Syncrify

Syncrify

 

A private-cloud backup and synchronization

Keeps your files private to your network. No third-party will ever get access to your files.

 

Usage Scenarios

 

Backup

Backup as many machines as you would like to a central repository within your company. Backup can be made either on your LAN or across the Internet using a secure method. 

 

Backing up to a central repository

 

Consider a scenario where you want to backup several machines in your company to a central repository with the following design goals:

• Data from laptops, desktops and servers are backed up to a central location
• Data on the central repository must be secure
• You have several offices at multiple physical locations and you want all of them to back up their data to a central office
• Users should be able to access their files from anywhere, anytime using any device including mobile phones

 

The image above display the network diagram in your company.

 

Steps to accomplish this goal

 

Step 1. Install Syncrify Server

Designate one machine where the central repository will reside and install the Syncrify Server on this machine. The location of this machine does not matter. As long as it is accessible over the network to other computers on your network, you will be able to backup machines to this central repository.

 

This machine should have a hard drive big enough to store backed up files from different location.

 

Assume the host name of this machine is backup.yourCompany.com.

 

Step 2. Configure Syncrify

After installing Syncrify, connect to the web interface using the following URL:

http://localhost:5800

 

After initial configuration, create a user account and specify a repository path where backed up files will be stored. Let's say this user's email address is userOne@yourCompany.com.

 

Step 3. Configure firewall

Typically, there are two firewalls you need to configure:

• On the machine where Syncrify server is installed. Most modern operating systems provide a built-in firewall preventing unauthorized access to the machine.
• On your network router.

You only need to open the port where Syncrify server is listening on. By default, this port is 5800 and administrators can change this to any other number less than 65,000.

 

Step 4. Access server from client machine

If your firewalls are setup correctly, you should be able to access the server from any browser using the following URL:

http://backup.yourcompany.com:5800

 

You should see the login window from any client machine. If you get an error, ensure the firewall is setup correctly and you can access the web interface of the server from the server machine itself.

 

Download Syncrify client from the link provided on your Syncrify server's web interface

 

Step 5. Install Syncrify client

Install Syncrify client on the machine that needs to be backed up. Using the account you created in step 2, run a test backup.

 

Repeat this procedure and install the Syncrify client on every machine that requires to be backed up.

 

Synchronize Machines

Synchronize files and/or folders across multiple machines. Change files on one machines and watch Syncrify propagate the changes to all of them. 

 

Synchronizing files across machines

Problem statement

You have 3 machines (let's say web servers) and want to synchronize files in a folder across all of them. You want file changes to propagate across these machines, meaning if:

• A new file is added to machine 1, it should automatically appear on machine 2 and 3
• An existing file is modified on machine 3, that change should appear on machine 1 and 2
• An existing file is deleted from machine 2, it should get deleted from machine 1 and 3

 

Assumptions

• You want to synchronize C:\wwwroot across machine 1, 2 and 3.

 

Solution

You can accomplish this task using the Two-way sync feature in Syncrify. The following bullets show step-by-step instructions on accomplishing this task.

 

Step 1

Introduce a 4th machine that acts as a broker. You install and configure the Syncrify server on this broker machine. Following assumption are made for the purpose of this example:

• The host name of this machine is sync.xyz.com
• A new user is created with john.doe@xyz.com as login ID in Syncrify
• Password for this user is hiddenSecret

 

Step 2

• Install the Syncrify client on machine 1, which is your primary web server.
• When the Syncrify client runs for the first time, it creates a default profile. Put some garbage values for Remote Server URL, Login Email and password and save this profile. You will NOT be using this profile for this example.
• Next, click Add Profile under the File menu. 
• Enter the following values on the next screen.
   

Profile Name:	WebSync
Remote Server URL:	http://sync.xyz.com:5800
Login Email:	john.doe@xyz.com
Login Password:	hiddenSecret
Restore Profile	DO NOT check

 

• Click Create Profile button to create a new profile
• Right click on the left hand panel and select Add folder/file from the popup menu.
• Select C:\wwwroot folder and click Ok. 

 

• Click the Advanced tab and select Two-way sync for Direction.

 

• Click Backup to run a backup

 

Step 3

Follow the same steps above to setup machine 2 and 3, with one difference:

• Check the box for Restore Profile when creating a new profile.

• After you click the Create Profile button, Syncrify will prompt you for the path where the wwwroot folder resides on this machine. Accept the default value if the location of this folder is C:\wwwroot is same on every machine.

 

Frequenty asked questions

 

Why do I need a broker machine?

Often users want to put the Syncrify server on one of the machine that is involved in synchronization. For example, machine 1 in the above example and have machine 2 and 3 run Syncrify Client.

Although this configuration is possible, it is not recommended for the following reasons:

• The Syncrify server creates temporary files on the server machine. Seeing these temporary files in your c:\wwwroot will definitely create confusion on a production machine.
• This can create synchronization problems. No one should be modifying files in the repository folder on the machine where the Syncrify server is running. Files in the repository should only be modified by Syncrify server. Consider a scenario where Syncrify client on machine 2 is running a backup and someone changes the contents of one file on machine 1. This can cause unpredictable behavior and can corrupt files.
• The repository path for the Syncrify server won't be C:\wwwroot. Meaning by default the backed up files are stored in C:\Backup\john.doe@xyz.com\WebSync\wwwroot folder. Although you can change the actual path on disk by using Repository path exceptions or Junction Points, having a 4th machine is a much cleaner alternative.

 

SyncriBox

A secure, private-cloud alternative to services like DropBox, Google Drive, MS OneDrive and others. No third-party will ever see your files. No storage fee, no bandwidth throttling and no monthly charges. 

 

SyncriBox— A secure alternative

 

SyncriBox is a private cloud based and secure alternative to services like Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, DropBox and Box. It provides an easy way to store shared files that can be accessed from anywhere on the Internet. It is designed to synchronize documents, music files, images and other similar files.
 

What Makes SyncriBox Unique?

From a functional standpoint, SyncriBox is similar to DropBox, GoogleDrive, Microsoft OneDrive, Box and others with the following three differences:
 

1. No privacy issues	Files are synchronized using Syncrify Server, which is under your control - meaning no third party will ever see your files. Therefore, no security or privacy issues.
2. Maximum ROI	There is no limit on how much data is synchronized. No usage fees, no bandwidth throttling and no limit on the number of users.
3. No Extra Cost	SyncriBox is a feature of Syncrify, not a separate product. Therefore, it is included with every license of Syncrify Client and there is no extra cost for using it.

 

Licensing SyncriBox

SyncriBox is not considered a separate product. Instead, its license is bundled with Syncrify Client. If you already have installed Syncrify Client on a computer that is consuming a license, installing SyncriBox on the same machine will not require additional license. If you do not have Syncrify Client installed on a computer, installing SyncriBox by itself will consume one client license.

In short, one machine license will be consumed for every computer where:

• Syncrify Client is installed,
• SyncriBox is installed,
• Or both Syncrify Client and SyncriBox are installed

SyncriBox provides the following benefits:

• Automatic synchronization - files are pushed and pulled immediately after modification. No scheduling required.
• Minimal configuration - the interface just asks 3 questions:
  • Server URL
  • Login ID
  • Password

Everything else is configured automatically.

• Access from anywhere - access files from any mobile device or computer
• Auto-encryption - Files can be encrypted by a system-generated key that is unique to every installation
• No extra cost - There is no extra cost of using SyncriBox if you are already using Syncrify Client on a machine

 

File Distribution

Publish files from a central location to several computers either on the same LAN or across the continent. Transfers incremental - meaning just the deltas are sent across the network. 

 

Sending files to several computers

Consider a scenario where you need to push files to several computers on the Internet from a master location. Let's call this master location the template machine and receiving computers the target machines. This page provides step-by-step instructions on how to accomplish this goal by synchronizing files from template machine to target machines.

 

Assumptions

The following assumptions are made in this article.

• Files residing on the template machine needs to be pushed to several computers on the Internet or local LAN
• The template machine will always push files while target machines will always pull them.
• There can be one or more target machines

 

Step-by-Step guide

 

Step 1. Introduce a broker machine

Although you can install the Syncrify server on the template machine, a cleaner approach is to install it on a different machine - other than the template or any target machines. Let's call this the broker machine.

Install the Syncrify server on the broker machine. Optionally enable SSL access in Syncrify. This is done so that machines on the Internet pull their files in a secure manner. Let's assume the URL to access the broker machine is https://broker.xyz.com

 

Step 2. Configure the broker machine

Install the Syncrify server and configure the broker machine. You may have to configure the firewall at the OS level as well as the router that is provided by your ISP. In this example, we are using the default HTTPS port, which is 443.

Try accessing the web interface using https://localhost as the URL from a browser.

Then, create one user account in your Syncrify. Let's say the email address of this user is userOne@xyz.com.

 

Step 3. Install Syncrify client on the template machine

Try accessing https://broker.xyz.com using a browser on the template machine. If you get an error accessing the page, check the following tips for a possible resolution:

• The firewall is configured correctly to allow inbound traffic for port 443 (default port for HTTPS) for the broker machine
• Try pinging the broker machine from the client machine

Once you see the web interface from the template machine, download Syncrify client using the link that appears on the right hand side.

 

Step 4. Configure Syncrify client on the template machine

By default, the Syncrify client creates a profile matching the machine's host name. Specify the Remote Server URL in this default profile to https://broker.xyz.com. There is no need to specify any other value in this profile.

 

Backup Direction

Click the Advanced tab and set the Direction field to Client to Server. This ensures files are copied from the template machine to the broker machine.

 

Step 5. Run a test backup

Now you are ready to run a backup. Simply click the Backup button in Syncrify client. This will copy files from the template machine to the broker machine.

Once the backup is complete, use the browser to connect to https://broker.xyz.com and connect as the userOne@xyz.com. You should be able to browse through the files you just backed up.

 

Step 6. Configuring the target machines

Install Syncrify client on the target machines exactly the way you did for the template machine. Once installation is complete, specify just the URL for the default profile. Then, create a new profile using the following steps:

• Click Create Profile button to create a new profile.
• Specify Remote Server URL, Login Email and Login Password.
• Then click the Fetch profile button next to the Profile name field and select WebSync for the Profile name.
• Click the Restore Profile button. 
• Ensure the path is correct on the following screen
• Very Important: Once the profile is created, click the Advanced tab and change the direction field to Server-to-client. This ensures files are pulled from the broker machine to the target machine.

Repeat these steps for every target machine you have.

 

Optional step Make profile read-only

Optionally, you can make the WebSync profile in this example a read-only profile with an exception rule for the template machine. This way none of the target machines will be able to run a backup using Client-to-Server for direction, preventing potential data corruption on the broker machine.

 

Cloud Snapshots

Optionally, create backup snapshots to popular destinations on the cloud, such as Amazon S3, Google Storage or Microsoft Azure. 

 

Design Goal

The design goal of this feature is to create a backup of the backed up data to a public cloud. Backing up data to public cloud involves additional cost, which is typically based on two factors: amount of data stored and its access frequency. Keeping these in mind, the following features are added.

• Ability to backup periodically. For example, you can create a snapshot on the cloud after every 10th backup
• Ability to selectively pick profiles that are important enough for a snapshot on the cloud

 

Consider the following example:
 

• Client A, B and C backup their files daily to a Syncrify Server, which is running inside company's LAN
• One profile running on Client B contains important data to justify the cost incurred by cloud storage.
• Administrators can decide just to backup files from Client B to an Amazon S3 Bucket. They can also set the backup frequency to 10, meaning a cloud snapshot will be taken after every 10th backup
• End-user, who is the owner of Client B, can either view files using Syncrify Server's web interface or directly connect to Amazon S3 Bucket to access files.

Note: If encryption is used in Syncrify, files residing on Amazon will also be encrypted and must be manually decrypted.

 

Configuring Cloud Snapshots

Configuring cloud snapshots is a two-step process:
 

Step 1: Registering Cloud Service

Use the following steps to configure a cloud service. There is no limit on the number of services used.

Steps：

• Connect to the admin console as admin
• Click Configuration and select Cloud Services by clicking the button for More Configuration Options on upper right hand corner.
• Following cloud providers are supported:
  • Amazon S3
  • Google Cloud Storage
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Wasabi
• Once services are added a summary will be displayed towards the bottom allowing administrators to test connection

 

Step 2: Associating Profiles

Next, you will need to associate one or more profiles to the newly created services in step 1. Following steps demonstrate how to accomplish this task.

• Click Manage Users
• Click View under the Profiles column for the desired user
• Following page will display profiles belonging to this user. The last column, Action, contains an icon for cloud. See image below.
  
  A grey icon suggests no cloud snapshot is configured where as a red icon means snapshots are configured for this profile.
• Click the Cloud icon
• Select the desired Service Name. The names you see in this list come from the services you configured in Step 1 above.
• Select a frequency for the snapshot.
  • 0 - means automatic snapshots are disabled. Administrators must create snapshots manually
  • 1 - means a snapshot will be taken after every backup
  • Numbers higher than 1 signifies the nth value. For example, if you specify 10, a snapshot will be taken after 10th backup.
• Do not check the box for Backup Versions unless you use 1 for frequency.
• Finally, Create

 

Important

rsync protocol is NOT used when transferring data to the cloud. That is because no process runs on the other end that can compute block signatures and merge incoming delta from the source. Therefore, entire files will be copied to the cloud if it gets modified.

 

Shared Projects

Share files belonging to one or more projects with multiple users. When a user modifies a file, that change is automatically synchronized with other. 

 

Synchronizing Project Files Securely

Starting v4.6 you can securely synchronize files belonging to one or more projects with multiple users.

 

Benefits

•  Synchronize files for a single project between multiple users
•  Users can be within your LAN or across the Internet
•  Assign read/write or read-only access to users
•  Every user will have a local copy of every file, allowing them to work even without Internet, such as on an airplane
•  Changes made by one user are replicated within minutes to everyone
•  100% secure - no third party will ever see your files
•  Optionally, encrypt files for additional security
•  No extra cost - bundled with Syncrify Client

 

Creating New Project

• Ensure you're using v4.6 or higher
• Click Manage Projects after logging in as admin
• Specify a Folder Name and Path where files are stored on Syncrify Server. Use a folder name that represents the project name
• Optionally, click Encryption. If this option is checked, you MUST push files from client's machine. You will not be able to read/write files from Syncrify Server's end if this option is checked. We recommend NOT using this option if Syncrify Server is completely under your control.
• Assign one or more users who will have access to your newly created project.

 

How It Works

Shared projects use the same interface that is used by SyncriBox. Therefore, you will have to install SyncriBox in order to use Shared Project feature in Syncrify.

• Once access to a project is granted to a user, it will automatically appear in the interface
• Double-clicking the path in the list box will open Windows File Manager (Finder on Mac)
• Files saved in the Shared Project folder will automatically synchronize with users who have been granted permission for this project

 

Comparison with SyncriBox

Although both features share the same interface, they accomplish different tasks.

 

SyncriBox

SyncriBox is designed to synchronize multiple machines belonging to the same user. For example, synchronizing the Documents folder between a laptop, a desktop and a Mac belonging to the same user.

 

Shared Projects

Shared Project, on the other hand, is a mechanism to share files between multiple users who want to share documents belonging to the same project. Certain users can be restricted to read-only access.

 

Why Syncrify is the best choice?

 

Pay once, use it forever

Syncrify licenses are perpetual. This means you only pay once and use it forever. No monthly or hidden fees.

 

No limits

No limits on size, bandwidth or frequency of the backup. Backup terabytes of data with no problems.

 

Set it and forget it

Backups run in the background without human interaction. Reports are generated via email.

 

Why Syncrify?

Hundreds of companies offer backup solutions in the market today. What is so different about Syncrify? That is an excellent question. Here is a list of features that you will hardly find in any other solution.

 

Multi-Tier Backup and Synchronization

Most backup products are single-tier. Syncrify on the other hand, is a Multi-Tier backup. 
This difference alone puts Syncrify ahead of more than 95% of competing solutions.

 

Private cloud (No privacy concerns)

Syncrify offers a private-cloud solution. This means you create your own cloud. Files from the source machine will get saved to a machine that is in your control. No other company will ever see or store your private files.

Many companies who offer cloud-based backups store your files on their servers. Although most of them use encryption, there is always a safety issue since files are not in your control.

 

Product vs Service (Better ROI)

Syncrify is a product not a service that can be installed on any machine within your network. As a result Syncrify does not have any:

• Monthly fee
• Setup fee
• Bandwidth fee
• Limitations on file size

Most companies that offer cloud based backups charge according to the data you store on their disk. The more data you store, the more you pay. On the other hand, you pay one low price that is irrelevant of the disk usage. It does not matter if you backup 100 MB or 100 TB.

 

Simple Pricing (Save money)

Unlike many competing products, we publish our prices on our website. Our pricing model is simple, you only pay a small fee for the machines where Syncrify client is installed. It does not matter if this machine is a laptop, desktop or a server.

Many competing products have different packages and you pay differently depending upon where you install (laptop, desktops or server).

Moreover, some products/services charge extra for backing up server software like MS SQL Server and MS Exchange. With Syncrify, you don't pay anything extra regardless of what you are backing up.

 

Delta Backups (Using rsync)

Syncrify not only backs up modified files, it only transfers modified data within a file. It is very common to have files that are in gigabytes but only a few megabytes change on daily basis. Syncrify will intelligently transfer only the modified data with a file, tremendously decreasing time and network bandwidth.

Although some backup software will perform incremental backups by only copying modified files, files are copied in its entirety. Therefore, they will back up the entire file even if a single byte is modified since the last backup.

 

Remote Access (Anytime, anywhere, any device)

Backed up files can be accessed from any machine or mobile device. Users can not only view or download files, but can also send them via email to anyone they chose. 

Most backup software cannot expose backed up files like this. Some that do require storing your files to their servers on the Internet, raising privacy and security concerns.

 

File Sync (Synchronize multiple machines)

Syncrify is more than just backup. It allows file transfer in multiple directions. This provides the ability to synchronize folders and files on multiple machines.

 
Many backup solutions provide a one-way file transfer. This means files are backed up from one machine to the destination.

 

Multiple OS (More choices)

Both the Syncrify server and client run on a variety of operating systems such as, Microsoft Windows (XP and higher), Mac OX X and Linux. You decide which OS you would like to install Syncrify on.

Most backup software will only work on a Microsoft Windows. This means you will need a different solution if you want to back up a machine running Mac OS X

 

Although we have tried to address a few features of Syncrify here, we don't expect you to take our words for it. The best way to see how you can benefit from Syncrify is to download a copy and try it for yourself.

 

Protect your data from:

 

Hardware Failure

Hardware failures are common. Backup your important data before it is too late. With a solution like Syncrify, you can rest assured your data is safe even if your hardware fails.

 

Natural Disasters

With Syncrify, backup your files to a remote physical location. Protect your data from being destroyed by natural disasters such as flood, fire and much more.

 

Theft & Ransomware

Prepare for the worst by preventing ransomware before it happens. With Syncrify not only you are safe from physical theft but also from electronic theft that occurs when a ransomware encrypts your files.

 

 

A private-cloud, multi-tier backup

• Multi-tier backup system
• 100% On-Premises
• Web based administration
• Versioning
• Encryption
• Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X
• Extensive reporting
• Copies modified blocks within files
• SyncriBox
• Built-in scheduler
• Access files from anywhere, any device
• And a lot more...