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TimP's avatar
TimP
Helpful | Level 5
6 years ago

What's the best way to back up the Dropbox folder if I don't have enough space to sync all files?

Hello, I'm using Dropbox Business with Smart Sync. I would like to brckup my entire dropbox to an external hardware (alternative ideas welcome). According to Dropbox support I would have to: ...
Account Security
desktop app
Dropbox for Business
Team admin
  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    6 years ago
    I appreciate it that you circled back to us here Tim (TimP), let me clarify matters in a bit more detail for you below!
     
    I simply don't have enough space. I was hoping there is a way to download the entire content from the website.
     
    Please bear in mind that by suggesting the Dropbox folder move to your external hard drive, I meant the remaining folder after unlinking (which is just a simple folder as any other on your OS). This essentially implies that if you had chosen to exclude any of your content from syncing to your desktop, this will also be eliminated when you move files/ folder from your internal to your external drive. If you decide to follow my advice, it will be the same as if you downloaded your content in smaller chunks (i.e. via the website). 
     
    In other words, you can sync your files to your desktop utilizing Selective Sync; once you get all folder structures you’d need to backup fully synced, you can unlink & then safely move the folders to your external hard drive to back them up. 
     
    From there, you can re-install the desktop application anew changing the Selective Sync settings in order to get going with the second backup batch &c. 
     
    I hope that this illustrates my point a bit more clearly; please let me know if you have any follow-up questions! 
Etienne2's avatar
Etienne2
Helpful | Level 6

I saw that I can download some folders.

But I think that it would be perfect if we could download all our Dropbox files in one time.

Some of my folders (with pictures) are to big to download them...

Regarding the size of a folder (GB or total of files in it), how can I see it?

I don't find a button to press that will show me the size and the number of files in a folder.

Thank's for you help. Really appreciate it.

 

Jane's avatar
Jane
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
6 years ago
Thanks for getting back in touch with me here Etienne2; I hope you’ve had a great day so far!
 
Etienne2 wrote:

But I think that it would be perfect if we could download all our Dropbox files in one time.

Following what we've been discussing, I’ve already made a note of your interest on my internal report for future iterations, as this is some great feedback for our team devs.
 

Regarding the size of a folder (GB or total of files in it), how can I see it?

I don't find a button to press that will show me the size and the number of files in a folder.

Kindly note that you should be able to see the size of a folder following the steps relayed here & the number of files you've stored in a folder following Rich’s advice here. 
 
Please give my suggestions a go whenever you find some spare time & do let me know how you get on on this discussion; it'll be a pleasure to further clarify matters if needed! 
  • TSD2's avatar
    TSD2
    Helpful | Level 6
    6 years ago

    I have a similar situation.

    I have a Dropbox account with more space (2TB) than the local drive my dropbox folder resides in.

    I NEED to have multiple backups as my data is important. Who's isn't?  So one has to be on an external hard drive.

    My Dropbox account now has "smart sync" which is marketed as allowing users to access more space than is available on there local drive.  Sounds great. But...

    The first problem is backing up the local Dropbox folder. Now when I run a backup on my local Dropbox folder it tries to download the smart synced on line folders, which defeats the purpose of smart sync.  I understand from this thread that I can "unlink" the local dropbox to achieve the local backup. But that rules out automated backups. I can maybe live with that.

    The next problem is backing up the online-only folders. I can't see any practical way to do this.  Say I put up 1.2 TB of data as online only.  I know I can download the folders to an external harddrive (my local PC hard drive isn't big enough) by changing my download folder location. But that is impractical to do every time with so much data.  What I need is an incremental backup. ie only those files that have changed. 

    Is there any dropbox solution or third party software that anybody has used to do this?

    I use Syncback for my regular backups.

    It seems to me that without this functionality smart sync is worse than useless. I think I must be missing something. Hoping someone has a solution.

    If not can I go back to selective sync?  and just use the online folders for off-site backup.

     

  • CEHTeam's avatar
    CEHTeam
    Helpful | Level 6
    6 years ago

    I'd like to add my vote for this feature!  I am working with a remote team and we are using Dropbox Business primarily for large photo/video media files.  I want the option of downloading to an external drive for backup so that I don't have to go "henpecking" through my Dropbox folder to find the latest iterations of updated/uploaded files.  Working with them on my hard drive is much faster.  Was hoping to add a regular weekly workflow that includes a backup to an external drive so that I always have local access.  Am I understanding that this is impossible?  If so, that's disappointing.  I prefer Dropbox but I need an external local backup.  Google Drive provides this already.

  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    6 years ago
    Hey CEHTeam, thanks for the nudge & detailing us how you’d wish to utilize this functionality; that’s some great feedback for our team devs & I’ve made sure to include your thoughts in my internal reports for future iterations of the Dropbox website.
     
    Thanks again for taking the time to drop us a line here & please feel free to let us know here if you have more observations!
  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    6 years ago
    Hey TSD2, CEHTeam & TimP, if I may chime in on your discussion, it would be worth noting that you’re seeing your files reverting back to Local, as the third-party apps you’re utilizing may need to access the content you’ve previously set as Online-only thus triggering the recall. 
     
    The placeholder files you’re seeing contain only basic information for your files within Dropbox which aren’t decoded in other apps you may be using, as the latter most likely require that the files are physically present in order to work efficiently. 
     
    While I can’t recommend any third-party applications on my end, I’m always here to further advise you on your best next steps depending on your current circumstances. Thanks! 
  • TSD2's avatar
    TSD2
    Helpful | Level 6
    6 years ago

    Hi Jane,

    Yes, I understand about the place holder being local and the real file on the dropbox cloud.

    SyncBackPro logs on to dropbox cloud ( once it has permission) and can perform its backup function between dropbox cloud and an external hard drive. 

    I assume that many dropbox smart sync uses rely completely on dropbox for their smartsynced file security. I am sure dropbox does a great job of backing up the system, but **bleep** happens. I have recently had to retrieve files from 14 years ago that relates to a problem worth $1.4 M. I could do that because I have good backups. It would be great if dropbox provided this functionally to its customers.

    I love Dropbox though and am pleased to have found a way to continue using it.

  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    6 years ago
    I see now TSD2 & thanks for explaining matters in such detail for me; that’s some great feedback for our team devs & I’ve made sure to include your request in my report internally for future iterations of the Dropbox desktop app.
     
    It’s very constructive to follow your train of thought for a while & see how you’re using Dropbox in your workflow; now that you’ve put me in the picture, I can also make sure that your post here is submitted for review to the right pair of eyes. 
     
    Last but not least, it always makes us equally happy to read your 💙 positive comments. Happy Dropboxing ahead & please feel free to ping us here for more #DropboxTips&Tricks or just in case you have any observations in the future & it’ll be a pleasure to work with you again. Take care until then!
  • CEHTeam's avatar
    CEHTeam
    Helpful | Level 6
    6 years ago

    Do you happen to know if there is an option like SyncBackPro for mac? FileZilla Pro does for Google Drive what SBP does for Dropbox with Windows.  Would love to solve this problem!

    While I work on a Mac, we do have a PC in our home. I'm actually contemplating getting a 4TB HDD added to our main PC strictly to have the full contents of Dropbox downloaded and kept locally there as a backup.  Wish Dropbox made it easier but I love it and want to use it.  Just have to figure out to have local backups copies of my data too.

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