Energy-efficient sync behaviour

[g v.]

just interested, for environmental impact, syncing 1 TB all the time probably consumes quite a bit of energy on the servers. Most of this content does not change much, but is used a lot, so keeping it offline is not an option. I often sync less frequently, but then I lose version history.

Would it be possible to set a low sync frequency by default and turn on live sync for single files when I work on them, instead of sync for the whole Dx? 

Or does it save energy if I have a folder structure that keeps unchanged files in separate folders from those that change a lot?

[Rich]

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@g v. wrote:

Would it be possible to set a low sync frequency by default and turn on live sync for single files when I work on them, instead of sync for the whole Dx?

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There are no options to control the sync frequency. Dropbox will sync a file as soon as it detects a change.

[g v.]

does the constant searching for changes use a lot of energy on the server side? and would it save energy to run Dx less frequently? thanks

[Rich · Accepted solution]

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@g v. wrote:

does the constant searching for changes use a lot of energy on the server side?

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That's not how it works. Dropbox doesn't search for changes.

Your operating system already knows about every file that changes on your computer (not just in Dropbox, but everywhere on the drive). Dropbox just registers itself with the operating system and asks to be notified when anything changes in your local Dropbox folder. When Dropbox is told that something has changed, it's starts the sync process.

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would it save energy to run Dx less frequently? thanks

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Just run Dropbox normally and let it work as it's supposed to. Whether you sync when something changes or you delay the process and sync it later, you're going to use the same amount of energy.

[g v.]

okay, thanks.