I decided to buy 50GB worth of Dropbox space since MobileMe and iDisk will be done soon, and since I am trying to free up some hard drive space on my MacBook and iMac. However, I find that Dropbox uses the same concept as iDisk did; namely, it creates a local folder the same size as the Dropbox folder on your hard drive and then syncs it all up later when on a WiFi connection. This doesn't solve the problem of conserving hard drive space, however, and when I move the whole Dropbox to an external drive attached to me Apple Extreme at home, I cannot access this drive when I am away from home. Or can I? Is there a simple way to make Dropbox work for all my computers as a "hard drive in the sky" without using up precious local hard drive space? Anyone? Anyone?
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If you can successfully move your dropbox folder to an external disc you can use the web interface to access the dropbox while away. You will conserve the space and have access. Not as convenient but it works. Why not look at alternatives that don't synch such as Skydrive or box.net if all you want is new based storage?
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Or maybe a NAS that has remote access functionality, like a Synology DiskStation?
Not the cheapest of solutions but will give you what you are looking for and potentially expansion bays (depending on the modle) to grow disk space into the future..
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These may be worth exploring. Is there an easy way to store all your iPhoto library offsite (beyond the 1000 pictures in Photo Stream)? This is easily one of the biggest memory hogs currently. I can't offload mu music files, but I don't need to have quite so many photos on the local hard drive. On the iMac at home, I just have all new iPhotos, including Photo Stream photos, automatically go to an external FW drive and it has improved the memory and performance of that machine considerably. The ext drive however is always attached to the computer—not as convenient with a MacBook, though I suppose I could just plug in an external drive whenever I need to use iPhoto.
Is it possible to use Dropbox without making a copy of it on your local hard drive? Where it simply functions as an cloud drive for all your devices? Or is really all about the syncing? Or maybe selective syncing is what I'm looking for. What do you guys do? I mean, I'd like to use since it's fast and already paid for.
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Is it possible to use Dropbox without making a copy of it on your local hard drive? Where it simply functions as an cloud drive for all your devices? Or is really all about the syncing? Or maybe selective syncing is what I'm looking for. What do you guys do? I mean, I'd like to use since it's fast and already paid for.
Exactly, it's more of a file syncing service than it is a storage service.
Selective syncing will allow you to exclude selected sub directories from syncing, not what you're looking for.
You mentioned that you have an HD connected to you airport extreme? Why not simply enable iCloud/Back to My Mac access on it? It'll show up as a shared device on any machine that you're logged in to iCloud with. You wouldn't need to duplicate the storage then.
Exactly, it's more of a file syncing service than it is a storage service.
Selective syncing will allow you to exclude selected sub directories from syncing, not what you're looking for.
You mentioned that you have an HD connected to you airport extreme? Why not simply enable iCloud/Back to My Mac access on it? It'll show up as a shared device on any machine that you're logged in to iCloud with. You wouldn't need to duplicate the storage then.
By George, I think you've got it,vPolywog. Are there any particular things one must do when attempts such a venture? I mean, obviously the Airport Extreme would have to always be on, which it is anyway. Is this configured from within System Preferences? Or Airport Utility?
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Even if Dropbox was designed for backing up (rather than syncing), it's hard to image that offloading 50GB of files would make a huge improvement to your hard drive situation.
It sounds like you're going to need to start offloading files to an external device (which you'll want to ensure is properly backed up).
You might also want to look into moving from iPhoto to something like Aperture, which works really well with photos stored on external drives. Aperture stores preview files on your local drive, saving considerable amounts of space. You can specify the quality / filesize of the previews that Aperture creates.
Here's a thought: is it possible to have one iPhoto Library stored externally that more than one computer and iPhoto app can access? Sort of like Photo Stream, but for ALL your photos rather than just the most recent 1000?
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By George, I think you've got it,vPolywog. Are there any particular things one must do when attempts such a venture? I mean, obviously the Airport Extreme would have to always be on, which it is anyway. Is this configured from within System Preferences? Or Airport Utility?
It's pretty straightforward: Under "Base Station" in AirPort Utility, there is a section at the bottom called Back to My Mack. Hit the plus, and add your iCloud username and password. You can add as many iCloud accounts as you like so they can all get access to the shared drive.
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