Just one Dropbox folder (not the main) on an external drive

[Fabiobox]

hi, I would like to understand if it was possible to have the Dropbox folder on the internal hard disk of the computer, and in case of large project, decide to synchronize a folder from an external hard disk. I'll give an example, we have all the files of a video project in Dropbox folder inside the computer, but the renderings, which are very heavy, have them on an external hard drive, which is synchronized as if it were inside the computer in ten top box folder. in our office we want to mount a nas with all the Dropbox content (around 50tb locally), and have other computers on the same network with their own local folder that synchronizes faster since Dropbox uses the network between the computers to make the sincronizzati on faster. however, since the internal hard disks of computers are never so large, having some extra folders on external hard disks (synchronized with Dropbox) could help the workflow, and in any case have the central NAS always synchronized with everything (internal and external hdd folder). do you have any advice on how to manage the Dropbox in this situation ?

[Megan]

Hi @Fabiobox, let's jump right into this! 

Just to make sure we're on the same page, would you mind clarifying what you mean when you say that the renderings are on the external hard drive, but it's synced as if it was inside your computer? 

Do you use aliases in order to achieve that?  As for the computers on the same network, using their own local folder, can you let me know more about this set-up, and if this folder would contain the same files? 

I’d just like to mention that NAS currently isn’t a supported location for the Dropbox folder. This is due to it generally not working well in being able to sync changes made to the files within the account.

Have you taken a look into our external backup feature? Do you think that would fit your needs?  

Let me know more, and we'll take it from there!

[Fabiobox]

Hi, I'm reviving this discussion. For now, NAS is not an option we are pursuing. But for external hard drives we still don't have a smooth workflow. What I need is to have the Dropbox folder on my computer, but to have some files synchronized via Dropbox and accessible to other users, on an external hard drive. My problem is that during some processes I need too many files offline and therefore I often have to move them to an external hard disk, but at that point the files are no longer synchronized and I have to do some operations manually and they are very inconvenient, and above all they are not available to other team members. I tried dropbox backup but it's not for me, because the files cannot be shared and above all I can only access them online. I would need the files on an external hard drive to be synchronized via Dropbox and available to all users. The solution that I sometimes adopt, but which is very inconvenient, is to move the entire Dropbox folder to a very large external hard disk, but in any case it is a not very smooth operation. Is there any tool that can help me? Thank you

[Rich]

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@Fabiobox wrote:

What I need is to have the Dropbox folder on my computer, but to have some files synchronized via Dropbox and accessible to other users, on an external hard drive.

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You can't do that with Dropbox. Dropbox will only sync the files that are located in the Dropbox folder on your local drive. It has a backup function which will backup an external drive, but it won't sync files to/from an external the same way as the regular Dropbox folder.

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The solution that I sometimes adopt, but which is very inconvenient, is to move the entire Dropbox folder to a very large external hard disk, but in any case it is a not very smooth operation.

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Keep in mind that placing the Dropbox folder on an external drive is highly NOT recommended. Under the right circumstances data loss can occur. If Dropbox were to start before the external drive is online, or if the drive goes offline while Dropbox is running, Dropbox could see that as a mass deletion and sync that to your account online.