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Forum Discussion
Time machine forces smart sync to download files locally!
There is a huge problem when using smart sync as a Mac user who has time machine setup to automatically back up the entire hard drive (including the dropbox folder). If this is the case the time machine backup will trigger each an every one file that is set to 'online only' to be downloaded locally. If the amount of data on dropbox exceeds the hard drive space it slows down the entire computer!
- The files aren't on the computer so your backup software can't back them up. If it tries to access the files, Dropbox is likely bringing them local just like it's supposed to do (no different from when you access a file that's Online Only; it's downloaded). Dropbox likely can't differentiate between you accessing a file or another application accessing the file.
Your best bet would be to add an exclusion to your backup set so that it doesn't attempt to backup any files that are marked as Online Only.
- Jane
Dropbox Staff
- Rich
Super User II
The files aren't on the computer so your backup software can't back them up. If it tries to access the files, Dropbox is likely bringing them local just like it's supposed to do (no different from when you access a file that's Online Only; it's downloaded). Dropbox likely can't differentiate between you accessing a file or another application accessing the file.
Your best bet would be to add an exclusion to your backup set so that it doesn't attempt to backup any files that are marked as Online Only.Hi guys, thanks for taking the time to reply to this. I completely get as to why this is how dropbox behaves at present, i.e. that the time machine request triggers the download of the file. However, I wonder whether there is a way to prevent dropbox from doing so if it is a 'read trigger' by time machine?
What I really would like to continue doing is to be able to backup my dropbox folder to my time machine automatically as this gave me extra peace of mind that I physically have a copy of my important files. It was good enough for me to have this physical copy only of the files that are physically on my hard disk, i.e. I used selective sync.
Having smart sync is however a great new feature for me as I have a ton of files on my dropbox that I do not need regularly but which I really love being able to find via spotlight etc.
So it looks like I'm between a rock and a hard place and for now need to exclude my dropbox folder from time machine and run a scripted backup from time to time from the command line to an extrenal drive using rclone. Given I'm using a laptop this is far less comfortable than using time machine over Wifi and I might of course forget to do the manual backup quite frequently.
I recently went through the same SmartSync/TimeMachine conflict that so many Mac users have complained about on the forums. As a loyal DropBox user (who plans to keep using and recommending DropBox!) I wanted to make one thing clear to the Dropbox team:
You disappointed us.
Dropbox has been a delight as long as it's been available. Everyone I show it to loves it and many start using it. It has never caused a technical glitch, and seems as well integrated into the Apple Finder as any Apple product. We love it.
Then you announced SmartSync along with a price increase. It sounded like a great deal, the answer to our dreams. And it exploded in all of our faces.
Guys, you knew this would happen. My guess is that there are a lot of Apple Fanboys at Dropbox, and that many of you use Time Machine. You have always delighted us in the past. Why did you dangle this new feature in our faces and not warn us of the conflict with Time Machine?
Yes, I love DropBox. Yes, I will continue to use it without Smartsync. Yes, I will continue to recommend it to friends. And Yes, we expect to see warnings in BIG RED LETTERS on all of your SmartSync support pages that it conflicts with Time Machine. Heck, you can probably figure out a way to identify whether Time Machine is enabled on a particular Mac and warn users in real-time. Let's get back to DropBox Delight!
- Jane
