I gave my Son Marshall a set of
my Golf Clubs, since graduating he's taken an interest in Golf and I want
to encourage him. The other day he gave me the 3 Wood back,
autographed by Paula Creamer. Paula Creamer, you remember, lead the
U.S. Women's Team, the Dream Team, to win the Solheim Cup in
Sugar Grove.
I've
wanted to go to Sugar Grove for years. The exit sign for
Sugar Grove always beckoned. Something about it, Sugar Grove, was
appealing. Sugar Grove, tucked away in the corn fields of Illinois near the
Mexican Border.
Paula
lead the Dream Team. Brittany Lincicome, Natalie Gulbis became
household names. Kristy McPherson, Cristie Kerr, Christina Kim proved to
the world that no matter how you spell Christine they will still
kick your ass. Women cheered, men lusted, Maxim and Playboy offered
big-buck contracts. Which brings me to another type of Sugar, SugarSync.
SugarSync
is a Cloud Backup and Synchronization Software. A competitor of
Gillware Data, Carbonite (January 2010 Cocktail Talk), GoodSync, LapLink
and Microsoft's SyncToy.
Let's
say you have work and home computers. To bring your work home you send
files as email attachments from your work email to your home email.
Maybe you copy it of to a little flash drive to bring home. Back in
the office you copy files back to your work PC trying to remember
which is current and what goes where.
Sync
Software, even Microsoft's Briefcase, manages this for you. A
file's most recent version is considered current and is
synchronized with other computers you use. Plug in your flash
drive, run the sync program, done.
Backup
Software, like Gillware Data, copies files you change to the internet Cloud
so you can access them from anywhere. Just put the software on one or more
PCs and your most current data is available from the Cloud on those PCs.
Some even let you login to a website and access your files from a PC
without their software.
SugarSync
does all this and more. SugarSync backs up whatever you want to the Cloud.
It's alot faster than the others so your initial mass backup isn't as
painful. After the initial backup, where every file is new, it just backs
up what you change. Again, faster than the others. Keep in mind that the
speed of your internet connection, specifically the speed going up to
the internet, is the main factor.
Your
internet speed has two parts. Upload Speed and Download Speed. Download
Speed determines how long it takes to get a movie, album, or software
from the internet onto your PC. Upload Speed goes the other direction and
is usually just sending your mouse clicks and keystrokes. Because the
traffic going up is usually so much less than the traffic coming down, more
resources are allocated southbound than northbound. You can go to www.speedtest.net
and see how you're doing.
Know this, a Mega Bit
and a Mega Byte are two different measurements. There are 8 Bits in a
Byte. File sizes are reported in MegaBytes (MBs, big B). Transfer speeds
are reported in MegaBits (Mbs, small b) so they look faster. A 100MB
file is 800Mbs and your calculations will be off by 800% if you don't
know any better. But anyway.
SugarSync backs up fastest.
It also Syncronizes. Put SugarSync on your office and home
PCs and the files you change in the office will be on your home
PC when you get home. The files you change at home will be on your office
PC when you roll in too. And you'll have a copy stored in the Cloud as
well.
The copy stored in the Cloud is accessable from PCs with
SugarSync, or through a website, or on your iPhone with a
free App, or even on your iPad. Less preparation, no packing,
just pull up whatever you want from wherever you are. Change it and its
waiting for you wherever you go. "I'll send it to you when I get back
in the office." is now "I just sent it to you."
SugarSync copies files in the background. Meaning it makes a
list of what you've changed and copies them as it can without bothering
you. Others do too, with some you schedule when you want the copying
to happen, with some you don't. You can see what's in the queue anytime you
want and a simple mouse-over tells you the percentage completed. Yes, the
PCs need to be turned on for it to work.
You can also collaborate. Put
a bunch of files on the web using SugarSync, invite via email one or
more other people and they will be able to access those files.
None of the Backup/Synchronization Softwares will synchronize
your Outlook.They will not back it up either. SugarSync offers a solution.
A real world solution, which makes me think they think. Which is nice.
Microsoft's PFBackup (Cocktail Talk September) will back up
your Outlook data file. If you tell PFBackup to save it with a name
that does not end in ".pst" SugarSync will not exclude it. If
it's a big file, then it's a big file, you have to deal with it. But
really, why synchronize Outlook files to death. Your email Post Office will
deliver email to as many PCs as you want, and Contacts don't change
that often. Why sync Junk and Deleted Items folders?
Things you think are Outlook
really aren't anyway. Auto Complete when you start to type an email Address
is not Outlook. It's the PC. Outlook does not start searching your Contacts
when you start typing, it should, but it doesn't. Your PC remembers. Only
your Sent Messages is out of sync.
So, gimme some sugar, or not, that's your call, and that's
Cocktail Talk.
