I forgot to mention this earlier, but one problem with Robocopy is that you can't do bidirectional syncing with it. If you don't need bidirectional syncing though, then robocopy is perfect since it's built in and hence available automatically on all computers.
We use bidirectional syncing to allow a laptop user to switch back and forth between a laptop (where we have FreeFileSync installed) to a desktop (where we have folder redirection implemented) and have the same Desktop and Documents. However, this may not be needed depending on your environment. -Aakash Shah -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Terry Dickson Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2014 3:39 PM To: '[email protected]' Subject: RE: [NTSysADM] File sync laptops to server In the past one office I worked for wanted a free option, I just used Robocopy in Windows 7 to accomplish the task. Worked better than the 9+ Months I tried to get offline files working. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of James Rankin Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2014 5:06 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [NTSysADM] File sync laptops to server I redirect special folders to something like c:\users\user\DataNow\Documents Then the DataNow client syncs it up with the remote location of \\server\share\user\DataNow\Documents when they're in the office. Lots of other solutions work the same way (DropBox, Google Drive, etc.) On 28 January 2014 23:01, Sam Cayze <[email protected]> wrote: All laptops here. They work remote almost daily. I used the word 'workstation' where I probably should not have. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Rankin, James R Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2014 4:41 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [NTSysADM] File sync laptops to server You can use Folder Redirection GPOs effectively to redirect your users' special folders to the place required Sent from my (new!) BlackBerry, which may make me an antiques dealer, but it's reliable as hell for email delivery :-) ________________________________ From: "Sam Cayze" <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2014 16:37:13 -0600 To: <[email protected]> ReplyTo: [email protected] Subject: RE: [NTSysADM] File sync laptops to server A lot of these solutions offered depend on your users actually putting files in certain locations on your disk, or initiating the backup. If you want something totally automated, you need to set something up that grabs the user's files. Such as: My Docs Desktop Signatures Firefox Profile (Or just the bookmarks file). I skip My Pictures and My Music (User are trained NOT put work related files here) Possibilities: Script it from the server to go out and grab these files. Or, I personally use SyncBack Pro on a server to grab these files from all workstations every 3 hours throughout the day. It provides one central place to manage them. I've also configured it to do a lot of reporting and alerts. All these backups go to one Folder, with a subfolder for each workstation. Each night I back up the top level folder with my normal encrypted backups that go offsite. If you want something more hand-off, I'd suggest Mozy Pro for Business or CrashPlan. (But I recall you specified no 3-rd parties). From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of J- P Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2014 12:01 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [NTSysADM] File sync laptops to server Hi all, A small office (5 users laptops with docks) 1x 2012 server (can add more if required , hyper-v) All laptops are windows 7 pro, what would be the recommended solution (preferably windows as software is charity pricing)? They are out of the office about 50% of the time, all office docs and PDF's thanks JP -- James Rankin --------------------- RCL - Senior Technical Consultant (ACA, CCA, MCTS) | The Virtualization Practice Analyst - Desktop Virtualization http://appsensebigot.blogspot.co.uk ________________________________ CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail and any attachments are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you do not have permission to disclose, copy, distribute, or open any attachments. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify us immediately by returning it to the sender and delete this copy from your system.
