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Live Mesh, FolderShare and placeholder files RRS feed

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    With some difficulty, I was finally able to set up 1 folder in Live Mesh for p2p transfer.  When I go to the folder on the remote computer, I get a placeholder file that, when double-clicked, opens a window saying it can't find an application to open the file.  After a while, however, the icons change to normal, and I can access the files.

    It appears to me that Live Mesh is actually transferring the complete files via p2p to the remote computers, and until that transfer is done, I can't access the file.  This is completely different from how FolderShare works.  FolderShare does not attempt to transfer the file until it's needed, which is when you double-click on a placeholder file.  In my opinion, Foldershare is much much useful, quicker and uses much less bandwidth to accomplish the same thing.

    Am I missing something, or does Live Mesh work this way by design?
    Friday, October 3, 2008 8:07 PM

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    Hi,

    Live Mesh does work this way by design, though we have changes coming that will improve the P2P sync functionality, and features that will improve sync functionality in general planned for the future.  When you first set up Live Mesh, it brings all of your Live Mesh folders into sync on every device, and then propagates any changes you make later on.

    I hope that answers your question,

    Ben.
    Friday, October 3, 2008 10:22 PM

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    Hi,

    Live Mesh does work this way by design, though we have changes coming that will improve the P2P sync functionality, and features that will improve sync functionality in general planned for the future.  When you first set up Live Mesh, it brings all of your Live Mesh folders into sync on every device, and then propagates any changes you make later on.

    I hope that answers your question,

    Ben.
    Friday, October 3, 2008 10:22 PM
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    It does answer my question, thanks.  But the greatest thing about FolderShare is the "On demand synchronization" option.  I've got about 100,000 files that I need access to, but I only use a handful at any given time.  Trying to sync all these files constantly will take a lot of CPU and bandwidth.  If at all possible, please try to give users the option to sync a file only when needed.

    • Marked as answer by twentworth Saturday, October 4, 2008 2:48 AM
    • Unmarked as answer by twentworth Saturday, October 4, 2008 2:48 AM
    Friday, October 3, 2008 10:32 PM
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    Perhaps I'm beating a dead horse, but the more I think about it, the more certain I am that it should work the way FolderShare works.

    Here's the main issue:  when I'm trying to retrieve a particular document that hasn't quite synced yet, why should I have to wait while Live Mesh is syncing other documents that I don't need right then?  I guess I don't mind that it's syncing all those other documents, but it should stop and give me the one I want right then.  Maybe this is the direction you're going with it already.  But I just wanted to reiterate how important it is that it work this way (at least as an option).
    Sunday, October 5, 2008 3:27 AM
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    The idea is really that your files are always accessible, even when offline, and it always tries to have the latest possible version of the files.

    Sounds to me like FolderShare assumes you always have an internet connection whenever you want to access them, which in my case is not always true. I would prefer the files are synced when I am connected and doesn't make any assumptions about whether I have access to the Internet at any particular time.

    I personally like Live Mesh's behavior, because it doesn't make assumptions and does its best to make sure I always have an updated version of all of my files.

    The behavior you're describing doesn't try to keep the latest version of the file, and sounds like if I were to lose internet access for a time (which happens often with my more portable devices), I may be left with pretty old files.

    I really like the proactive approach better than the "on demand" approach, because I may not be able to demand the latest version when I need it.
    Sunday, October 5, 2008 1:51 PM
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    Obviously it's best if all files are fully synced on all devices, but with 100,000 files to sync, I'm afraid that's going to be unlikely most of the time.  So at the very least, I'd like to be able to access the file I need when I need it as long as I have internet access.  As it works now, that's not possible, although I don't see any reason why clicking on a placeholder file shouldn't immediately force a sync of that file.

     

    Sunday, October 5, 2008 6:03 PM
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    Hi twentworth,

    Many of our tech preview customers have requested that we allow users more control of when and what files sync, and you make a good case for a situation in which being able to tell Live Mesh, "Sync this file now" would be very useful (and it's a situation I've found myself in from time-to-time).  If I understand correctly, though, I imagine that you'd be happy to have all 100,000 files in sync - and that's ultimately what we aim to make happen with Live Mesh.  And once they are in sync, Live Mesh attempts to keep them that way, so that you will seldom, if ever, need to say, "Sync this file now" (which is not, of course, to say that such an option isn't valuable!).  We'll be adding lots of new features and functionality to Live Mesh as we move forward, and I've added your scenario and vote for additional sync control to our internal list of suggestions.

    Thanks for using Live Mesh,

    Ben.
    Monday, October 6, 2008 3:31 PM
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     I'm sure Live Mesh will see significant improvements in the near future.  But for right now it's frustrating.  I have yet to be able to sync all files (it's about 15gb).  On my last attempt, I let it sit for over 12 hours, and it was still working on it.  And Live Mesh appears to take significant amounts of CPU and memory (I noticed that it was taking about 300mb on one computer), which slows the computer down.  Another thing you might consider is giving the user more feedback on the sync status.   Right now there's no way to gauge how much has been synced.  Well, that's all my comments for now.  I look forward to using it in its final incarnation.

    Tuesday, October 7, 2008 2:25 AM
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     twentworth,

    As with having control over when and what files sync, having Live Mesh do a better job of reporting sync status is a very popular request - and is something we're definitely working on.  Similarly, a number of customers have reported that Live Mesh seems to use too much memory and/or CPU cycles - and so that's another thing we're working to improve.  I am sorry that the Live Mesh experience has been frustrating for you thus far, but I thought you might like to know that the things you've mentioned are high priorities for us.

    Thanks for you patience,

    Ben.
    Tuesday, October 7, 2008 3:08 PM