BitTorrent Sync

[ScuzzyEye]

Does anyone use BitTorrent Sync? It works sort of like any of the remote cloud syncing programs, but it is entirely peer-to-peer. You can use it to keep files in sync between two or more devices, or even to share stuff with others.

It'd work really well people collaborating on a project together. If project members were all given read/write access to the same BT Sync folder, then anything they dropped into it would get synced with the other members. There's no file system limits, because the data is stored on each user's machines. Once one person has a copy of the data they can share it with any other, so any one person can be online, not just the last one to make an update. Speaking of updates, if only small changes are made to a file, only those changes are sent (Reason is very good at keeping files stable, until you Save and Optimize). Older versions of the file are also kept in the "Archive" directory for 30 days (they can be manually cleaned before that to save space).

There's also the feature that allows read only access to distribute files to other people. This would be cool for something like a remix contest. Everyone would help to sync the pieces between each other to speed up downloads. There's no worry about one person corrupting the data, because the sharing is done with cryptographic hashes. You can't change a file without it having a different hash, so any tampering would easily be detected.

I've set up a public, read-only, no access permission required, share where I plan on dropping random things. As I write this the only thing there is a copy of the ScuzzyEye logo, but will add odd and ends as I work on stuff. I'll try to keep the total storage required to under a couple hundred megabytes, so I won't waste your drive space. If it does start to grow, I'll remove older stuff. It'll then be moved to your Archive directory, and be cleaned after 30 days, if you don't move it somewhere else.

Anyone else want to set up similar shares? I'll help you out if you run into trouble.

[ScuzzyEye]

Oh, there is a Pro version, and you'll be nagged about it during install, that has a subscription fee, but the standard features make it completely usable. The Pro upgrade really is for professionals, who are using it for more than simple sharing. Like real distribution of large amounts of data.

[bxbrkrz]

BTSync has been perfect for me and a few trusted friends for at least the day it was ready for download. No need for Dropbox anymore.

[ScuzzyEye]

Yeah, my primary use is to have it running on my Linux server that has RAID storage. I can automatically sync all my important stuff there, and not have to pay a penny (other than hosting, and initial drive costs). But I figured it'd be fun to have a public sync repo too, and let other people know about the software.