Sync folders are intended to be used by a single user and offer the ability to work with files when offline. This is perfect for someone who travels frequently as they can access their files on the go and sync back up to the network drive when their Internet connection is re-established.
They can also be used to keep different computers in different locations synced with changes being made (i.e. home/work computer). They work best when the data within the sync folder is less than 10 GB or totals less then 100,000 files.
While you could set up a sync folder for use with multiple users, there is often more risk than is needed. There are more things that can go wrong with sync folders rather than the network drive.
Here are a few things that happen when using sync folders in a multi-user environment:
- Creation of conflict files.
- Files/folders appear to be randomly deleted.
- Deleted files/folders reappear.
For these reasons, the Network Drive is recommended over Sync Folders for multi-user environments.
Sync Folder Summary:
- Works best when storing less than 10 GB or 10,000 files.
- Sync process runs every 15 seconds.
- How to sync options must match in every location the same sync folder is configured.
- Meant for single user working offline.
- Not recommended for multi-user environments with stable network connections.
Step 1: Open the Configuration Menu
Step 2: Enable an existing Sync Folder or Create a new one
Step 3: Select the Local Folder you wish to sync
Step 4: Click OK, and Verify and Save your changes
Limitations
The sync folder works best when it holds less than 10 GB or less than 10,000 files.
This is largely due to a running sync database which ensures all files within the folder are being synced. Each file that is being synced has a record created within a sync database that is kept within the sync folder. The more records that are added, the more records that need to be searched during each sync. The sync process also runs every 15 seconds, which could significantly slow down a computer if a large amount of data is being processed.