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mufugger's avatar
mufugger
Explorer | Level 3
6 years ago

Dropbox sync directory with 2x NAS

Hello,

I've found synology and qnap to have rather robust syncing capabilities.  I'm curious as to whether anyone has synced the same directory with two different NAS.  We're talking about a few million files, but not many modified or created per day.  

In my testing it has worked well, but in production it could be another story.  The hope is that both NAS will stay in sync with dropbox, regardless of whether you make a change in dropbox or either NAS.  

Anyone ever try this?

TIA!

desktop
sync
  • Daphne's avatar
    Daphne
    6 years ago
    Hey there mufugger,
     
    I’d just like to mention that NAS currently isn’t a supported location for the Dropbox folder. This is due to it generally not working well in being able to sync changes made to the files within the account.
     
    Network file systems essentially don’t send “file update events” when you edit a file. So after the initial start up of the Dropbox app, which will prompt a deep scan and syncing of any changes, any further changes made won’t send these “file update events” to Dropbox and so syncing won't occur. Only physically connected drives send these events.
     
    Is there a reason you prefer to use the NAS instead of hosting the Dropbox folder locally? If it’s due to space issues, then perhaps you could incorporate smart sync or selective sync in your use with the desktop app.
     
    Hopefully this clarifies the matter for you and I’ll be happy to help with any further or more specific questions you have about using Dropbox in your workflow.
     
    Have a great day - Thanks!
  • Daphne's avatar
    Daphne
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    6 years ago
    Hey there mufugger,
     
    I’d just like to mention that NAS currently isn’t a supported location for the Dropbox folder. This is due to it generally not working well in being able to sync changes made to the files within the account.
     
    Network file systems essentially don’t send “file update events” when you edit a file. So after the initial start up of the Dropbox app, which will prompt a deep scan and syncing of any changes, any further changes made won’t send these “file update events” to Dropbox and so syncing won't occur. Only physically connected drives send these events.
     
    Is there a reason you prefer to use the NAS instead of hosting the Dropbox folder locally? If it’s due to space issues, then perhaps you could incorporate smart sync or selective sync in your use with the desktop app.
     
    Hopefully this clarifies the matter for you and I’ll be happy to help with any further or more specific questions you have about using Dropbox in your workflow.
     
    Have a great day - Thanks!
  • jaskaran's avatar
    jaskaran
    New member | Level 2
    6 years ago

    Hi Team,

    We have one NAS box where we have created shared folders. I want to sync eveything from these shared folders to Dropbox or kind on automatic increment copy to dropbox run every few hours.

    As its a NAS device so we cant install dropbox on this hardware device. 

    Any way to do that?

    • Fiona's avatar
      Fiona
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      6 years ago

      Thanks for posting in our Community jaskaran! 

      NAS and other network shares are not supported by Dropbox. There are a few ways to have this working for you but it is risky. 

      You can read the following topics in the Community about this and even upvote the feature requests for NAS. 

      :books:

      Can I install Dropbox on NAS?

      An Official Client for Synology NAS Devices

      Dropbox Folder as NAS Drive

      P.S. Merging your topic to this similar discussion, where Daphne explains more as to why NAS and Dropbox don't "communicate" and also provides a Dropbox alternative. 

      Hope this helps! :nerd:

       

      This thread is closed due to inactivity. Please feel free to create a new topic here. 
       

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