Sync with a network drive

[Tommy Q.]

Hi,

I have an external drive connected to my router which appears in the network as \10.50.1.1\Name
How do I sync my dropbox file to a location there? when I try to move the directory over there, I get a message that this is a network drive.

Thanks,
Tommy

[Richard P. · Accepted solution]

Dropbox doesn't support network locations due to issues that have come up before.

[Tommy Q.]

Thanks for that.
Do you have any idea or a workaround on how to implement that (except from connecting the external drive to physical PC)?

[Richard P.]

I'm afraid I can't suggest anything because the chance of data loss is quite high.

[Razvan Boxifier]

Tommy, you can keep your Dropbox folder local and sync the folders that you need from the network drive with Boxifier ( http://www.boxifier.com). It is an application that can sync any folder with Dropbox (including ones from external drives, NAS, network drives). Disclaimer: I am one of the authors so feel free to ask me anything about it: [Deleted email, no personal information please!]

[Scott R.5]

So basically drop box is useless.  No great surprise.  I would be helpful if drop box synced away from the hard drive.

[Rich]

I would be helpful if drop box synced away from the hard drive.

But that's not what it's intended use is. The entire point of Dropbox is to sync the files that are on your hard drive to your account online or other devices. It is not a cloud-based folder/drive or a way to increase the storage space on your system. It is a file sync utility.

[Bryan H.5]

Fully appreciate the idea behind Dropbox, but when there is TB's of storage available in the plans how many people would actually have a machine with that amount of local storage.  In this day and age where Home NAS solutions are becoming more and more prevalent surely it is pertinent to scope the solution provided to meet new configuration and demand?  I for example have a 3TB NAS at home where I keep my personal files, and photos that I would prefer to backup to cloud as well as sync back to from Dropbox from my phone without being restricted to my local laptop's limitiations

[Richard P.]

I for example have a 3TB NAS at home where I keep my personal files, and photos that I would prefer to backup to cloud as well as sync back to from Dropbox from my phone without being restricted to my local laptop's limitiations

Quite a few NAS systems have a Dropbox client within which you can achieve that directly on the NAS itself.  Its what I use on my Synology NAS.

[Bryan H.5]

Yep, I have seen that, but not all NAS solutions have that capability built in and some can be expensive or appear difficult for most "home" users to setup.  Just feel that there should be a move more towards providing an option that allows users full choice of NAS and the ability to sync to cloud solutions.  I fully appreciate also that this isn't just a Dropbox problem but it is where the world is moving