Section: Mac Software, Home and Personal, System Utilities, Reviews
Category: File synchronization
Developer: SiberSystems
Minimum System Requirements: Mac OS X v10.4, 10.5, or 10.6
Processor Compatibility: Intel Only
Price: $29.95, feature limited free version also available
Availability: Out now
Making backups is crucial to keeping your data safe, and having a reliable utility for synchronizing files makes this task easy. I rely on a variety of utilities for backups—such as CrashPlan for offsite backups and Carbon Copy Cloner to duplicate my drives—but sometimes you just need to keep two folders synchronized or set up an automated folder backup. There are lots of synchronizing applications out there, but many of them are expensive and hard to use, or they lack the features that you will find in GoodSync Pro for Mac.
Siber Systems has created a Mac version of their popular GoodSync Pro application, and it has a number of impressive features. One that really caught my interest was the ability to synchronize a local folder with online locations (FTP, SFTP, MobileMe, Amazon S3 or WebDAV). This allows creating offsite copies simple, or perhaps you have a hosted website you need to keep in sync with local copies. I was looking for a way to keep files on a networked drive at work behind a firewall in sync with my DropBox account. I tried several options, but none worked as smoothly as GoodSync Pro.
GoodSync Pro for Mac main window
While GoodSync Pro retains some of the layout design from its Windows counterpart, the Mac version has features such as support for Growl notifications, bright icons and the familiar gear menu with plus (+) and minus (-) signs to manage the jobs. As a Mac user who sometimes needs to work in cross-platform environments, I like having similar applications that I can use on both Windows and Mac. Those who use GoodSync on both platforms will find the interfaces similar and easy to use, but the Mac window has been redesigned to make it easy for new users to quickly get acquainted.
When you start GoodSync Pro, you will be be asked to create, name a ?job? and designate synchronizing or backing up (don?t worry, you can always change this in the job ?options? later, if needed).
Creating a new sync job
After creating a job, you will then select the two folders in the top of the file/folder tree panel:
Select folders for synchronization or backup
Here, you have a choice to browse for a local folder or a networked folder.
Choosing a folder source
Once you have established the two folders, you can click the ?analysis? button to see a report of what files will be copied, deleted, or replaced or white files are already present in both folders. You will see this analysis beneath the two sources:
Analysis of job
After running an ?analysis,? the changes that will occur when you sync will are displayed in the file/folder tree window. You can also view all items from both sources or view only those items that are conflicts and will require human interaction to determine which file should be copied. You can also select an error view which shows files that are not able to be synchronized. Each item, file or folder, is listed, and under each source we see the size and modification dates for each source. GoodSync Pro for Mac shows a graphic icon between the sources to indicate what will happen when you perform the sync.
When you are viewing the files that will be changed, a green arrow indicates the direction of the change showing which file will be overwritten. When ?propagate deletions? is enabled (on by default under the general tab in the job options), any item deleted on one source since the last sync will also be deleted from the other source during the next sync. This action is indicated by a red X that will accompany the directional green arrow. This red ?x? is not very prominent, so you may have to look closely to see it when scanning through a long list.
Although most users will simply use the recommended actions, you can change what happens by clicking on the indicator icons. For instance, you can reverse the direction of the sync by clicking on the opposite arrow or set the item to not sync by selecting the circle in the middle. Unfortunately, if you click either of these and change your mind, ?undo? will not reverse your selection. But you can reset it to the default action by choosing ?as recommended? from the contextual menu that appears when you right-click on the action indicator. You can also get other options when right-clicking on the icon, such as the option to add a rule to exclude or include the file or similar file types. The filters can be edited in the options for each job under the ?filters? tab…to open the options, either pull the Job menu to options, pull the gear menu to Options, or right-click on the title in the job list.
When an item is not to be copied in either direction, the circle in the middle is highlighted with green. When an item is already in sync (both sides have not changed since the last sync) you will see a green ?equal? sign in between the two directional arrows. If the file has been excluded by a rule, the equal sign becomes rotated 90 degrees to resemble a green ?pause? indicator. Perhaps another color would make more sense for all three of these actions (no copy, equal or excluded) since the color green often represents ?go.? The ?pause? and ?equal? signs may be similar enough that you could mistake one for the other when skimming through a long list of items.
In the job options, there are many options for scheduling when the synchronization starts, such as when GoodSync for Mac is launched or quit, when a file is changed or following a repeating time pattern. While GoodSync Pro will not run unless the application is open, you can set from within the job options an iCal event, including repeating events, that will launch GoodSync Pro. I find this useful if you have a computer that is likely to be turned on and off so that your sync application is periodically launched to keep folders synchronized. There are options for each job to send an email with a copy of the log before the analysis, after the analysis or post sync. You can also trigger an application to run at any or all of these times as well.
A feature I did not find in GoodSync for Mac, but that I have found useful in ChronoSync (another Mac sync application) is a friendly warning if you try to sync a folder that is nested inside the first source folder.
At the bottom of the main window, a log or history (even of the analysis) can be viewed. The log provides a very in-depth record of what took place during the analysis or sync, but the good news is that you can adjust the level of detail in the preferences. The amount of information that is available is overwhelming, more so since it is not formatted for easy reading. After an analysis only, the files that will be changed are listed; after a sync, every file in both sources are included in the log, too. There is also information about the time, date, duration, filters applied and memory size of the two sources. Again, it?s great to have all the information, there is just a lot of it.
GoodSync Pro stores a copy of the logs inside the source folders (in a hidden directory) that retains all the sync information, so if you delete and re-create a job, the information from the last sync is still retained inside these hidden directories. By default, GoodSync Pro retains the last modified copy of a synced file that was replaced inside this hidden directory. This is a nice safety feature, but if you have limited drive space it will create some bloat. Also by default, these files are removed after 30 days, and a sync scheduled to run after that time has elapsed.
There have been a few additional features added while I’ve been running GoodSync trials—such as the email notifications for Mac users—and it appears they are still ramping up the Mac version to the feature set of the Windows version. A feature missing from the Mac that is included on Windows is the option for encryption of data. There are also options for Windows Mobile Phone and Pocket PC syncing, but no iPhone or iPad support.
Siber Systems still needs to do some revising of their help and support files online since I found many references to Windows specific information in the Mac specific area of the website. For instance, when you pull the Help menu to either Manual or FAQ, you are directed to the Mac support pages on their website. Under the information of the location of the settings file, there is information for both Windows XP and Vista but nothing for the location of the file on the Mac. There are plenty of ?mycomputer? and C: drive references, and information on syncing popular Windows applications (but no Mac specific apps). This is one area that could easily be updated, but even after I pointed this out to Siber Systems during my initial testing, nothing has changed. As with many cross-platform applications, Mac users will notice some non-standard Apple interface design items, such as the open dialog window and ?ok? buttons instead of ?done.?
While many might need the full Pro version to make copies of an entire hard drive, GoodSync Pro also can be used in as a trial for smaller jobs, limited to 3 jobs with 100 or fewer files and folders in each job. There are also a number of purchasing options for the Pro version, including an inexpensive price for multiple licenses, enterprise pricing and an open invitation for those looking for additional discounts. I was disappointed that they do not offer a discount for purchasing both the Mac and Windows version since there are many switchers who find themselves having to use both platforms. This might make GoodSync Pro more desirable.
Overall, I feel GoodSync Pro for Mac is a powerful application that would be a great utility despite some of the cross-platform drawbacks. I found in my testing over the last few months that it has run faithfully (only one crash while trying to swap sources left and right) and provided me with reliable backups. Watch their website for specials that appear on and off during the year. I?m giving them a 5 out of 5 rating although I think they still need to improve their Mac web support documentation and some of their controls can be confusing. But overall, the application is a great cross-platform synchronization tool.
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Full Story » | Written by Alan Cook for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »
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