Sync – Storage Made Easy Blog

September 19, 2013

Mac Stickies Synchronizer

Here at Storage Made Easy we use Storage Made Easy ourselves to do our day-to-day work. Sometimes our developers build their own tools using the SME REST API to aid them with how they work. One of our developers built a tool that integrates the Mac Stickies desktop Application with the SME API. Stickies is simply a visual Memo style note taking App that is available on all Mac’s.

The SME Developers tend to work on a combination of Mac’s and Linux laptops. The Mac users tend to use Stickies to keep track of things they want to remember and have to do but if they have their laptop close or unavailable they cannot get access to this data. I know they could use a myriad of to do lists but they use the Stickies for more than just to do’s and it fits with their way of working.

Stickies does not really have a formal API but To that end one of the developers wrote a small App to connect to Stickies and replicate the notes data back to a nominated folder on SME where each Sticky entry becomes a note and each sticky title becomes the title of each note. This is a one way sync replication as there is no Stickies API to go back the other way.

The folder of course can be located on any cloud that is mapped to an account. In our case we use Amazon S3.

The Stickies Application just sits in the taskbar and periodically runs the stickies one way sync.

We decided to release the Stickies App into the wild and let anyone who want to use it download and use it. Use of it is governed by our normal terms of use and we’d be happy to hear any feedback.

You can download 0.701 version SME Stickies Synchronizer here.

May 16, 2012

Linux Cloud Tools updated to 3.0.12

We’ve updated our Linux Cloud Tools to 3.0.12. The changes include:

1. Supports deleting of files during sync

If a user deletes files locally and syncs then the files will be deleted on the server. If a user deletes files on the server and then syncs then files will be deleted locally. These 2 options are ‘Off’ by default. and can be turned on in settings of the sync center.

2. In Ubuntu 11.10+ “Hide in tray” works correctly.

3. Fixed Menu duplication

4. Fix for large fonts bug.

5. In Explorer new option to upload folder (previously only individual files were possible to upload).

6. Fixed bug with trash in explorer (not all files from trash were displayed)

7. Sync center works as per other OS sync tooling. The “My syncs” folder concept is not used any more and desktop to different cloud folders can be mapped. ie. any folder can now be nominated for sync. The free version has a restriction of 3 folders that can be sync’d

8. Encryption now supported (only for Personal Cloud or Business Cloud users.). In the Properties window it is possible to set a password for encryption of files during sync.

9. Small fix for Properties window for small screens. Scrolling works correctly now.

The Linux Cloud Tools can be used with the following Clouds:

Google Docs, Google Storage, Google Sites,
Amazon S3, MobileMe, Microsoft Live Mesh (read only),
Microsoft SkyDrive, DropBox, Azure Blob Storage,
Box.net, RackSpace Cloud Files, OpenStack Swift,
Gmail-as-a-Cloud, Email-as-a-Cloud, Mezeo,
HP Object Cloud Storage, S3 compliant Clouds such as (Eucalyptus Walrus),
Ubuntu One Cloud, iKeepinCloud, PogoPlug,
BaseCamp SaaS Service, IBM Connections Files,
EMC Atmos, Office365, SharePoint, CloudMe,
HostingSolutions.it, Scality, Alfresco (on-premise),
Zimbra Briefcase, SafeSync(WebDav enabled),
FilesAnywhere (WebDav enabled), and any WebDav enabled Cloud.

The tools can be downloaded from the Linux Cloud Tools Page.

March 24, 2012March 24, 2012

How to sync files from Google Docs, SkyDrive, S3 and other Clouds with your BlackBerry Playbook

As we recently posted details about our HTML5 client for the BlackBerry Playbook we thought it would be useful to outline how you can sync files from any number of Clouds with your Playbook.

For this walk through we will be using a third party tool for the Playbook called Mobile FTP and the SMEStorage CloudFTP protocol adaptor. This solution will work with any free, personal or business Cloud File Server Account that has the Protocol Adaptor added to their account.

First purchase the Mobile FTP App for your Playbook and install it (t is £1.00)

Next setup the SME CloudFTP protocol adaptor connection in the App. This enables the SMEStorage Clouds you have mapped to your account to be accessible over FTP even if they don’t natively support FTP.

This will result in a new bookmark called SME FTP

At this point all your files are acessible through MobileFTP on the Playbook simply by selecting the bookmark and connecting

You can download files or upload them to the various cloud using the Mobile FTP App

Now we will set up Sync. First we need to create a bookmark of the directory we wish to sync within the Mobile FTP App. We wil choose a folder called ‘Android Docs’ that is hosted on Google Docs.

We will name the Bookmark “Docs to Sync”.

Now we’ll go back to the root of the Mobile FTP and edit the Sync example to change it for sync bookmark we just created:

We changed the name to “SME Sync GDocs” and chose the boomarked directory “Docs to Sync” as the directory to sync with the root of the SD Card. Now we can simply run the sync.

Once the sync is completed the nested directory structure and files are available from the SD card on the Playbook. We can re-run the sync when we wish to pick up any changes, and we can add as many sync profiles, to as many different clouds, as we wish.

February 12, 2012February 14, 2012

Cloud Computing Case Study: Google Docs continuous backup / sync to DropBox

We very often have businesses who want to keep files in sync between two clouds. This can be as simple as having a backup copy held between two providers in the cloud for continuous availability should one provider go down, or it could be due to a particular use case in which files need to be made available on two Clouds. In any case the request is a common enough for us to highlight it in our Cloud use cases section to show how this is easily achieved using the SME Open Cloud Platform.

We will look at providing a continuous backup / sync between Google Docs and DropBox, in which Google Docs is what we will refer to as the primary cloud, and DropBox will be the backup cloud. The first thing to note is that this option that we highlight below is only available to users who have a personal business or Cloud File Server account with us, and that it is available in our normal hosted offering as well as our appliance offering.

The guide to setup the continuous backup / sync are outlined step by step below:

1. Log into the personal business or Cloud File Server account either on the web or the appliance

2. Navigate to the “My DashBoard” link

3. Choose to add a new Backup provider and choose DropBox

4. Authorise the DropBox account to be accessed

5. The DropBox OAuth screen will appear an you can sign into DropBox and choose to authorise access

6. The sync will now be kicked off an you will see the settings screen of the backup provider you just added.

7. If we now visit the dropbox account we can see a new folder called “My GMail files” has been created

8. If we look inside this folder we can see the files and folders have been copied across

After the initial sync any news files that are uploaded direct to Google Docs via SME are also backed up to DropBox. Any files uploaded direct to Google Docs are uploaded to DropBox when SME discovers them either through you accessing your account if real-time update is enabled or by forcing a refresh between the SME meta-data and Google Docs. You are also able to control whether files are deleted on the backup if they are deleted on the primary from the settings page in step 6.

Although we used Google Docs to DropBox as an example this is equally applicable to any of the 35 clouds that SME supports, including private data to public clouds or vice-versa.

January 30, 2012April 18, 2020

SME has added support for 2 new Clouds: SugarSync and Ubuntu One Cloud

**Note that the Ubuntu One Cloud has subsequently been shut down

We’re happy to announce support for two new Cloud Providers that can be added, managed and governed from SMEStorage free, Personal or Business Account. These are SugarSync and the Ubuntu One Cloud. Both Clouds are available immediately and can be added to accounts from the web, mobile, or desktop clients.

The Ubuntu One Cloud and the SugarSync Cloud both provide 5GB free of storage and can be added from the your personal DashBoard.

As with all Clouds added to a SME account, these Clouds can be used with the SME Desktop clients (Windows, Mac, Linux), Mobile Clients (iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone) and Protocol Adaptors (CloudDav, CloudFTP, S3 API).

The Clouds are also available for immediate use for business users within the SME Cloud File Server.

October 5, 2011January 23, 2012

Cloud Computing Use Case: Sharing PDF’s stored on SkyDrive with an “on the road” team using Galaxy Tab and iPad’s

Given the propensity for so many different use cases that using the Cloud with Files can come up with we thought we’d start sharing some of the day-to-day use cases we deal with here on our blog.

This one is an inbound request in which a business has a series of PDF’s stored in a folder hierarchy on SkyDrive that they need to share with a distributed team that uses a combination of Galaxy Tab and iPad’s. The files need to be synchronised for offline use and the files can be updated each evening so the remote people need to be able to resync the files locally to get the latest versions for offline use.

Firstly lets address SlyDrive. In this event all the business needs to is to start using our Cloud File Server and add the SkyDrive Cloud to their account from the Cloud DashBoard. This starts a wizard in which the user is stepped through adding the SkyDrive Cloud.

Once this is done the Business Admin of the Cloud File Server needs to convert the folder containing the PDF’s into a shared Organization Folder. This means that any users that are added to the Cloud File Server will be able to see this folder.

The Business Cloud Admin can now choose to set the types of permissions that they wish to set on the folder (read only, etc).

Once this is done The Cloud Admin can add the users:

Now this is setup lets move to the tablet side. We’ll take the iPad first:

IPAD:

Each of the users that the Cloud File Server Admin added to the Cloud File Server can access their account using the iSMEStorage iPad App. once logged in they will be able to view files on the Cloud in a unique Cloud Files view.

However as per the business requirements we need to be able to sync the folder that was shared containing PDF’s down to the device. To do this the user needs to visit that particular folder in the Cloud File Manager and nominate the folder for local sync.

Once this is done the user can go to ‘My Syncs’ from the menu and action a sync which will download all the PDF’s locally. In future as the documents are updated overnight he just needs to visit My Syncs again and choose to resync which will download the newest files.

Galaxy Tab:

As with the iPad the user needs to visit the PDF directory from the Cloud Files view and nominate the PDF folder for Sync in the SMEStorage Android App.

Once this is done the user can return to My syncs, click on the directory and choose to sync. This will download the relevant PDF’s to the iPad. Again a sync can be done each day to update the latest files.

As there is less restriction on Android devices users can set the App to do a scheduled sync daily. Unfortunately this is not currently possible on the iPad.

July 9, 2011July 9, 2011

Mac Cloud Drive and Tools updated to Version 1.14

We’ve updated our Mac Cloud Tools to version 1.14. The Mac Cloud Tools work with your SMEStorage Account to enable you to manage the Storage Clouds mapped to your account directly from the Mac desktop either using:

– A network ‘Cloud’ Drive. We integrate with the OpenSource MacFuse to bring the Cloud into your Desktop

– Sync Folder. The Cloud Drive provides a view onto your Cloud data but if you want to keep data in sync from your desktop to (multiple) Clouds then use the Sync folders.

– Spotlight integration. We’ve integrated your Cloud Data with Spotlight so that when you search you also are returned search results that include your Cloud Data.

More information on the Cloud Tools can be found here and the Wiki pages for the Cloud Tools can be found here.

If you are an existing registered user of the Mac Tools log into the site and download the new version for the “My Cloud Tools” link on the right sidebar.

April 15, 2011April 15, 2011

Linux Cloud Tools updated to 2.12

We’ve updated our Linux Cloud Tools which include a virtual drive and sync to 2.12 which solves some bugs and also adds support for 64 bit Operating Systems.

September 3, 2010

Linux Multi Cloud Sync Update: Sync SkyDrive, S3 Google Docs and other Clouds to the Linux desktop

Those users who use the full version of our Windows tools will be familiar with our Sync Tools in which you can Sync your desktop data with that in the clouds. We are now almost ready to release the same functionality for Linux to compliment the ongoing beta of our Linux Virtual Drive.

This functionality means thatYou can work locally with files on your Linux desktop and be secure in the knowledge that they will be sync’d back to the Cloud and available, whatever that cloud is.

For companies whose user-base is heterogeneous, from an OS standpoint, it means that the Linux user is not the poor relation, he has the same Cloud tools and functionality as his Windows counterpart.

The Linux Sync tools will work with Google Docs, Microsoft SkyDrive, Mezeo personal cloud storage, Microsoft Live Mesh, Apple MobileMe, Amazon S3, RackSpace Cloud Files, Box.net, WebDav, FTP Clouds, GMail (GDrive), Email Clouds, and also, soon DropBox.

You can expect to see the Linux Sync tools on our Labs page sometime next week.

August 5, 2010August 6, 2010

Tying the Cloud to the Desktop: Cloud Management and Sync for Google Docs, Amazon S3 + other clouds

One of the things we get asked about a lot is Sync, especially for the WIndows platform, and especially for Google Docs and Amazon S3. Our Sync tools, Cloud Dashboard, Virtual Drive, shell integration etc, work above any cloud that is mapped to the SMEStorage platform. If you have a multi-cloud account and have 10 clouds mapped to our gateway then you will see 10 cloud directories from each of the different storage providers.

You can set your primary cloud for any sync directly from the Cloud Dashboard tools and and any files you nominate for sync will be sync’d with the underlying cloud. We prepared a small video that you can see below that will show you further details on how this works.

As more and more SMB’s and Organisations move to cloud they want a way to work with their files which is intuitive to the way they worked in the past. They also want ways to keep certain files in sync. For example doc files with Google Docs, maybe video or music files with Amazon S3 etc. This is the aim of our cloud desktop tools. To enable the user to have a more natural user experience and tie the desktop to the cloud environment, but in a more intuitive way, whilst at the same time layering on business features that are useful and productive to the user.