One of the features Bitcasa removed from the latest version of their apps when they launched in February was file sync. It is perhaps the feature that has been most missed by many users. While I can understand the reasons why Bitcasa left it out it there is a very practical reasons to want to sync folders between your computers and the cloud.
First is the fact that if you have no Internet connection your files are not available. On your mobile devices you can favorite folders and files and they will automatically be made available offline. The desktop applications do not have this feature and there are times when you do not have an Internet connection and if all your files are on Bitcasa you cannot work on them. That is really not practical because in the real world Internet connections do go down and you still need to work.
The second reason that a sync of local folders and files is nice to have is simply for faster access. It is faster to work on local folders and files than to us the files that are uploaded to Bitcasa. Small files work fine but any files that are a significant size just adds long wait times for file loads and saves. Once Bitcasa has the file saved in the cache speed can improve but that is just time wasted. Bitcasa might claim that this should not happen but in my experience this is not the case. Perhaps if you have a fiber connection you might not notice any problems but on a DSL line expect some slow opening of files.
If you are wanting to bring sync back to Bitcasa there are several very good options available that you can install on your desktop that will allow you to sync files between your local folders and your Bitcasa drive folders. The good news is many of these options are free and with a little tweaking you can have them setup just the way you want to you can have only the files you need synced on the computers you want.
SyncToy
If you all of your desktops and laptops are Windows based check out SyncToy. This Microsoft application is great for syncing folders and files. It is one of those hidden gems from Microsoft and works great. You will need to schedule it for automatic running but it can get the job done.
FreeFileSync
This cross platform folder/file sync utility is one of the best available. The fact that it works on Windows Mac and Linux is a great bonus for those of us that run multiple operating systems. Easy to setup and works well. One thing to note when I tried it on Windows it tried wanted to also install some PC Tune Up Software that you don’t need or want, just make sure you don’t accept the license for that additional install.
rsync
Any Linux geek would just tell you to use rsync and you can easily use rsync to accomplish the task of synchronizing folders on Linux, Windows and Mac. One GUI for rsync is Grsync that also has a Windows and a Mac port. It takes a litte work but it runs fast and easily can keep your folders in sync.
It would be nice if Bitcasa had just left sync in or offered a way for people to just keep local copies of files besides just mirroring. I mostly use Bitcasa to transfer files to my mobile devices and as a way to access my home security camera photos but there is a need for syncing files between the cloud and local computers and in this case Bitcasa missed out on an opportunity to help bring in users that rely on sync but would eventually get hooked on having an infinite cloud drive.
Want to know more about Bitcasa? Read our complete Bitcasa review for more information.
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