Having multiple computers requires a level of file syncing between them. My initial venture was to use dropbox which uses an Amazon S3 implementation to act as a server and middle-man. I wasn't hosting sensitive information so the risk of hacking; Bugs; backdoors or DB being forced by one or more governments to share the encryption keys didn't phase me. I was also an early adaptors so managed to rack up 18 GB of free storage. For 92% of uses, especially for hosting shared files without needing a computer online - dropbox wins. (I also use google drive to host static web-pages like this but Dropbox at the moment is much more flexible)

However, the arrival of a RaspberryPi heralded a shift in my applications' needs. The Rpi runs non-x86 code as it has an ARM SOC. Dropbox's engine is closed-source and thus requires Dropbox to release a compatible system which wasn't available at the time of developing. Attention switched to BTsync by bittorent. This uses closed-source torrent technology to form a peer-to-peer network via a tracker server. I found this to be adequate. There was an underlying DNS issue which was never solved but resolvable by using explicit host IP definitions. This system was working OK (not broken don't fix) until the upgrade to v2.0. Here, Bit torrent updated the protocol and changed lots of things behind the scenes whilst introducing a two tier system which required payment to access the full features. I couldn't get some of the new free feature to work so now was a good time to jump.

Whilst exploring Btsync, Syncthing came on the scene. It is like Btsync more than dropbox but completely open source. It's available on a wide number of systems and is also overcomes some of the technical issues which I've had with BTsync. I also like the interface more and I feel there is more detail/control over the syncing protocol. There is also a version control which I'll be using on a spare laptop as a backup system. So far, so good This post was inspired by Radcliffe and Maconie's renaming of Sikane's latest album - The single below is rather good!