Synchronize Files Without Transferring Them to Third-Party Services Using Syncthing
Basically, there is nothing wrong with Dropbox, Google Drive, or whatever popular service you use to back up files to the cloud and keep them in sync across your multiple desktops and laptops. However, data privacy is becoming more and more important, and we will have no doubt about whether you are ready to opt out of such services.
The open source Syncthing utility is a great way to get all the benefits of local file syncing without having to transfer your data to another company (no matter how much they promise they will never look at it). The trade-off is that Syncthing is a little more difficult to manage than a service like Dropbox, which makes it easy to upload, download, and sync files across all your devices.
Some tweaking is required to switch to sync
To get started, head over to the Syncthing website and find a link to SyncTrayzor , a Windows utility that lets you use the program through a beautiful graphical interface instead of the headache-inducing command line. Download the appropriate version for your Windows PC (32 or 64 bit), or the portable version if you want to be different, and install (or run) the app. Repeat this process on each computer you want to include in your big file sync plan.
When you start SyncTrayzor, you first want to tie together all the different systems that will send and receive files. For the sake of simplicity, let’s say we are linking together two Windows desktop PCs: System A and System B.
On System A, click the Add Remote Device button. On System B, click the Actions button in the upper right corner and select Show ID. Copy the absurdly long device ID from system B into the device ID field on system A. Enter the device name for system B (for example, “Notebook”). Click “Save”.
Now repeat this process in reverse order – add System A to the SyncTrayzor version for System B using the device ID of System A. Think of it as creating a friendship between your two devices. If both don’t want to be friends, they won’t trade secrets. However, if everyone gets to know the other, they will just chat and chat forever.
Clear? Now launch SyncTrayzor on one of your computers (say, System A) and click the Add Folder button in the upper left corner of the application. Select the folder you want to sync across multiple systems, give it a folder label (name) that you recognize, and select the devices you want to share the folder with. Repeat this process for every folder you want to sync (or just create a new folder somewhere called “Sync” and upload all your stuff there, Dropbox style).
SyncTrayzor should now theoretically start to automatically unload your synced folder on all systems you choose. If it doesn’t work at all, or it seems like it doesn’t work, make sure you don’t have any internal network problem that messes things up. You can also restart SyncTrayzor from the Actions menu, which may solve your problem on any (or all) systems.