Advice for managing two computers?

2769 Views 11 Replies 7 Participants Last post by crawford, May 8, 2007

crawford

Discussion Starter · May 5, 2007

I am in the process of setting up my own small business and fully making the transition to Mac and OS X. I have had an iMac for a few months and it will become my main computer for work. I also just purchased a MacBook, which I plan to use when I'm on the road, going to clients, etc.

How should I set things up so that I keep my documents on the two computers in sync? I want to make sure that if I modify documents on the iMac, the revisions will be automatically copied to the MacBook and vice versa.

I'm not too worried about email, as I'm using an IMAP server.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

(mods, if this belongs in the help forum, please feel free to move it)

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wtl

· #2 · May 5, 2007

Your set-up is close to mine - I use a PowerMac G5 for my day to day stuff, and use my MacBook Pro as a back-up machine and for when I am out of the home office.

I use Synk Standard to synchronize the machines, but this isn't automatic. I do it manually. I could schedule it to happen as often as I like, but for now at least, I prefer to do it myself.

I'm sure there are a dozen other ways to do it too, and look forward to how others do it.

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MacDoc

· #3 · May 5, 2007

I'd be a bit careful in a biz situation.

If you are using Filemaker you can access the database while on the road.

Mail I use gMail as a backup - all that comes and goes out of the main mail is CCd to gmail.

Personally if you are starting out have a look at the GoogleApp approach.

Hard to advise without a bit more info.

Backup both machines daily - gives you a bit less risk if something goes wrong.

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crawford

Discussion Starter · #4 · May 5, 2007

Good advice, thanks.

I'm most concerned about making sure that my documents and address book are the same on each machine. So when I head out to a client, I know that I have the most recent version of a document on my MacBook. Similarly, when I return to my office, I want to find a quick and easy way to identify changed files on the MacBook and transfer them to the iMac.

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MacDoc

· #5 · May 5, 2007

But what kind of "documents"?
That's critical.

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HowEver

· #6 · May 5, 2007

Is anybody using rsync ?

http://www.bombich.com/mactips/rsync.html

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crawford

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 6, 2007

MacDoc said:
But what kind of "documents"?
That's critical.

Pages, Keynote, Word, Powerpoint, Excel, PDF, etc.
No databases or documents that will edited by multiple users like Filemaker.

I'll look into rsync

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· #8 · May 6, 2007

HowEver said:
Is anybody using rsync ?

http://www.bombich.com/mactips/rsync.html

I've used rsync for years but it has some limitations ... it's not really setup for 2 way syncing the way the OP is looking to do. Also if you set it up to do 2 way syncing and you're trying to delete things you will have to delete on both sides of the equation or they keep coming back

Also the way they have patched it to work with resource forks is much less than optimal. It sends a copy of the resource fork for each file each time you run it regardless of any file changes. In my case I have around 200,000 files in my home directory which I sync, so even if there's only been a few changed files it takes quite a while to run and if you stop it part way through you stand the chance of nuking out a resource fork on the receiving end.

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Daktari

· #9 · May 6, 2007

crawford said:
Good advice, thanks.

I'm most concerned about making sure that my documents and address book are the same on each machine. So when I head out to a client, I know that I have the most recent version of a document on my MacBook. Similarly, when I return to my office, I want to find a quick and easy way to identify changed files on the MacBook and transfer them to the iMac.

As far as I can tell, Synchronize X Plus would be perfect for you. I used to use the demo for syncing a bunch of folders ( the demo limit for no more than 100mb) a while back.

To synchronize your address book contacts, you could either use addressO, or Plaxo. I haven't used either products personally but they sound like what you need.

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Pelao

· #10 · May 7, 2007

Hi Crawford

My setup is similar, so here is what I do:

1. First, your email will be fine as you use IMAP: so do I and Apple Mail handles it perfectly between the 2 Macs.

2. Documents. There are a couple of apps out there that can keep specific folders and docs in sync between 2 or more Macs. I downloaded and tried a bunch, and finally settled on Chronosync:
http://www.econtechnologies.com/site/Pages/ChronoSync/chrono_overview.html

A review:
http://www.macworld.com/2005/06/reviews/chronosync3/index.php

I like Chronosync because it is utterly reliable and will sync every doc in the assigned folders, including all the doc types you listed. You can set it to sync deleted docs, and to keep a copy of changed docs for a set period.

I also use it to do a daily automated backup to an external drive of key folders (Mail, Address, iCal, working folders etc): I do a separate weekly clone backup.

3. There are apparently numerous solutions to keeping your iCal and Address book in sync between 2 Macs. I know someone that uses and app that syncs these to a Google calendar, then each mac in turn syncs with that calendar. In my case I use .Mac - works perfectly. Incidentally, .mac also enables me to keep a nice online backup of key docs.

For someone who needs key folders to be identical on 2 Macs I cannot recommend Chronosync highly enough. If you have specific questions, PM me at any time.

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BlueMax

· #11 · May 7, 2007

A two-computer network is too difficult to manage and dangerous for business security. You need to get rid of that iMac immediately! Send the iMac to my address at: ...

:lmao:

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crawford

Discussion Starter · #12 · May 8, 2007

Pelao said:
I downloaded and tried a bunch, and finally settled on Chronosync:
http://www.econtechnologies.com/site/Pages/ChronoSync/chrono_overview.html

Thanks a lot Pelao. Chronosync looks like a contender. I'll give it a shot.

Someone else recommended Synctogether Has anyone tried it?

And BlueMax, I'll take my chances with security and hold on to the iMac. Thanks for the offer, though.

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