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What's the best way to back up the Dropbox folder if I don't have enough space to sync all files?

What's the best way to back up the Dropbox folder if I don't have enough space to sync all files?

TimP
Helpful | Level 5
Go to solution

Hello,

I'm using Dropbox Business with Smart Sync.

I would like to brckup my entire dropbox to an external hardware (alternative ideas welcome). According to Dropbox support I would have to:

  • move my dropbox folder to the external hard drive
  • change smart sync settings to all local
  • move my dropbox folder back to the computer hard drive
  • adjust all smart sync settings

According to support there is no way to just download the entire dropbox to an external hard drive. Additionally "there's a small—but real—chance that the app will start deleting files". So that is obviously not an option.

Question: How do I backup my dropbox?

30 Replies 30

CEHTeam
Helpful | Level 6
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I'd like to add my vote for this feature!  I am working with a remote team and we are using Dropbox Business primarily for large photo/video media files.  I want the option of downloading to an external drive for backup so that I don't have to go "henpecking" through my Dropbox folder to find the latest iterations of updated/uploaded files.  Working with them on my hard drive is much faster.  Was hoping to add a regular weekly workflow that includes a backup to an external drive so that I always have local access.  Am I understanding that this is impossible?  If so, that's disappointing.  I prefer Dropbox but I need an external local backup.  Google Drive provides this already.

Jane
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
Hey @CEHTeam, thanks for the nudge & detailing us how you’d wish to utilize this functionality; that’s some great feedback for our team devs & I’ve made sure to include your thoughts in my internal reports for future iterations of the Dropbox website.
 
Thanks again for taking the time to drop us a line here & please feel free to let us know here if you have more observations!

 


Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

 

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TSD2
Helpful | Level 5
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I have a similar situation.

I have a Dropbox account with more space (2TB) than the local drive my dropbox folder resides in.

I NEED to have multiple backups as my data is important. Who's isn't?  So one has to be on an external hard drive.

My Dropbox account now has "smart sync" which is marketed as allowing users to access more space than is available on there local drive.  Sounds great. But...

The first problem is backing up the local Dropbox folder. Now when I run a backup on my local Dropbox folder it tries to download the smart synced on line folders, which defeats the purpose of smart sync.  I understand from this thread that I can "unlink" the local dropbox to achieve the local backup. But that rules out automated backups. I can maybe live with that.

The next problem is backing up the online-only folders. I can't see any practical way to do this.  Say I put up 1.2 TB of data as online only.  I know I can download the folders to an external harddrive (my local PC hard drive isn't big enough) by changing my download folder location. But that is impractical to do every time with so much data.  What I need is an incremental backup. ie only those files that have changed. 

Is there any dropbox solution or third party software that anybody has used to do this?

I use Syncback for my regular backups.

It seems to me that without this functionality smart sync is worse than useless. I think I must be missing something. Hoping someone has a solution.

If not can I go back to selective sync?  and just use the online folders for off-site backup.

 

CEHTeam
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

But this solution appears to only to cloud to cloud for Dropbox not Dropbox to external. I know that is what I'm looking to do and I believe the previous poster is too?

Hsd
New member | Level 2
Go to solution

Can I make a suggestion? I have my DropBox account linked to a Synology NAS. That NAS has a package called CloudSync and it syncs the contents of my DropBox folder to a shared folder on that NAS. I have it set one-way, so all changes to the Dropbox folder are synced to the shared folder on the NAS. It runs every night by schedule (it can run continuously too).

So during the night all changes I made to the Dropbox folder during the day are written to the NAS.

TSD2
Helpful | Level 5
Go to solution

It looks like the CloudSync would work.

But I have found a solution that works well for me.

"SyncBackPro"  can connect to Dropbox (and google drive etc) and backup or sync to anywhere. I have used SyncBack products for years and love them all I needed to do was upgrade to pro.

Thanks for your help.

CEHTeam
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

Great suggestions!  I have a basic understanding of NAS.  Have just started to look into it.  It might be a tad above my "pay grade" but we need it for a lot of reasons (business and personal storage).  I got lost in the sea of RAID and DROBO and somehow find myself looking at NAS wondering if it was something we could use.

That said, I recently purchased FileZilla Pro.  It works for GDrive but not for Dropbox. Checked out SyncBackPro but looks like it's only for Windows (arrrrggghhh) I'm on a Mac and would probably need something multi-platform if possible as I have different machines set up in my house.  I feel like I might need some local geek setup for helping me figure this out.  But it feels like the right direction.  Thanks for your help!

 

Let me know if you know of another program that will sync Dropbox but that will work on a mac.

Jane
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
Hey @TSD2, @CEHTeam & @TimP, if I may chime in on your discussion, it would be worth noting that you’re seeing your files reverting back to Local, as the third-party apps you’re utilizing may need to access the content you’ve previously set as Online-only thus triggering the recall. 
 
The placeholder files you’re seeing contain only basic information for your files within Dropbox which aren’t decoded in other apps you may be using, as the latter most likely require that the files are physically present in order to work efficiently. 
 
While I can’t recommend any third-party applications on my end, I’m always here to further advise you on your best next steps depending on your current circumstances. Thanks! 

 


Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

 

Heart Did this post help you? If so please give it a Like below. 
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Questions asked in the community will likely receive an answer within 4 hours!)

TSD2
Helpful | Level 5
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Hi Jane,

Yes, I understand about the place holder being local and the real file on the dropbox cloud.

SyncBackPro logs on to dropbox cloud ( once it has permission) and can perform its backup function between dropbox cloud and an external hard drive. 

I assume that many dropbox smart sync uses rely completely on dropbox for their smartsynced file security. I am sure dropbox does a great job of backing up the system, but **bleep** happens. I have recently had to retrieve files from 14 years ago that relates to a problem worth $1.4 M. I could do that because I have good backups. It would be great if dropbox provided this functionally to its customers.

I love Dropbox though and am pleased to have found a way to continue using it.

Jane
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
I see now @TSD2 & thanks for explaining matters in such detail for me; that’s some great feedback for our team devs & I’ve made sure to include your request in my report internally for future iterations of the Dropbox desktop app.
 
It’s very constructive to follow your train of thought for a while & see how you’re using Dropbox in your workflow; now that you’ve put me in the picture, I can also make sure that your post here is submitted for review to the right pair of eyes. 
 
Last but not least, it always makes us equally happy to read your ðŸ’™ positive comments. Happy Dropboxing ahead & please feel free to ping us here for more #DropboxTips&Tricks or just in case you have any observations in the future & it’ll be a pleasure to work with you again. Take care until then!

 


Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

 

Heart Did this post help you? If so please give it a Like below. 
:white_check_mark: Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Best Answer' button to help others find it.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Still stuck? Ask me a question! (
Questions asked in the community will likely receive an answer within 4 hours!)

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