Tell us about a bad link.

Thank You!

Econ Technologies ChronoSync
by Scott Chitwood, 01/04/2005

I think it would be reasonably safe to say that most computer users know that backing up their data on a regular basis is a good thing. By the same token, a good number of those users don't back up until it's too late and then find themselves spending big dollars for data recovery software or services. Raise your hand if you've been there, I certainly have, more than once, under varying circumstances.

One possible contributing factor of this behavior could simply be a pre-conceived notion that backing up data is a difficult process to set up and time consuming to maintain. The truth is, set up is easy and the only major chunk of time that needs to be invested is the initial copying (back up) of your files.

If someone were to ask me to give one reason why I would choose ChronoSync over other backup utilities that I've used the answer would be easy — "User Latitude" — but what does that mean?

Simply put, user latitude encompasses a large cross-section of computer users whose backup needs vary on an almost individual basis. Let's consider a few user groups.

ChronoSync offers ease of use for the beginner and a wide gamut of options for advanced users. The learning curve is almost non-existent, folder locations are as easy as drag and drop for Sync documents.

One of ChronoSync's strengths is it's ability to sync two Macs for data backup. Synchronizing is keeping two data sets the same (bi-directional). That can mean just a single folder or two Users. It can mean connecting two Macs or even using a HD between two Macs. As an example you could sync to a portable Firewire drive at work, take it home, sync to your personal Mac, then sync back to the Firewire drive, then take it back to work.

Here's an overview of how I configured ChronoSync for a uni-directional on the family iBook.

Here's a look at the Targets tab for my Documents.sync file. The source is the Documents folder from our iBook, the destination is a folder on the slave drive of my Quicksilver G4 Power Mac.