Syncing Between iMac and Macbook Air

[Jamiefort]

I have an iMac as my main office computer but when I travel for business I have a Macbook Air. Ideally I'd like to be able to sync my files between them so that one is a mirror of the other. I've tried various options such as Back to Mac, which I never got to work outside my home network: Signed up to 'LogMe In' and this sort of works if I need to dump a file on my Air remotely, but it takes time, needs internet access and costs. iCloud, I suppose is another option, but that would mean me putting all my files on it and paying when I go over my limit. I read somewhere about a 'Home Cloud'. Anybody got any suggestions or knowledge of Home Cloud?
Thanks

 

[chas_m]

All you need is ChronoSync.

Econ Technologies. Do a search.

 

[Jamiefort]

Thx. I'll take a look. Is it something you use?

 

[MacInWin]

+1 for CHronosync. And yes, I do use it to do exactly what you described. The one thing you need to know is that they need to be in the same network, i.e., they don't sync if you are ON the road but sync when you get back to the network with the iMac. But since you can't use the iMac while you are on the road, that's not really a problem, right?

 

[JenPoMas]

Actually, you CAN sync with the iMac at home while you're on the road if you install ChronoAgent on it AND your home router is compatible enough to allow WAN access. It might not be practical for massive synchronizations, but at least you can access your data and sync important files. Check out their (Econ Technologies) latest release of ChronoAgent; it provides the settings for WAN Access.

 

[Jamiefort]

I've downloaded the trial of Chronosync and after a few false starts, it does seem to be a good solution. I'm going to play with it for the duration of my 1 month trial period, but it seems likely that I'll go down that route, so thank you.
They suggest/recommend that I load the software on the Air as opposed to the office iMac. I've done it the other way around simply because I was sitting at my iMac when the thread started. In your experience, does it make any difference?
Also I'm assuming that the best way for me to run it is simply as a "synchronise bi-directional" (after the first initial L to R sync).
Doing this on my home network will work fine for me I think. Didn't really understand the stuff about whether my router allows WAN access, but thanks for the tip.
I have noticed, when using Chronosync that I can access the necessary files on both left and right sides and the sync completes. However, if I want to repeat a sync for another file, I can only see my iMac's HD and nothing external to it (Airport extreme, Macbook Air for example). If I quit Chronosync and reopen it, it works fine again, and so on. Is this a fault, or am I missing something?
Many thanks everybody for your comment so far.

 

[MacInWin]

In my case I have Chronosync on my iMac, ChronoAgent on the MBP. I don't think it matters, but my thinking was that the scheduling is done in Chronosync, so the iMac, which is powered up 24/7, seemed the logical place. But I honestly don't think it matters. I don't sync outside my local network. No real reason, but one caution is that a sync COULD be big, and could consume a lot of bandwidth, so syncing while traveling away from the home network COULD be expensive.

I haven't seen what you are seeing but my copy is paid for and yours is the trial version so maybe some functions are not fully enabled on the trial (I'm guessing here, I don't know). I have one scheduled sync of the home directory on the iMac to the home directory on the MBP. I don't sync individual files, I have EVERYTHING in the home directory for the two machines synced. And the sync is scheduled for every day at 3 am local. That way I don't need to fuss with it, ever, it just runs. I do check the logs every so often to see that it is still succeeding, but it only rarely doesn't succeed, so I don't check very often.

 

[Moro]

You should also check out BitTorrent Sync, available for Mac, Windows & Mobile

BitTorrent Sync

 

[JenPoMas]

Didn't really understand the stuff about whether my router allows WAN access, but thanks for the tip.

Sorry about that. I was replying to MacInWin's post.

I've been using ChronoSync for quite some time and feel I can heavily rely on it doing its job. Yesterday I purchased ChronoAgent because the new version allows for syncing over the internet, which is something I will eventually need to do. So far the test syncs I've done have been without flaw.

I have a MBP that travels with me and a Mac Mini that stays at home. I sync my work and personal files between them twice a week (the scheduling options are awesome).

I would recommend emailing their support if you have any questions about why ChronoSync isn't seeing the external drives. I have dealt with them a couple times and they have been very helpful.