The BitTorrent Sync application has been opened up to a public so no more waiting for an invite code to try out this new app to securely sync files and folders between your computers. BitTorrent Sync is a little different than the cloud services I usaully talk about because instead of relying on cloud storage from some other provider you create a secure connection through the Internet to create your own cloud based storage. You are no longer limited by account sizes or file sizes. The only limits are your own storage limits. Not only that you no longer need to trust some other party to hold your data.
I have been trying BitTorrent Sync for a week or so now and I have been fairly impressed. The application is only in alpha still but it appears to be very solid for an alpha app. Not only does it seem to run well it is fast. I did a test sync of over 2GB and it quickly synced files between the two test machines. One was Windows XP and the other Windows 8.
While the app uses BitTorrent technology it is not the same as the file sharing application. With BitTorrent Sync your files are not accessible by others unless you give them the unique private key to access a shared folder.
Not only is the BitTorrent Sync application fast if you want to get creative you can use the application to sync files from your Bitcasa Infinite Drive or a folder that is mirrored. I was able to successfully sync files from my Bitcasa Inifite Drive Uploads folder from my Windows 8 machine to my Windows XP test machine that did not have Bitcasa installed. This could be another way of bringing sync back to Bitcasa in case you missed that feature. Using BitTorrent Sync you would not actually have to have Bitcasa installed on both machines. It is another option if you are looking for one.
There are currently downloads for Windows, Mac, Linux and NAS devices so there is sure to be a version that will work with your system. Remember the application is still in alpha so you might find the occasional bug. You can report bugs and problems and find some help at the Bittorrent Sync forum. It will be interesting to see how this app changes when it leaves testing.
To try it out visit the Bittorrent Labs BitTorrent Sync page and download a version for your operating system.
Here is a quick video of me installing it on my Windows 8 test machine. Pretty simple and only take a few moments.
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