Why no network drive sync?

Az összes válasz

• 2008. augusztus 25. 0:58

   

   
  

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  I too would love to see a network drive sync
   
• 2008. augusztus 26. 10:37

   

   
  

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  I agree, Something like this is a major step in the right direction!

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  Jase
   
• 2008. augusztus 28. 0:12

   

   
  

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  So, any explanation as to why the feature is disabled for network drives? What concerns me is that the reason is to prevent data loss when the network drive is disconnected or doesn't respond, because those scenario might also happen with a non network drive.

   
• 2008. szeptember 9. 21:50

   

   
  

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  Hi,
  
  

  Here's a bit of an explanation for why we exclude network drives from Live Mesh.  The main reason for excluding them is just basic to the way Live Mesh works right now: Currently, Live Mesh expects all Live Mesh folders to be present when MOE is up and running.  A network drive may go offline for various reasons and we will end up unmapping the Live Mesh folder.  Of course, you can re-map it when the drive becomes available again, but then any stale files can introduce conflicts - plus we waste cycles hashing the entire Live Mesh folder.  Also, we don’t receive the usual file change notifications that kick off our scan logic to pickup changes.
  
  We've received a fair bit of feedback from people requesting the ability to add network drives to their meshes.  We will, of course, keep everyone posted if this changes in the future. :)
  
  I hope that helps.
  
  Ben.

  • Megjelölte válaszként: Ben [Live Mesh] 2008. szeptember 9. 21:50
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• 2008. szeptember 11. 22:51

   

   
  

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  Ben,
  
  I'm a bit puzzled by your comment on file change notifications on network drives.  I have software running here on one machine that receives file change notifications from a folder on a network drive.  Seems to work fine for what we are doing anyway.
  
  Trevor
   
• 2008. szeptember 11. 23:00

   

   
  

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  Hi Trevor,
  
  I thought I could toss that in at the end, but you caught me. ;)  Live Mesh does not currently have the right scan logic to pick up on file change notifications on network drives, but as you call attention to, it's not as though it couldn't do so.  So, as more requests for the ability to add network drives to one's mesh come in, that's certainly something the team could fix pretty easily.  (The other issues aren't so straightforward.)
  
  I hope that clarifies things. :)
  
  Ben.
   
• 2008. szeptember 12. 4:13

   

   
  

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  Agreed.  The other things aren't so straightforward.
  
  Trevor
   
• 2008. szeptember 12. 16:57

   

   
  

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  I'm presuming this is the same reason that USB drives can't be mapped.  I currently have a Cruzer usb stick(with encryption) and wanted it to exists either on the stick or on my live desktop.  Lose the stick and it's encrypted but it's backed up so I ca get a new stick and sync. 
  
  Matt
  
  PS: Assume the sticks encryption is good enough, going to move to a maxtor black armour...but you get the idea.
   
• 2008. november 22. 1:07

   

   
  

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  Having the opportunity to sync network (mapped) drives would be great!
  Could you make it at least possible to shift e.g. "my files" to a network drive and nevertheless sync it (as foldershare does)?
  Carlo
  
   
• 2008. december 10. 22:54

   

   
  

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  Yeah, I installed Mesh and it seemed great, until, surprise, I could not add a folder on the network.  Unfortunately, all my important folders need to be on my work network, so I will need to uninstall Mesh and go back to a combination of Foldershare, LogMeIn and Mozy.  Hopefully, one day, MSFT or someone other industry brandname makese a robust one-stop-shop.   I've been thinking about Syncplicity or Sugar Sync, but am a bit concerned about the possibility of a smaller firm going away.  I don't mind paying a bit for this type of service, but I don't think anyone has really gotten it right yet.
   
• 2008. december 13. 14:50

   

   
  

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  I've managed to map a removable drive (which never gets removed!) using Junction from Sysinternals (now Microsoft). I would imagine it would work with network drives too. You just map the drive to be a folder in your regular file system. Eg. I mapped my removable D drive to be a folder in My Documents.
  
  Best of luck!
  
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896768.aspx
  
  Paul.
   
• 2009. január 16. 1:28

   

   
  

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  So that will trick live mesh into thinking it is a local drive?  Would that work with live sync as well?  Is there any risk that it deletes all copies of your folder if your fileserver is ever down?
   
• 2009. január 16. 2:16

   

   
  

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  Unfortunately junction does not support network drives (I just tried it to verify, and the following is mentioned on the junction page:
  
  Note that Windows does not support junctions to directories on remote shares.
  
  ).
  
  As for removable drives, I haven't tested this extensively, but Live Mesh sees a removable drive as a normal, local drive - I have had no problems syncing to (or from) a removable HD. I'm not sure exactly what happens when you remove the drive and restart the machine, but I imagine it would follow the process mentioned by Ben above (folder is removed from sync, and when reinserted a merge occurs).
  
  I'll have to play around with it on the weekend! :)
  
   
• 2009. február 4. 6:17

   

   
  

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  Been using Live Mesh for about 2 full months, and love it.  I agree that networked drives would be a nice addition.
  
  I've been using removable drives with it since I installed it, and have found no unexpected issues.  It would be nice if it realized it was removable, and re-pointed the folder automatically if the physical drive was unconnected and then reattached, but the current method of manually re-pointing the folder is definitely better than nothing.  I understand that would probably be pretty complicated.
  
  Mozy is nice as a backup, but syncing = backing up^3.
  
   
• 2009. február 17. 9:31

   

   
  

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  I only use network attached drives at work (and currently use syncplicity to synchronize my files and use them at home). I assume that plenty of other people would need this feature in the service.
  
  I for one would love to use live mesh as it lets me use the service from my iPhone (although I'm sorry that Microsoft is not keen on letting me use their services on that particular device - for instance hotmail).
   
• 2009. február 17. 12:56

   

   
  

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  You can now vote directly for this feature! Click here and add your vote... (and here for more suggestions)
  
  

  AndreasOlesen said:

  (although I'm sorry that Microsoft is not keen on letting me use their services on that particular device - for instance hotmail).

  I don't know about hotmail, but I can tell you that I do all of my Live Mesh development in perl on a linux box - so I think it's pretty safe to say that the technology is open.
  
  Oren
  
   
• 2009. március 10. 5:15

   

   
  

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  This is so frustrating.
  
  Why don't Live Sync and Live Mesh support network drive sync?
  
  Our server NEVER goes offline, the PCs do. They are the ones that need to get a mirror of the latest information and changes to the documents.
  
  I used Foldershare since early Beta and I got accustomed to the platform and  the seamless excellence of its performance. Back then we did not have a 24/7 server so it was fine. Windows Live was fine until then as well.
  
  But now that we have a true business need, Live Sync and Live Mesh are turning out into a huge disappointment. They are being aimed squarely at consumers due to the lack of the basic functionality of being able to sync network shared folders.
  
  Can you PLEASE post here if Live * will offer network drive sync in the near future?
  
  V.
  
   
• 2009. március 10. 16:58

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• 2010. június 10. 22:44

   

   
  

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  Has anyone found a similar alternative product that supports network drive sync?

   

   
• 2010. június 28. 22:31

   

   
  

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  So I've been tricking Windows Live into temporarily supporting Network Drives.  The instructions are somewhere on the net, but it is a P.I.A., so trying to find a more permanent solution.  I used Syncplicity for a while, but then they removed Mac support, but now it is coming back.  Only issue is that plans start at $180/year which seems insane for 50GB considering Amazon S3 only charges $1.20 per gig per year plus a bit more for downloads.  Spideroak sounds promising as well, but when I last checked about 6 months ago their syncing engine was having problems.  Haven't looked at Sugar sync recently either, but they used to not do network drives.

  Thoughts?

   
• 2010. október 21. 21:01

   

   
  

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  The sad reality is this feature has been available in Windows Live Sync since it's creation. I have been using it extensively on Macs and PCs and never had issues till Live Mesh comes out. As far as the USB comment, I overcame that by installing the dmg on the memory stick and ran the program when the memory stick was installed and Window$ treated it like its own 'mini' computer. I would have two simultaneous 'Windows Live Sync' running at the same time, i.e. 1) for my Mac and 2) for the memory stick 3) sometimes a 3rd for a external HD. For almost three years there were hardly ever any problems, at least not caused by network drives not working. Again the workaround was to install the app on the drive itself then mount it as a drive.

  This is not a matter if can but will. For some reasons the power$ that be decide to control certani items and put certain restrictions for reasons unknown then class up reasons that are not substantiated by previous experiences.

  Shaun.

   
• 2011. február 1. 4:14

   

   
  

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  Isn't there a simpler solution...

  Use Microsoft's SyncToy (free app) to setup a local folder that syncs with your network folder. Then direct Live Mesh to sync the local folder.