’ve tried syncing my computers any number of ways, from trusting my entire life to a flash drive to uploading everything to Google Docs. Very few options have been idiot-proof enough to make up for my abilities to misplace things, forget to update file versions and generally fail to double check that my computers are all in sync.

I need a forgiving synchronization method — something that doesn’t require me to initiate back ups or juggle versions. Dropbox seems to be that method. I’ve actually been using it for over a month now and have encountered an impressive lack of problems.

Wikis and Security

I use a wiki (TiddlyWiki, to be precise) to handle a lot of my projects in progress. No matter what system I use to keep files in sync across computers, I have to have reliable access to my wiki. I’ve considered using one of the many sites willing to host a wiki for me, but I’ve had some questions about the security of such sites that have yet to be answered.

Dropbox has handled my wiki with no problems. Considering that TiddlyWiki creates a new file every time you save your changes, that can be impressive. Checking up on the file on the Dropbox website in preparation for this post, I discovered that my wiki was not only up to date — about 100 other files were also up to date if I wanted to double check old saved versions. Dropbox simply saved each one of them, without my having to click boxes or mess with the file.

Because of my security concerns, I also took a good look at Dropbox’s privacy policy and security measures. The team behind Dropbox seems to share my paranoia: all file transport occurs over SSL and files are encrypted with AES-256 before they’re stored on the site’s backend. So far, users can’t specify their own private key, but I’m content with the measures that Dropbox has taken so far.

I had to hunt around the site a bit to find Dropbox’s privacy policy. It’s mostly on par with privacy policies for similar services, though it is directly focused on the personal information that a user might supply for their profile — information associated with public files, forum posts and the like. Users’ files are not a matter for the privacy policy because Dropbox doesn’t mess with them. My files are encrypted before even someone at Dropbox could mess with them. I’m more than willing to trust Dropbox on both security and privacy.

Sharing Photos With My Mom

We all have those friends and relatives whose approaches to the internet require absolute simplicity. Anything much beyond ‘click this link’ just doesn’t fly. It can make sharing files, from photos to documents, interesting at best. But Dropbox also allows users to establish a shared folder. Within that shared folder, you can put any kind of file, and get a link that you can provide dear old Mom directly to that file.

Admittedly, there are plenty of other sites for sharing photos. But I’ve had to get everything form Powerpoint presentations to PDFs to my mom and I’d rather not explain a new site every time, or have to fuss with something different each time either.

Dropbox has also worked quite well for projects where I’ve needed to share files with group members. A few services have more bells and whistles, but for files other than the standard .doc, Dropbox has been ideal. It’s also much easier to stop sharing a file with Dropbox than with other services — I just drag it out of my public folder.

Drag and Drop Paradise

Dropbox has a great web interface. But the real use lies in the Dropbox application. You install it just like any other piece of software and it launches a Finder window or an Explorer window — there isn’t an Linux version yet, but Dropbox is working on an alpha version. Dropbox works just like any other folder: you can drag and drop files, which are then automatically synced across any computers you’ve activated and installed the software on, as well as the web interface. There are no problems sharing files between Macs and PCs, either — as long as you’ve got the appropriate software to open a file already installed.

I’ve had no problem working on files while offline, either. Dropbox just updates my files whenever I have internet access. This actually came in handy over the weekend when Amazon’s S3 service went down. Dropbox relies on S3, so there was no synchronization during the outage. But I was still able to edit my files in the meanwhile and, as soon as S3 was back up, Dropbox matched up all my files. According to forum members on the Dropbox site, the application was even able to pick up right where it had left off in the middle of partially uploaded files. Having that sort of outage is a heck of a test for a web application, but Dropbox seems to have managed quite well.

A Few Invites

Dropbox is still in private beta, although they seem to be fairly nice about handing out invites to those that request them. I’ve got five invites, according to my account, though, and I’m more than happy to send them off to LifeHack readers. I’ll email the invites to the first five commenters on this post.

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WRITER'S BIOGRAPHY

Thursday Bram

Thursday Bram blogs about a variety of topics, from personal finance to small business. She is the author of an upcoming book on the tools and tricks you need to build a career you can take with you during long-term travel. More information about Thursday and her book, Working Your Way Around the World, is available on her personal site, ThursdayBram.com.

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72 Responses

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  • Steve says on July 22nd, 2008 at 9:35 am

    I probably spend 20-30 min a day syncing my multitudes of data. That sounds like sync heaven! I would love an invite please!

  • Marc says on July 22nd, 2008 at 9:36 am

    I too have been using Dropbox for about a month. Love it. I have 5 invites, too, so anyone who needs one, let me know via the contact form @ my site.

  • Eric says on July 22nd, 2008 at 9:40 am

    Intriguing. I’ve shed most of my mobile computing apparatus in favor of web solutions because home and office are my only work points any more. A web-based-but-desktop-triggered sync tool like this sounds so useful. I’d love the chance to try this out. Thank you!

  • Fokke says on July 22nd, 2008 at 9:42 am

    If it is half as simple as the intro video shows this is going to be exactely what I need right now and is not yet available. Obviously I am going for an invite if possible.

  • Tom says on July 22nd, 2008 at 9:42 am

    I’ve been looking for a simple solution to syncing. Even Mobile Me hasn’t really done the job, its only syncing my contacts/email/etc. Thanks for a great review!

  • car losuc says on July 22nd, 2008 at 9:42 am

    Thank you. Very good commnent. I wonder to what extent one could profit from the service without installing the app (it is not always possiblt to install apps). I would like to compare it to windows mesh and mobile me. Thank you for the invite.

  • Steve says on July 22nd, 2008 at 9:45 am

    Does dropbox work over dialup as well as broadband speeds, sometimes I share fiels with dialup users? And I’d like an invite to give it a try. Thanks!

  • Benjamin Goering says on July 22nd, 2008 at 10:08 am

    Dropbox is pretty neat. Here’s a fun tip for Mac users:
    If you want to sync your entire Documents folder without having to copy each file into the official Dropbox folder, you can create a symbolic link in the terminal.

  • jez says on July 22nd, 2008 at 10:10 am

    Hey @Marc — your website gets this error —
    Fatal error: Call to undefined function: force_ssl_admin() in /home/marcmoss/public_html/wp-settings.php on line 390 –

    I would love an invite! have been using drop.io and they recently gave me 20Gb of storage as they couldnt send the free bouncy red balls, but it doesnt seem to have come through. Plus it doesnt sync..

  • Bernardo Pina says on July 22nd, 2008 at 10:19 am

    Do you still have an invite? I would like to have one… =)

  • Madara says on July 22nd, 2008 at 10:20 am

    I’ve used mozy for a bit, but would love to try Dropbox if you still have an invite. I enjoy your post so much I have added you to my RSS reader. I am just starting my site. Feel free to stop by. Thanks for offering the invite. James

  • nXqd says on July 22nd, 2008 at 10:21 am

    Yes, Drop is so great, I love its simple and simple web interface :)
    2Gb isn’t much but It’s enough for me :) I’m pretty happy with Dropbox and box.net ( for little bigger files :P)
    Anyone wants invite, mail me: Nxqd3051990@gmail.com, I’ve 7 invites left :) . I would love to share it ^^

  • Thursday Bram says on July 22nd, 2008 at 10:30 am

    I’ve sent out all my invites, I’m afraid — if you didn’t receive one, it looks like several people in the comment thread are offering a few as well.

  • John Dudley says on July 22nd, 2008 at 10:44 am

    If anyone has an invite, I would love to try it out.

  • Rachel S. Hill says on July 22nd, 2008 at 10:53 am

    I have used foldershare for a while for syncing my ical and address book data between two mac computers (as an alternative to purchasing .mac) I also used it to keep a folder of files in sync with all my non media documents. I’ve always been a little nervous about syncing the address book and ical date, that it might somehow get corrupted or something. I actually just use foldershare to sync the library>application support>addressbook folder and the library>calendars folder and it all just seems to work. I signed up for dropbox beta and would love to give it a try. Anyone know if this is a good or bad idea to try syncing this type of data?

  • jez says on July 22nd, 2008 at 10:56 am

    Thanks a lot!!!

  • sam says on July 22nd, 2008 at 11:04 am

    I’d like to try it out if there are any invites left- a good solution in this area is hard to find.

  • Marc says on July 22nd, 2008 at 11:13 am

    @Jez, I figured that might happen. I was upgrading to the newest version of Wordpress. It’s back online now. Thanks for the headsup.

    FYI – I’ve given out 7 invites since I first posted. I’ve got 3 left.

  • Richard Clyne says on July 22nd, 2008 at 11:41 am

    If anyone has any invites left, I’d like one too please.
    Thanks
    Richard

  • nXqd says on July 22nd, 2008 at 11:46 am

    I’m out of invites. I hope the ones who get my invites will invite the others :)
    I do this gladly, I hope you guys enjoy it

  • tarch says on July 22nd, 2008 at 12:58 pm

    I’ve been using Foldershare for a couple years and gone through quite a few problems. I am currently testing out Dropbox, SugarSync and Syncplicity. For my needs, Syncplicity is my solution of choice. It allows multiple folder sync and the developers are great. When Dropbox allows multi-folder sync, I’ll give it another go…but for now, Syncplicity is a better product in my eyes.

  • Marc says on July 22nd, 2008 at 1:40 pm

    Thanks for the mail, everyone. I gave away my last invite a few minutes ago.

    Cheers!

  • Sridhar Katakam says on July 22nd, 2008 at 1:42 pm

    I’ve written few more use cases of Dropbox at http://www.donationcoder.com/F.....#msg121809

  • Tim says on July 22nd, 2008 at 2:57 pm

    any of you who got Thursday or nXqd or Marc’s invites have an invite to give away now?

  • Isaac says on July 22nd, 2008 at 3:13 pm

    I still have 7 or 8 invites if someone wants one.

    Just email me:

    theisaac1 [at] gmail [dot] com

    Also, as Tim has said if you got an invite from someone you should now have 10 invites as well if I’m not mistaken.

  • Tim says on July 22nd, 2008 at 3:16 pm

    I’m a little concerned about those “secret” links for photos. google: gallery site:getdropbox.com

    may it was your photos I was looking at.

    tim

  • Yoav says on July 22nd, 2008 at 3:17 pm

    If anyone has an invitation left – I’d love one at “yoavlurie” (/at/) yahoo … thanks!

  • Marcos says on July 22nd, 2008 at 3:18 pm

    Can you please send me an invitation? my email is marcos[dot]molina[at]gmail[dot]com
    thank you so much!

  • Steven Schulman says on July 22nd, 2008 at 4:12 pm

    I would appreciate an invite, if anybody has one.

    Thanks,

    Steve

  • Kyle Miller says on July 22nd, 2008 at 5:26 pm

    If there is an invite available, I would like one. Please send to d r o p b o x [at] i m i l l e r dot us. Thank you!

  • Kate says on July 22nd, 2008 at 6:35 pm

    I would love an invitation if someone has an extra – k8k8k8 at comcast dot net.

  • Nathaniel says on July 22nd, 2008 at 10:00 pm

    If anyone has any spare invites left,
    I would also appreciate one,

    …if there are any left

  • Nathaniel says on July 22nd, 2008 at 10:02 pm

    sorry, forgot my email:

    nathaniel[dot]gomez[at]gmail[dot]com

  • Linnet Long says on July 23rd, 2008 at 12:09 am

    Any more invites? Thank you.

    writer [at] writeative [dotcom]

  • tenveer says on July 23rd, 2008 at 2:26 am

    plz invite me to dropbox ……i want to part of it

  • James W says on July 23rd, 2008 at 4:15 am

    I’ve been using dropbox for a couple months and love how it syncs automatically. My only problem has been occasional spiking CPU usage on Leopard. I’m trying MobileMe as a comparison but it looks like Dropbox is winning – iDisk can only automatically sync with 1 computer! I’ve sent my last invites to yoav, marcos, kyle, kate, nathaniel, and tenveer.

  • Jeff says on July 23rd, 2008 at 9:48 am

    I’ve been using Office Live Workspace, but need to be able to upload PDFs, etc. as well. An invite to Dropbox for jstevens (at) middlebury (dot) edu would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

  • Old Man Foltz says on July 23rd, 2008 at 9:53 am

    Looks like I missed the boat on the first round of invites!

    If anyone still has some they’d like to share, send one my way!
    old man foltz at gmail dot com.

    Thanks!

  • carti says on July 23rd, 2008 at 10:41 am

    I am one of the regular readers of your site. Find it quite userful. One suggestion would be to provide links to other sites of similar interest like lifehacker.com or paulstips.com. These sites also I found it useful.

    If anyone can provide me a dropbox account invite, that would be great. Thanks in advance.

  • Kortney says on July 23rd, 2008 at 11:24 am

    If there are anyone still has an invite, I would love to try this. I have been looking for a good way to sync between my pc and macs. Thanks.
    email: kortney.jarman at jarmanphoto dot com

  • Tushar Mehta says on July 23rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm

    If anyone has any invite left then can u pls mail me at tushar74 at gmail dot com

  • Eric S says on July 23rd, 2008 at 3:59 pm

    Still waiting for my invite form the sign up – anyone have any available?
    ericsc00 at hotmail dot com

  • MR YAP says on July 23rd, 2008 at 4:28 pm

    I like to have an invite. Email me at shyanyap[at
    ] gmail[dot]com

    thanks

    IS anyone not happy with the dropbox? Does it works for you?

  • Marcos says on July 23rd, 2008 at 5:19 pm

    Thank you very much James W for your invitation :)

  • Tom in Raleigh says on July 23rd, 2008 at 6:01 pm

    I’m a big fan of Syncplicity. It’s about to go to a paid model, but for $10/mo for 50GB it’s plenty big, and it works like a champ so far. Plus you can use it on an unlimited number of machines. It allows for folder sharing, although its photo sharing isn’t as slick as X drive. But X drive is so slow and buggy that I got rid of it. I am sure other services are good, and what works works, but syncplicity has been great so far.

  • Linnet Long says on July 24th, 2008 at 12:15 am

    Thanks, James–got the invite.

  • carti says on July 24th, 2008 at 1:08 am

    Could someone send me a invite for dropbox. mail id cartigayane AT Gmail D0T c0m

  • Scaar says on July 24th, 2008 at 3:24 am

    I would be very happy, if there’s an invite left ;) scaar[at]gmx[dot]de – thanks a lot!!!

  • Scaar says on July 24th, 2008 at 3:26 am

    Is the one invite left? Would be very happy about it ;) scaar[at]gmx[dot]de – thanks a lot!!!

  • Kate says on July 24th, 2008 at 11:20 am

    Ok, I’ve sent out invites to:
    Mr. Foltz, Jeff, Kortney, Tushar, Eric, Yap, Carti, and Scaar.

    Enjoy the Dropbox love… :-)

  • Ben Turner says on July 24th, 2008 at 11:39 am

    One more invite beg (join the end of the line !) from me : ben DOT turner AT pobox (dot) com

    Thanks to any dropbox invite Samaritan out there !

  • Tushar Mehta says on July 24th, 2008 at 1:33 pm

    I have some invites now thanks to Kate. If anyone wants pls mail me at tushar74 at gmail dot com

  • Rob says on July 25th, 2008 at 12:14 am

    I’m out of invites, but those who get invited generally get their own invites to use.

    I’ve been using DropBox for a few months, we use it for work as being in construction it allows us to easily share important files in our different offices or while on job sites.

    Besides the windows and mac versions, I’m currently one of the alpha testers for the Linux version… and it’s kicking butt too. I’ve got more thoughts on my own site about how dropbox has pretty much made my usb drive obsolete.

  • Jian says on July 25th, 2008 at 12:30 am

    anyone still have invite, could you send me one? Thank a lot!

    jchenibm@gmail.com

  • Scaar says on July 25th, 2008 at 3:29 am

    Thanks Kate, for the fast invite ;)
    I would be pleased to share my ten invites, just mail to scaar[at]gmx[dot]de

  • invites4youtoo says on July 26th, 2008 at 1:20 am

    Got 10 invites also:

    t d 0 0 1 7 4 [at] g mail. com

    no spaces…obviously.

  • Allie says on July 28th, 2008 at 1:53 pm

    Many thanks to invites4youtoo for the invite! Sharing invites if anyone would like to try, acr3000[at]gmail[dot]com.

  • SuiteDee says on July 28th, 2008 at 2:10 pm

    Good feedback on the dropbox…please send invite to arlingtondeedee at gmail.com if you have any left! be well, all!

  • Chris Yi says on July 30th, 2008 at 10:47 am

    I’ve signed up for the DropBox Beta, and so far it’s working great. I’d also really like to check out the Syncplicity Beta; the idea of having a GoogleDocs folder on my desktop makes me drool. Anyone have any Syncplicity invites?
    My e-mail address is my first and last name (check post header), followed by 81, at gmail.

    I’ll paypal you a dollar.

  • Chris Yi says on July 30th, 2008 at 10:50 am

    Please disregard my previous comment. Sometimes I am a foolish person.

    In unrelated news, the Syncplicity Beta is open to the general public; apparently you don’t need invite codes. Heh. Heh heh. Yeah.

  • Darran says on July 31st, 2008 at 4:44 am

    All my invites are gone however I have noticed another way in which I can invite people.

    Create a shared folder with the Dropbox web interface. Those that you invite to share said folder will require to have Dropbox installed to use it. Therefore they receive an invite.

  • John D says on July 31st, 2008 at 8:43 pm

    Man! I always seem to get to an article offering dropdox invites a little to late. Anyone still have an invite to give away?
    jcdittmar[at]yahoo[dot]com

    Thanks!

  • NeoGeo says on August 4th, 2008 at 7:32 am

    I would really appreciate an invite if there are any left.

    neogeo11 [at] hotmail [dot] com

    Thanks

  • jlfenaux says on August 5th, 2008 at 7:44 am

    The demo is extroardinary. If any one has an invite left, i’b be really glad.
    I’ve been using iDisk a few years ago, and it had be a pain.
    I’d love to give dropbox a try.

    jlfenaux[at]gmail[dot]com

    Thanks

  • Don says on August 16th, 2008 at 7:23 pm

    I would love an invite as well. If anyone has an extra they are willing to part with I would be happy to take it. Thanks

    dkallail[at]gmail[dot]com

  • alex says on August 17th, 2008 at 9:13 pm

    Oh thanks for this find!

    I’d love to receive an invite:

    sunstone ate fastmail dotta com

  • Alex says on March 5th, 2009 at 10:17 am

    Hey,
    
just wanted to let you know that on of our bloggers created a little plugin to mount the encfs-secured dropbox via macfusion. Since Windows doesn’t support fuse, its for mac only. Just check it out and let us know what you think of it, detailed description is also available.
    http://thenakedman.wordpress.c.....e-dropbox/
    Take care, alex

  • murpes says on August 13th, 2009 at 9:30 pm

    Dropbox plus KeePass is a potent, useful combination.

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