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Desktop app resyncs all 2.4 million files weekly

Hey everyone,

I'm syncing over 2.4M files on my DBX Business account. Long story short, it's really unstable. On both Mac and Windows the desktop app resyncs _all_ files every week or so, and Smart Sync has caused thousands of random files to go to "Online-only" with no user input, causing a plethora of desktop issues for me that I've never encountered in the past.

I've been informed by DBX staff that the 'soft' limit for accounts is ~300K files. I'm wondering why this is so low in 2018? Are there any plans to eventually support accounts (as in, reliably sync) with 1M+ files? Or do I just need to give up on the notion of using Dropbox to sync a *lot* of files and resort to a custom backend for myself?

Cheers.

Running Dropbox 56.4.94

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Jane

Let me re-iterate that the performance of the Dropbox desktop app can decline if you have more than 300,000 files synced to your computer. This is a soft limit and depends highly on the hardware specifications of the computer running the app. Some customers can sync more files without issue.

Taking that into consideration (alongside with the discussion we’ve had above), I was merely trying to explore whether your system specifications could handle a larger amount of files. Moreover, it would also be useful to troubleshoot the syncing issues you’ve mentioned above in regards to your Online-only files & work towards a solution that would be best for you & your setup at the moment.

I understand it if you’d like to keep only this conversation active though, so please do keep me updated on how you’d like us to proceed & I’ll try to address your concerns in the best way I can. Thanks again for your ongoing cooperation!

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Jane

Hey @dylanroscover, thanks for posting us on our Community, I’d happily discuss your options below & we can take it from there depending on your needs!

Here are some initial pointers to bear in mind when you’re hosting a large number of files on your account:

I'm syncing over 2.4M files on my DBX Business account. Long story short, it's really unstable. On both Mac and Windows the desktop app resyncs _all_ files every week or so

#1. You may keep in mind that the 300,000 files limitation is a soft limit and depends highly on the hardware specifications of the computer running the app, though some users can sync more files without facing any issues. Just as an additional point of reference, you may have a look at these (#1/ #2) resources that could further clarify the possible causes behind any performance issues.

Running Dropbox 56.4.94

#2. It’s also advisable to ensure that apart from running the latest Stable Dropbox version on your desktop (56.4.94)- which you’ve already confirmed & thanks for that detail, you’ve made all OS updates & you’re not using Symlinks nor referenced files (i.e. I’m mentioning that as a possible cause of the discrepancy you’re seeing, since you’ve stated that some folders are changing without your input). Can you let us know if you’re getting any error messages by the way when this happens?

#3. Last but not least, if you’re working on a Dropbox Business account & you’re the team admin, maybe the Team Selective Sync feature could be of assistance to you, as it lets you set existing folders to start as unsynced for your team members. All you need to do to activate it would be to enroll through the Early Access tab in your admin console.

Please do keep me updated on how these options work for you & I’ll make sure to check back with you as closely as possible. Thanks again & I’ll be awaiting your next post on this discussion!

dylanroscover

Thanks Jane!

#1. I'm running on a 14-core Xeon workstation w/ 128GB RAM & a 1.5TB SSD RAID, so I don't think performance is a factor. I notice of course that the Dropbox desktop app is still 32-bit (why? .

#2. I'm running the latest version of Windows 10 (1803) and am not using symlinks.

#3 Yes, selective sync is an option. I much prefer the Smart Sync methodology, assuming that it functions as intended.

Jane

I appreciate your speedy reply here & all the additional info you’ve gathered for me Dylan, let me follow-up a bit more closely with you!

It’s my understanding that we’ll be focusing on your Widows device, so I’ll check back with you based on the details you’ve included in your last post.

Just as an additional point of reference, can you let me know whether you’ve stored your Dropbox folder on your C: drive or on a different partition? If the latter is the case, I’d appreciate it if you could confirm that the Dropbox folder is located on an NTFS-formatted hard drive. Please let me know & we’ll take it from there.

Thanks again & I’ll be awaiting your next reply here!

dylanroscover

Thanks Jane! It's on a separate drive/partition, NTFS.

Jane

Thanks a lot for all the info you’ve sent me here @dylanroscover & all the time you devoted on the matter!

So as to best advise on how you can go about with this syncing issue, let me have a closer look through our Official channel, since it would be best to check the info I have on my end on my tools.

For that reason, I’ve made sure to reach out to you directly via email on my end. Whenever you find some time, please check your inbox for my email & I’ll make sure to promptly get back in touch with you asap.

Thanks again for reaching out on our Forum & I’ll be awaiting your next reply. Enjoy the rest of your day until we talk again!

dylanroscover

Jane,

Are you able to answer any of my questions here publicly?

I would appreciate that much more than emailing me privately, so other users are aware of Dropbox's limitations and that there are, in fact, serious performance problems/instabilities with the app.

Jane

dylanroscover

Maybe it's luck, maybe it's the Dropbox deities, but my syncing has been working very smoothly over the past month on my main rigs (128GB RAM/Xeon 14c/PCIe SSD M.2 System / RAID0 2x SSDs Media). Hopefully this continues. Thanks, Jane!

Jane

That’s some great news indeed Dylan (@dylanroscover) & thanks a lot for looping back to me with this update! Hopefully the re-syncing issue doesn't manifest itself again in the future & all favorable winds blow your way.

In any event, we're always just a message away, so you may poke us here should you have further questions or you'd like to share your thoughts. Take care until we talk again! :slight_smile: