Pete Pachal2013-04-23 15:01:00 UTCLike the idea of syncing files but don't trust the cloud? You're a prime candidate for BitTorrent Sync, the peer-to-peer service's app that copies and syncs files between computers. Introduced in January, the app comes out of private beta with new features today.
BitTorrent Sync is an app that runs on Windows, OS X or Linux machines. Once you've installed it on two or more devices, just designate which folders you want to sync, then secure them with a "secret," (i.e. a code key). Type the secret into the other machine(s), and you're done — any files in that folder are copied over through BitTorrent's notoriously efficient P2P network.
File syncing is very fast; once I installed the app, a 529-megabyte file was copied in about four minutes. If the machines doing the syncing are all on the same network, the process is even zippier.
With the service going public today, BitTorrent is adding the ability to do one-way syncing. That way, if you don't want recipients to modify the files you're sharing, changes will only go in a single direction. Users can also now generate one-time secrets that expire after 24 hours as well as designate files within a synced folder to exclude.
BitTorrent Sync currently has no mobile app, and it obviously negates the access-anywhere nature of cloud services, there are a few reasons it might be attractive for certain situations. First, the files are stored locally, so they are inherently more private and secure. That also means there's no limit (or additional cost) for storage. Finally, as noted, syncing is extremely fast thanks to the nature of BitTorrent's peer-to-peer system.
Are you interested in BitTorrent Sync? What will you use it for? Let us know in the comments.
Image via iStockphoto, chris_lemmens
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