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Time machine forces smart sync to download files locally!
There is a huge problem when using smart sync as a Mac user who has time machine setup to automatically back up the entire hard drive (including the dropbox folder). If this is the case the time machine backup will trigger each an every one file that is set to 'online only' to be downloaded locally. If the amount of data on dropbox exceeds the hard drive space it slows down the entire computer!
- The files aren't on the computer so your backup software can't back them up. If it tries to access the files, Dropbox is likely bringing them local just like it's supposed to do (no different from when you access a file that's Online Only; it's downloaded). Dropbox likely can't differentiate between you accessing a file or another application accessing the file.
Your best bet would be to add an exclusion to your backup set so that it doesn't attempt to backup any files that are marked as Online Only.
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- Jane
Dropbox Staff
Hi Jane, I have not seen it happen again since that day. It must have been sunspots or some other celestial event causing a glitch. ;-) Thanks, I'll find and close out the tech support request.
- Jane
I ran into this problem as well and I think I have a pretty good workaround. I use Forklift to backup folders via synching. If you use Forklift and synch your DB folder to an external, the first time it will local synch anything that is online only, but once it has been synched once you can then go back to the DB folder and turn everything back to online-only. New files and changes will get copied over when you run Forklift again, but not the online only stuff remains untouched. Seems to be working perfectly for me.
I recently went through the same SmartSync/TimeMachine conflict that so many Mac users have complained about on the forums. As a loyal DropBox user (who plans to keep using and recommending DropBox!) I wanted to make one thing clear to the Dropbox team:
You disappointed us.
Dropbox has been a delight as long as it's been available. Everyone I show it to loves it and many start using it. It has never caused a technical glitch, and seems as well integrated into the Apple Finder as any Apple product. We love it.
Then you announced SmartSync along with a price increase. It sounded like a great deal, the answer to our dreams. And it exploded in all of our faces.
Guys, you knew this would happen. My guess is that there are a lot of Apple Fanboys at Dropbox, and that many of you use Time Machine. You have always delighted us in the past. Why did you dangle this new feature in our faces and not warn us of the conflict with Time Machine?
Yes, I love DropBox. Yes, I will continue to use it without Smartsync. Yes, I will continue to recommend it to friends. And Yes, we expect to see warnings in BIG RED LETTERS on all of your SmartSync support pages that it conflicts with Time Machine. Heck, you can probably figure out a way to identify whether Time Machine is enabled on a particular Mac and warn users in real-time. Let's get back to DropBox Delight!
- Jane
I switched to Carbon Copy Cloner when I ran into this problom upon upgrading to Dropbox Pro. I do like to have a local backup of my dropbox folder and am content to have it only contain the files that are currently local in my DB folder. Carbon Copy Cloner seem to not have a problem with this.
I just had my Dropbox folder excluded from my Time Machine backup under Options. As Dropbox backs up to Dropbox, there's really no need to back the files onto an external harddrive.
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