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Backing up and syncing from external HD to the Dropbox folder issues
Hello,
I am getting mixed information from the Dropbox helpdesk and could use some help.
I’m a photographer. I have 6.5Tb of photos stored on my External Drobo hard drive. I work from that hardd...
Danman wrote:
Ok, so are you saying that I could sync my files from my external drive to dropbox and use smart sync to not let them be backed up on my computer. But they will remain on my external drive?
No. Unless you move the Dropbox folder to your external drive, which isn't suggested, there's no way to sync files with your external drive.
What I was saying is that if the Dropbox folder is on your laptop, and you use Selective Sync on a folder, it will be removed from the Dropbox folder and not your external drive. Dropbox can only interact with the Dropbox folder.
In this scenario with Dropbox on your laptop and your files on the external drive, any folders you want stored on Dropbox would need to be MANUALLY copied to the Dropbox folder, allowed to sync completely, and then you could remove them from the Dropbox folder using Selective Sync so they only remain online. Again, this is a MANUAL process where you will need to be vigilant about copying files to and from Dropbox as needed so everything is up to date.
Again, Dropbox will not do what you want it to do with your configuration. It's simply not designed for it. No cloud storage service that I know of will work the way you want it to.
Rich
Super User II
Super User II
Danman wrote:
Ok, so are you saying that I could sync my files from my external drive to dropbox and use smart sync to not let them be backed up on my computer. But they will remain on my external drive?
No. Unless you move the Dropbox folder to your external drive, which isn't suggested, there's no way to sync files with your external drive.
What I was saying is that if the Dropbox folder is on your laptop, and you use Selective Sync on a folder, it will be removed from the Dropbox folder and not your external drive. Dropbox can only interact with the Dropbox folder.
In this scenario with Dropbox on your laptop and your files on the external drive, any folders you want stored on Dropbox would need to be MANUALLY copied to the Dropbox folder, allowed to sync completely, and then you could remove them from the Dropbox folder using Selective Sync so they only remain online. Again, this is a MANUAL process where you will need to be vigilant about copying files to and from Dropbox as needed so everything is up to date.
Again, Dropbox will not do what you want it to do with your configuration. It's simply not designed for it. No cloud storage service that I know of will work the way you want it to.
Hi I have exactly the same need and had exactly the same setup-up as @DANMAN, until you ruined it with your update to PROFESIONAL in May 2020. If what you say is true, about NOT being able to synchronise the ext HDD, I will have to give up Dropbox and find Another solution :( Besides a lot of Pictures, I also have my Companys file server on the Dropbox and it is WAY too slow via "smart sync" :( /magnusa
