odrive tips: The power of unsync

Added on by Tony Magliulo.

Sometimes we here at odrive need to take a step back and remember that our users are not all sync experts who know the ins and outs of odrive’s Progressive Sync engine. The truth is that you shouldn’t need to know that much about sync. Our goal is to make everything work smoothly and with as little effort as possible, despite the sophistication and numerous capabilities bubbling just under the surface. Due to our desire to make things simple, we sometimes end up with awesome features that folks may not even know about. That is why we are starting an “odrive tips” series to explore the odrive features and capabilities that are available, but may not be readily apparent or understood.

Today we will delve into unsync. Unsync is a core feature of odrive; a feature that sets us apart from every other sync platform. Unsync is built on the premise of “file virtualization”, which means that we can represent files in a local file system view, natively, without requiring the actual content of those files to also exist locally. When we apply this core principle to folders as well as files, things get quite interesting. The ability to represent folder hierarchies using placeholders allows users to dynamically expand and collapse large structures, or even entire links, down into a single placeholder file. A user can then expand and sync the collapsed structures at a later time, on demand. This is very unique, and part of the foundation for odrive’s Progressive Sync technology.

Unsync: The nuts and bolts

The act of unsyncing is done via your native file browser, using a simple right-click action on either a file or a folder.

Unsyncing a file will substitute the local content of the specified file with a placeholder file. The data that was taken up by that file will be freed. For example, if you had previously synced a 4MB photo in your Dropbox account down to your desktop (my_cool_photo.jpg), a right-click-> unsync action on that file would replace my_cool_photo.jpg with a placeholder file named my_cool_photo.jpg.cloudx, and you’d have an additional 4MB of available space on your local disk!

Unsyncing folders works in much the same way, except that it applies file unsync to all of the files below the specified folder structure, no matter how deep it goes. odrive collapses everything in that folder down to a single placeholder file, freeing up all of the space that was previously occupied by the entire structure. For example: Let’s say you copied in 100GB of photos into a directory inside your linked Amazon Cloud Drive account (My Photos) and, after a time, it all synced up to the cloud. Now you want to free up that space locally. A simple right-click->unsync action on “My Photos” would go through all files within that folder structure, check to make sure each one was successfully synced to Amazon Cloud Drive, and, once verified, would unsync the entire “My Photos” folder. The result would be a single “My Photos.cloudfx” placeholder file in its place and an additional 100GB of available space on your local disk! All of the content in “My Photos” is now safely tucked away in the cloud for later access.

When to use unsync

The need for unsync can be as simple as wanting to free up some extra space for that new game, application, or movie, but there are more advanced use cases for unsync that can help you enhance your workflow or allow you to truly “live in the cloud”.

  • For users who work on projects frequently, unsync is a great last step in your project flow. It signals the end of the project and frees up the space for the next one. It also reduces your data sprawl, allowing you, and odrive, to work in a more focused and efficient manner.
  • For the more organized users, unsync gives you a great new dynamic for your organizational needs. You can now collapse structures that you want to archive away, or keep from your current focus. Use unsync to lock those sections away until they are needed again.
  • For users looking to “live in the cloud” unsync is essential to the migration process. The gigabytes of data that you may have strewn about on different computers, external hard drives, NAS, and flash drives can all be stored in the cloud using odrive. Once a batch of data has synced, you can unsync those files and load in the next ones. This is truly the only way you can get full, native access to potentially unlimited storage on your very limited desktop.

odrive, like a pro

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! You are now a certified in the secret arts of odrive unsync. Feel free to utilize it liberally to help you access the vastness of your cloud on even the smallest of local storage.

If you have stumbled upon this post without having used odrive before, head on over to https://www.odrive.com to get started.

Have fun odriving!

To read more about odrive sync:

https://medium.odrive.com/sync-differently-b993694e1544#.y8823rsvw

https://medium.odrive.com/unsync-is-the-missing-link-to-cloud-storage-539493c384c1#.egwnn2gpq

How to Use Multiple Dropbox Accounts Together

Added on by Aric Johnson.

If you’re an avid Dropbox user (or free storage aficionado), you probably make use of multiple accounts on Dropbox. You’ve also, undoubtedly, been less than satisfied when trying to access those multiple accounts on your desktop.

You could try 1 of the 412 super-hacky results that come up in a “How to use multiple Dropbox accounts” Google search, OR you could just use odrive! With odrive, you can connect to as many Dropbox accounts as you want and access them all with a superior sync engine.

Accessing multiple accounts has never been easier

To connect another Dropbox account, first logout of your current Dropbox account and login in with your alternate credentials.  You can then choose "Manage links" from the odrive taskbar menu or go to https://www.odrive.com/account/myodrive and click on the big plus sign ("+ Get more links"). Rinse and repeat with as many Dropbox accounts as you'd like to add!

Keep things lite by only syncing what you need

odrive uses Progressive Sync to deliver the fastest, most lightweight sync experience,  without sacrificing any of the benefits of cloud synchronization.

Instead of forcing you to choose ahead of time what files and folders you need, odrive shows you all the folders in your storage and syncs them as you browse into them. This way you aren't forced to sync tons of files you don't need, but can dig into any folder in your Dropbox, on-the-fly, as deep and as wide as it goes.

Unsync to save space on your computer

If you’ve completed work on a project, for example, odrive allows you the option to easily unsync file and folders on your computer, freeing up the space they were occupying on your local hard drive. If you ever need them again you can easily just double-click to re-sync them. Its super easy.

More than just Dropbox

odrive currently connects to Dropbox, Amazon Cloud Drive, OneDrive, Facebook, Google Drive, Box, Copy, Gmail, Instagram, FTP, WebDAV, SFTP, and even your own file servers! Login to odrive and try it out for yourself! 

Access All Of Your Google Drive Accounts From One Place

Added on by Aric Johnson.

Are you one of the 500 million+ people using Google Drive? Of course you are! Free email, 15GBs of free cloud storage, and the ability to collaborate in real-time on documents provides more than enough reason to get on the Google train. In fact, it’s so simple and powerful that many of you have multiple accounts.

Unfortunately, Google Drive doesn't make it easy for users like you who regularly work between multiple accounts (and other cloud storage for that matter), especially from the desktop. Fret not – there is a better way. odrive makes using multiple Google Drive accounts seamless and gives you access to all of your files and folders, in all of your accounts, natively.

Easily connect as many Google accounts as you need

Connecting to your Google Drive account(s) is super easy. Just login to odrive using your Google account. That's it! All of your files and folders are now available to you, right on your desktop.

 

odrive authenticates directly against your Google account. odrive never see's or stores any passwords or files. Communication happens directly between the odrive desktop client and your Google storage.

 

To connect a second account, you can use choose "Add Link" from the odrive taskbar menu and select "Google Drive".  You can also navigate to https://www.odrive.com/browse and click on the big plus sign. Then rinse and repeat with as many Google Drive accounts as you'd like to add.

Work seamlessly on any file

odrive lets you to access everything in your account and intelligently opens your files in the correct manner. For example, Google Docs files are all web based, so from odrive, they will automatically open up Google Docs in your browser.

Double-clicking a Google Doc opens it directly in your browser ready to edit.

Other regular files, like Microsoft Word or Powerpoint files will open in their native applications. You can edit and save these files like you normally would and your odrive folder will automatically be make sure your updates get synced to your Google Drive storage.

Double-clicking a Word document opens it directly in Microsoft Word ready to edit.

Sync only what you need and nothing you don’t

If you’ve used the Google Drive app, you’ve noticed that non-Google Doc files get downloaded to your computer to make them available, whether you want them or not. odrive, on the other hand, relies on a unique Progressive Sync platform that delivers super fast access to all your stuff without taking up tons of space on your local disk. odrive only syncs the files you need by only syncing folders you’ve browsed into. Furthermore, if files are big, odrive refrains from syncing them immediately and shows you a virtual file stub. If you want that file, just double-click it and it will be synced to your local disk.

odrive-blog-unsycnedfiles.png

Save tons of disk space with unsync

odrive also allows you the option to free up space on your local computer by unsyncing files. Files and folders that are unsynced remain safe in your storage, and can be easily re-synced and accessed whenever you need them. Just right-click any file or folder and select unsync. If you work with big media files or lots of images, you’ll love unsync (and so will your hard disk).

Be prepared to be amazed – try odrive today!

odrive isn’t cloud storage, so it doesn’t store any of your data or passwords. It connects directly to your Google Drive (or any of the many apps we connect to) and delivers a better, faster way to work with all your different Google Drive accounts from one place, all for free!

How to effortlessly access, backup, and share all of your Facebook photos and videos.

Added on by Tony Magliulo.

With the umpteen millions of  photos and videos pushed to Facebook everyday, there are many folks who end up naturally using Facebook as their primary online storage service, even though they may not realize it. If you are an avid Facebook user, you are bound to have hundreds, if not thousands, of photos and videos that you’ve added to Facebook over the years.

With odrive, you can gain a whole new level of control over your Facebook content. Access, backup, and share all of your Facebook photos and videos with ease! Simply link it up odrive to get it all on your desktop, for free.

Once you have Facebook linked, you can sync specific files, folders, or your entire Facebook account for backup. odrive always grabs the highest resolution photos possible for you. In addition, you can utilize odrive’s powerful sharing features to share out any file or directory, to anyone you want. You can even password protect the link and set an expiration date!

Share any Facebook image, video, or album to anyone you want!

Share any Facebook image, video, or album to anyone you want!

Simple, fast, and free! Facebook is just one of the many services you can link to odrive to get all of your files in one place for access, backup, management, and sharing. Try it out today and let us know what you think!

Get over 100GB of Free Storage! Dropbox, OneDrive, and More!

Added on by Tony Magliulo.

Want to get over 100GB of cloud storage, all in one place, for free? Read on.

Install odrive

It's free! With it you will be able to link all of the storage services below, and more, into a single folder. Get  full progressive sync, placeholder files, and advanced sharing capabilities for all of your storage. Did we mention it is also completely free? :)

Link it Up!

Linking to odrive is simple, and can be done from the web client or the desktop client.

From the web client:

  • Click on the “+” on the right side of the link listing and select the source you want to link.
  • Login to that source.

From the desktop client:

  • Select “Add link” from the odrive tray menu and select the source you want to link.
  • Login to that source.

odrive natively supports Dropbox, Amazon Cloud Drive, Box, OneDrive, Copy, and Google Drive (Facebook and Instagram too!). Linking one account in each of these services will get you a minimum of 62GB of free storage. Just sign-up and link:

But wait, there's more!

odrive is continually working on adding more native integrations, but our robust WebDAV capability already allows linking several other services. With it, you can easily add another 40GB to your odrive, netting you over 100GB of free cloud storage! Again, you only need to sign-up for the service and then link it into odrive.

To link these services you can follow the same instructions detailed in Step Two above, but select “WebDAV” as the source. Enter the WebDAV URL and your login information to link it up.

*These services have all been tested for basic functionality in odrive, but please use them at your own discretion

There you have it. 102GB of cloud storage, all in one folder, for free!

Do you have any tips or tricks to get even more free storage with odrive? Let us know in the comments.


Your files, your way: See what you want. Sync what you need.

Added on by Tony Magliulo.

The attraction to cloud storage is undeniable. A near-infinite resource at our fingertips to store the mountains of personal and professional data that we humans have become extremely adept at creating. As users gleefully rush headlong into the cloud storage era, pushing up anything and everything they can, new challenges are being encountered. How can the vast cloud be effectively utilized within the finite medium of a local computer?

File Virtualization with sync

File Virtualization is the method of representing a file system structure without needing to have everything exist locally on your computer. When you add sync to the equation this solution becomes a compelling means of working with structures that cannot exist locally. Browse everything, but have nothing cached locally until you need it.  Microsoft’s changes to OneDrive on Windows 8.1 showed users the power of this type of solution, until they took it away in Windows 10 … :(

File Virtualization with sync is extremely useful, but it is a solution that will start to break down at scale. Tracking changes across a vast structure, even without local caching, can render this solution unusable or so delayed and out of sync that its utility is severely reduced. As your dataset expands, the percentage of data that you actually need to focus on shrinks. Why spend cycles monitoring and tracking storage structures that you don’t care about, especially when there is a good chance that nothing is happening there?

Progressive Sync

Progressive Sync is the evolution of file virtualization. The premise behind progressive sync is that you do not need to have visibility into every nook and cranny of your storage at all times. Instead, you need visibility into specific areas of your data. These areas can change dynamically, depending on your immediate need, so on-demand collapsing and expanding of the visible structure needs to be available.

Not using progressive sync is a bit like trying to engage in conversation with your best friend by talking to everyone you know, simultaneously. It is going to be very slow, utterly confusing, and ultimately result in a big a waste of time and energy. Focusing on that single conversation with your best friend removes the confusion and irrelevant information and allows you to prioritize for the task at hand. Communication is quick, precise, and meaningful. This is what progressive sync does for you and your files. Engage (sync folder), discuss (sync files), disengage (unsync folder), repeat.

Progressive sync is the only solution available that can allow you to efficiently use near-infinite cloud storage within the constraints imposed by today’s devices.

Sync, the way you need it.

odrive offers progressive sync for all of your storage. You choose what you need to see. You choose what you want to sync. The ability to effectively map the vastness of cloud storage to your tiny local device is available to every odrive user, for free.

When you first start using odrive you will see all of the storage you have linked available as .cloudfx stubs in the root of your odrive folder. A double-click will expand that folder, browse you into it, and sync all the the files at that level according to global auto download limit you have set.

Simply browse through the file system to expose the directories you want to see. Tweak the auto download limit to fine tune what you need synced. Utilize the “sync all” feature to bring into view an entire directory structure. Use “unsync” to collapse a specified structure, removing it from view and allowing you to focus on your next priority.

Using all of these features together gives you ultimate flexibility for utilizing and managing your storage. See what you want and sync what you need with odrive.

To read more about odrive sync:

https://medium.odrive.com/sync-differently-b993694e1544#.y8823rsvw

https://medium.odrive.com/unsync-is-the-missing-link-to-cloud-storage-539493c384c1#.egwnn2gpq

The best way to access your OneDrive just got easier

Added on by odrive.

With the significant changes to OneDrive in Windows 10, thousands of users have been scrambling to find a way to regain the experience they previously enjoyed with placeholder/smart files. Many of these users have turned to odrive for the answer, and rightly so. odrive provides OneDrive users with the flexibility, control, and seamless integration that they need. Our previous blog post digs into how we accomplish this.

This recent influx has prompted us to make things even easier for OneDrive users. Today we added the ability to utilize your existing Microsoft credentials for signing up and linking your OneDrive storage to odrive. It really doesn’t get much easier than that folks!

Try it!

If you haven’t already tried odrive, give it a shot. It’s free and we know you will love the experience.

 

Get OneDrive placeholder files on Windows 10 & OSX

Added on by Tony Magliulo.

Windows 10 was released last week and the general consensus is that Microsoft managed to get a lot of things right, blending the better parts of Windows 7 and 8 into a worthy successor. Even though Windows 10 is better than its predecessors in many ways, a staggering number of users have noted the significant step backwards with OneDrive functionality.

Windows 8.x introduced a much lauded feature for OneDrive users with “placeholder” or “smart” files. This feature allowed OneDrive users to visualize all of their OneDrive files without needing them to be physically cached on the system. Unfortunately for loyal OneDrive users, this feature has been taken away in Windows 10.

We have the solution you need

If you are reading this, chances are good that you are one of the unfortunate Windows 10 users that has been impacted by this change (or an OS X user that has been left out in the cold since the beginning). The good news is that odrive has you covered. One of the core features of odrive is the ability to virtualize your files.

Progressive sync

From the start, odrive has employed what is called “progressive sync”. This is the ability to instantly choose what you want to sync locally, at both the folder and file level. With odrive you get the flexibility and control you need, with all of your files.

 
 

How it works

odrive has a powerful, always-on sync engine at its core. If any local file system modifications or additions are detected, odrive will automatically and instantly begin syncing those changes to your OneDrive account. This same sync engine is what allows odrive to represent both files and folders, virtually, as “stub” files on your local system.

To ensure that you always know what is virtual and what isn’t, odrive distinguishes between virtual and physical files in a number of ways.

  • Cloud files and folders are given unique icons to set them apart from cached files and expanded folders
  • Locally cached files are given a checkmark overlay to indicate that they are in sync and physically available on the local file system.
  • A cloud file carries the extension .cloudx
  • A cloud folder carries the extension of .cloudfx.
 
howvirtualfolderswork.png
 

With odrive, interaction with virtualized files and folders is extremely intuitive. A simple double-click or right-click sync action will expand cloud folders or locally cache cloud files. Decide in-line and on-the-fly what you need, instead of being forced to preemptively choose what you want synced from a separate, cumbersome UI. With the option to set an automatic download threshold and the ability to recursively sync the folder structures of your choice, odrive gives you the power and flexibility you are looking for, for all of your storage.

A few examples of the control you will gain with odrive's progressive sync:

  • Do you want to see all of the files and folders available but have no files cached? No problem. Set the auto-download limit to “never download” and right-click “sync all” on your OneDrive folder.
  • Do you want to only cache one file out of thousands to focus your efforts? You can with odrive. Just drill directly to the file you need and sync it.
  • Do you need to save some space on that tiny laptop SSD? It is easy with odrive. A right-click “unsync” action is all that it takes to free up that valuable space.

All of your bases are covered

With odrive, the “placeholder” functionality that users fell in love with in Windows 8.x is available in Windows 10…. and Windows 7, and OS X. Not only is progressive sync available for OneDrive, but it is also available for all of your other storage. Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, Amazon Cloud Drive, file servers, you name it, odrive has you covered, for free.

To read more about odrive sync:

https://medium.odrive.com/sync-differently-b993694e1544#.y8823rsvw

https://medium.odrive.com/unsync-is-the-missing-link-to-cloud-storage-539493c384c1#.egwnn2gpq