Issue syncing large folder structure with many files

[Shreebz]

Hey there,


BC is great, and serves most of my needs. I've run into a snag, though. I'm trying to do a folder sync of a large number of networked audio files, to a local directory.

More context:
- It's hundreds of folders containing thousands of potentially large audio files.
- The local directory is partially complete.
- It's network files that I need to copy locally.
- I've been doing manual copies of these folders, but not all have successfully completed (network disconnects, copy process failures, etc....). In short, of the folders I've copied, I'm not sure if all files have been grabbed.
- Letting BC chug in the background on the entirety of the archive is error prone. I'd like to do this in smaller batches of subfolders.

Issues:
- The app takes a long time to compare things first, and I'd like to turn off that initial compare, or shorten it greatly.
- I'd like to update one folder in the session list at a time. I'm not sure how to do this?

Any other suggestions to tackle this task are welcome.
Thanks again.

[Chris]

The default settings compare file size and modified timestamp. This is generally pretty fast unless your storage is very slow or you have a very large number of files, something on the order of 1 million or more files on each side. If you turn on content comparison (CRC, binary, or rules-based), then comparison is much slower, although more thorough.

To verify you're using the default/fast comparison settings, click the Rules toolbar button (referee icon) in the Folder Compare. In the Comparison tab, make sure Compare file size and Compare timestamps are checked, and Compare contents is not checked.

To sync one subfolder at a time, select a folder, then use the Actions > Synchronize > Update Right or Actions > Synchronize > Update Left command. In the confirmation dialog, make sure Just selection is checked. Files that only exist on one side and files that exist on both sides but with newer modified dates in the source folder will be copied to the other side.

[Shreebz]

To verify you're using the default/fast comparison settings, click the Rules toolbar button (referee icon) in the Folder Compare.

Aha, you mention that I should be using Folder Compare. I've been using Folder Sync, and that's been proving troublesome to synchronize one subfolder at a time. Sounds like Folder Compare will suit my needs better.

Thanks for the notes.

[Aaron]

For a selection, yes: Folder Compare's Actions menu (or right click) Synchronize menu -> Update left to right (or whichever logic you need) has a pop-up dialog preview with a sticky Just Selection checkbox. The preview window is much smaller than the one we're able to offer in the full Folder Sync session, but can act on just a selection/selected subfolders or items.

Alternatively, you could select a pair of folders, right-click, Open in New View -> Folder Sync, which will launch a new tab Folder Sync of the selected subfolders, sync them in the Folder Sync interface, then go back to the refreshed Folder Compare.