The files started transferring immediately. I created a key on my server iMac, I plugged it into my primary iMac. Just before writing this post, I set up yet another–a dedicated folder for accessing from my iPad. Setting up a BitTorrent Sync is so indescribably easy, I am surprised I do not have a hundred of them. Better, I could assign it any folder I wanted. It seemed like BitTorrent Sync, though it lived up in my menu bar and did take up some memory, could give me a live mirror of my Box folder on the server iMac and on the primary one. I did not want another app up in my menu bar, much less occupying memory. Dropbox allows LAN syncing–but not in the iOS app–and I never even investigated if Box allowed it. Then I read some more about BitTorrent Sync and how it could sync files between machines over LAN. These names are too similar–I will call the old iMac the server iMac, even though it is not one. So I installed Box on the old iMac (for lack of a better name… it is not much older than my primary computer) and was able to mount the home folder and see the Box folder and its contents from my primary iMac. Mine serves media files through iTunes and Plex but now also has all the cloud apps running on it. Unfortunately, all of the things I am describing require having a spare computer–not quite a server, sort of a server-lite. The first step in my solution to having immediate access to these files was to install the desktop apps on my spare iMac. I just do not want them running on my computer all the time. Except I have a bunch of free storage from Box and storage is so cheap at Google Drive, I have it too. It has the most integration with the iOS apps I use and I am able to run web apps to access the document files. Exploring Optionsįor cloud storage, I tend to use Dropbox. If you have a Mac, your menu bar can fill up with these icons and one of them is always at it. Everyone has an app now or a web interface.īut there are also the little apps always running, always downloading, always uploading.

There are multiple versions (sometimes), there is LAN syncing so you do not waste your bandwidth (sometimes)–but most of all, there is the availability of your files wherever you may be.

There are a lot of benefits to cloud-based storage. Check it out and let us know what you think! He got more than a few questions about it, and he was kind enough to write up a post for us. This week’s Sync Hacks post is from writer Andrew Wickliffe, who initially tweeted out that he was using Sync with Hazel. (And now, it’s even more mobile.) If you’ve got an epic Sync idea, use-case or how-to, shoot us an email at. BitTorrent Sync is a free, unlimited, secure file-syncing app. Sync Hacks is a column dedicated to exploring new applications for BitTorrent Sync, as built by users like you.

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