Reflections

I’ve now been using SugarSync’s multi-computer sync software for about three days now, and, after spending some time playing with it, I have to say I love it! There are some things I recommend they improve upon, but all-in-all after you start using it you’ll wonder how you ever got along before SugarSync.

What it does

As previously mentioned, SugarSync works in the background to sync folders you select (generally your My Documents folder, but it’s up to you) to their server. These files can then be synced to other PC or Mac systems running the local sync software. You can download the local software onto different machines and easily decide what gets uploaded to the server from that machine, and what to download from other machines on to this one. If you are only interested in files getting backed-up on the server, but don’t want to download specific files to a given computer, you can easily decide what to exclude, and what to include, on each machine. You can also run in Lite sync mode, the default, which will index files that are on the server and allow you to view the folder structure and files within each folder, but will only download them on demand through the client software. But you can easily decide to just run a constant sync, and each time you save a file you are working on, the SugarSync software will update the copy on their servers.

You can also access your files from anywhere through a website assigned to you by SugarSync, which allows you to show your friend those pictures you forgot to upload to flickr, or to print that document you forgot to bring with you from any computer with internet access. Currently the client software is available for Mac and PC, but not for Linux. Although it would be great to have a client that would also run on Linux, in the meanwhile you can simply use a browser to get to all of your files, though you will have to upload any modified versions so that they sync back to your other computers. I tested working with a file on my personal laptop, and then opening it on my work laptop, making a quick change there, and then reopening it on my personal laptop. The updated versions were synced in a matter of moments; rather impressive.

You can also load client software onto your mobile phone (I ran mine on a Moto Q with Windows Mobile 6 software). I found the mobile software a little quirky, but it worked with a little coaxing and I could quickly view the pictures I took on my phone from any of my synced computers, or from any browser window. You do have to initiate the sync on your phones manually, but this likely saves power on our power-hungry phones, so I was fine with the trade-off.

And now for the drawbacks

I have fallen in love with this tool, but there are some drawbacks that are worth mentioning. I ended up removing the mobile software from my phone because you could simply open the software and it would take you to the browser on your mobile phone and directly into the website with all of your files. I tried logging out of the site on my phone to see if it would prompt me for my password, and it still logged me directly into my files from the mobile sync software. This made me particularly nervous because if someone steals my phone, they will not only have access to all of the e-mail, contacts, and pictures stored on my phone, but could also manage to gain access to all of the files from My Documents if they figure out what the software is before I have time to change my password. A major security risk, and a major concern.

Additionally, I could not locate a place to force a password prompt within the preference screens on the local sync software, nor could I locate this within the site itself. As I mentioned above, I installed the sync software on my work computer, but don’t necessarily want anyone who can access that computer to be able to access all of my files. I still have to log-in with the IT administrator password to see if they would be able to do this successfully, but it would be nice to specify different levels of security on each machine, including forcing a password prompt. It is certainly the case that one has to log into the machine to be able to gain access to SugarSync, but I would appreciate the peace of mind that would come along with a password prompt on machines of my choosing.

Should you try it out?

Definitely! I plan to keep using it, and suspect that they will make some upgrades to their software to take device-level security into account. They advertise a free 45 day trail with 10GB, so I recommend you try it out so you can fall in love with it for yourself!

Tags: Business and Technology, Uncategorized //