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Sync with a network drive

Hi,

I have an external drive connected to my router which appears in the network as \10.50.1.1\Name

How do I sync my dropbox file to a location there? when I try to move the directory over there, I get a message that this is a network drive.

Thanks,

Tommy

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Richard P.

Dropbox doesn't support network locations due to issues that have come up before.

All comments

Richard P.

Dropbox doesn't support network locations due to issues that have come up before.

Tommy Q.

Thanks for that.

Do you have any idea or a workaround on how to implement that (except from connecting the external drive to physical PC)?

Richard P.

I'm afraid I can't suggest anything because the chance of data loss is quite high.

Razvan Boxifier

Tommy, you can keep your Dropbox folder local and sync the folders that you need from the network drive with Boxifier ( http://www.boxifier.com). It is an application that can sync any folder with Dropbox (including ones from external drives, NAS, network drives). Disclaimer: I am one of the authors so feel free to ask me anything about it: [Deleted email, no personal information please!]

Scott R.5

So basically drop box is useless. No great surprise. I would be helpful if drop box synced away from the hard drive.

Rich

I would be helpful if drop box synced away from the hard drive.

But that's not what it's intended use is. The entire point of Dropbox is to sync the files that are on your hard drive to your account online or other devices. It is not a cloud-based folder/drive or a way to increase the storage space on your system. It is a file sync utility.

Bryan H.5

Fully appreciate the idea behind Dropbox, but when there is TB's of storage available in the plans how many people would actually have a machine with that amount of local storage. In this day and age where Home NAS solutions are becoming more and more prevalent surely it is pertinent to scope the solution provided to meet new configuration and demand? I for example have a 3TB NAS at home where I keep my personal files, and photos that I would prefer to backup to cloud as well as sync back to from Dropbox from my phone without being restricted to my local laptop's limitiations

Richard P.

I for example have a 3TB NAS at home where I keep my personal files, and photos that I would prefer to backup to cloud as well as sync back to from Dropbox from my phone without being restricted to my local laptop's limitiations

Quite a few NAS systems have a Dropbox client within which you can achieve that directly on the NAS itself. Its what I use on my Synology NAS.

Bryan H.5

Yep, I have seen that, but not all NAS solutions have that capability built in and some can be expensive or appear difficult for most "home" users to setup. Just feel that there should be a move more towards providing an option that allows users full choice of NAS and the ability to sync to cloud solutions. I fully appreciate also that this isn't just a Dropbox problem but it is where the world is moving

Richard P.

I fully appreciate also that this isn't just a Dropbox problem but it is where the world is moving

Until some significant things are fixed with the standard network filesystem protocols, I don't see Dropbox changing their stance on this.

For example, currently SMB has no requirement to propagate filesystem events to clients, so Dropbox only knows what's changed when it does a full folder and file scan on each start up - this is bad enough on local folders, it would be *murder* across a network!

Reza G.1

I'm in the same boat at Bryan H.

I understand that the network protocols have limitations but why not add a simple ability to sync manually. I have a QNAP NAS with 7TB storage and like to sync some important files to Dropbox. There are apps for this in QNAP but they are far from reliable and fail during big file transfers. Heck i can even run a VM and run windows on the NAS for syncing with dropbox but i need some reliable app to allow me to sync my files from NAS to Dropbox.

I'm sure if we can put a man on a moon this can be solved as well if Dropbox really wanted to.

Joseph S.49

By defaulting the installation to the user folder Dropbox is creating even more problems with syncing profiles with windows server. VERY bad choice to install by default into the users folder.

Richard P.

Actually, Joseph, it was a change made in response to a boat load of feed back from users who wanted it moved there.

Cant please them all.....

Joseph S.49

Uneducated users should not influence the stability of your product and ability to work well with an operating system, both personal and corporate.

Aron T.

Hi guys, it is slightly off topic, but I am getting desperate, so please forgive me:

1) DB does not allow me to install the FOLDER under my account on a (university) network drive, so I have to put it on C:. ("Target folder is on a network media")

2) DB does install the PROGRAM under my account on the (university) network drive, there is no other option, I cannot install it on C: of my office computer.

As a result, when I log on to a different computer on campus, DB program installed on the network drive will find no folder on the C: drive of that computer, and therefore I presume will synch this and delete my DB folder! An utter disaster...

Question: how can I get DB to install the PROGRAM on C:? (I know there is a work around to install the FOLDER on the network drive, but it is far too complicated for me, I don't have administrator rights, etc...)

Many thanks and I'm sorry again!

maestrogarry

I used KrojamSoft SyncFile for synchronising. Its a simple and best software for synchronising.

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