Gordon Woolf's Blog

Keeping in sync

I've just started to experiment with Microsoft's Windows Live Mesh, which is in beta and has already changed names about three times - plus it seems it may even be coming to the Mac. Basically it is a synchronisation program that is very badly explained but which will keep sets of folders in sync between two or more computers and is linked to online storage.

I made an initial mistake of choosing to sync my Documents folders between my desktop and laptop and then wondered what on earth was happening. It seemed to be sending and receiving tens of thousands of files with the numbers it showed going up, and up, and up. And then very slowly down.

It seems what it does it create lots of placeholder files for all the files it is going to move so it knows which is going to go in what direction. All I have tyo do now is keep both computers linked to my network to give it enough hours to complete the task. At least I eventually discovered that I don't need to keep looking at its screen windows; just keep both going in the taskbar. And because it works slowly it does not seem to be having a dramatic effect on any other jobs.

Presumably if I'd just told it to sync a few small folders in my user section it would have been done by now and just watching for changes to move the files in whatever direction was needed, and to have had few enough to keep a copy in the allowed space in the MS cloud.

I'd guess that all the files that  make up what (i.e. profiles etc) you mention would fill well within the cloud limits and the one advantage of Live Mesh over something like Dropbox seems to be that once you make your choices on what to sync it will then do it all for you. You may therefore like to read a blog item at:
http://www.newsome.org/2011/07/dropbox-vs-windows-live-mesh-i-can-answer-that-question/
which gives the other view. The pro view is at:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/why-i-switched-from-dropbox-to-windows-live-mesh/3512
particularly page 2 of that item.

Sending large files

Files are getting larger - especially photo files, and other graphic files such as those created in page layout programs. And the result is that we are starting to hit the limits of what can conveniently be sent as email attachments.

There is a need for "a better way" regardless of whether the file you wish to send is a few pictures of your kids for Aunt Daisy or the leaflet that you want printed ready for the launch of your new product.

However, we should still be asking the obvious questions:
Why is it a large file?
Can it be made smaller?

In many cases that picture from your latest 10 megapixel digital camera is far more detailed than Aunt Daisy will ever want to see, even if shown on the plasma TV in her lounge room. And much more detailed than can be seen on the more likely 15-inch monitor of her five-year-old Dell.

You may be surprised just how much JPEG compression you can create before you see any of those "artifacts" the photo gurus keep warning about.

You can even try the old fashioned solution - simply Zip the file, or create a zipped folder of it in Windows XP or 7, which is just about the same process but a little easier.

Even so, you may still reach the limits of email.

Few email servers will accept attachments larger than 10MB. Some are limited to 1MB or less. But it is not just that you may not be able to send a huge file -- larger files are more likely to be delayed.

They can take longer than snail mail. Let me give an example. A graphic designer had a piece of artwork we needed for a book cover. I tried to explain the workings of FTP but he insisted he had sent many files of this size, around 2MB, by email and not had a problem.

Always be wary of that kind of statement: I've done that loads of times; never had a problem!

And so I waited. A CD of some replacement pictures for inside the book sent from an adjacent suburb by express mail arrived early next morning.

And I waited.

We resorted to courier.

Three days later, the email appeared in my inbox. Yes, it had been sent, but the 2MB graphic file which was actually nearly 3MB as an attachment, showed that it had sat around in the servers of a certain major service provider for many, many hours.

If I impart human thought to those machines on the way, I can imagine the arguments: can I send this now? No, I'm busy with the littlies, wait till I have more time. Can I send it now? No, I've got to do my nightly backup. Can I send it now? No, I've got a headache.

So, how do you get these larger files on the move?

One answer is to put them on a web site.

Does your ISP offer a web site? Many do. And if you want to do it with aplomb, how about getting a $10 a year domain from GoDaddy.com and a free web site from one of the places you'll find if you type "free web sites" into a search engine? In this way you can put your pics to auntie at yoursonfred.com (which is available as I write!)

To put the files on the website, your host may offer a means of using your browser, but it is more likely they'll tell you to use FTP (I said we would get back to that).

Storage sites are sites intended for remote storage of files, principally for backup but they can also be used for transferring file. Type "free online storage" in to your search engine for a list of many such sites, though note that some of these are free trials for a paid service.

Forwarding sites are set up specifically for sending files to other people, and are the latest addition to the armory of services available on the Internet. The one which first built a reliable reputation is yousendit.com which offers a free trial for files up to 2GB (2000MB). You send the file to their server. They send a link to the person whose email address you give. The file is deleted from their server in 7 days' time.

Type "send large files" into your search engine to find more services of this kind, some free, and some which have lower filesize limits and/or require you to set up an account even if it is free, giving them additional info about you.

All these have simple websites which invite you to browse for the file you want to send. On clicking the button you open a standard file dialog on your computer as you would to select a file in any program resident on your own drives.

Most of these sites have a limit on the number of downloads of any one file to try to limit misuse. They are intended for file transfer, not to make large files available to everyone.

Many give little indication of how quickly the upload is taking place, so I would suggest trying a small file first to assure yourself it is working and see what the indication is of a successful transfer. If you are paranoid about the likely effect on Aunt Daisy of getting an email which is sent by the service telling her to download the file, then fill in your own email address as the intended recipient. You will get the message giving the file address details and you can send this link in an email which really does go direct from you.

Sending large files by one of these methods will also help avoid the problem where the recipient has an email they want urgently blocked because your large file is first in the queue, and they really do not have the time to download that first. Keep Aunt Daisy happy by not sending your photos as email attachments.