Synk is a live file synchronizer, designed to make surprisingly sophisticated sync and backup features accessible to everybody. Join the many dedicated users around the world, from grandmothers to Turing Award winners, from universities to movie studios, and even some higher-ups at a computer company we all know and love!
What's New
Version 7.0.12:
Worked around Mac OS X 10.7 Lion throwing up connection dialogs at every possible opportunity. Guest access should now work again on Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.
Fixed an issue preventing detailed information about errors and other events from successfully loading
Worked around Mac OS X 10.7 Lion in certain circumstances providing bogus permissions info
The usual variety of general tweaks, improvements, and fixes
Really great program for keeping Folders or Drives synchronized. Gone are the days of manually running rsync or some other utility—with Synk you just set up a synchronization rule, turn it on, and from then on you will always have up-to-the-second synchronization.
I think the price could be a bit lower, but in the end the ease of use and stability of this app justifies the price, especially if you use it to keep many drives/folders in sync.
One note of complaint though, and I'm not entirely sure it's the fault of the program: I had this running on my early 2010 Mac Mini Server to keep a live backup of the OS drive, and I had to turn it off due to extremely high CPU usage. It would fluctuate anywhere from 60–140% of 2 cpu cores (ie-140%=100% first core and 40% second core). However, I run several scripts on my 2007 MacPro, including a live backup of the OS, and cpu usage is negligible. I have no idea what the issue is with the Mac Mini.
easy and works well. - other synching solutions are complicated to set up and don't do what I need. Synk however works really well. Reliable.
only issue are permissions which are not adjusted between 2 macs. I need to give myself permission to read/write to documents when I changing my mac. that could be easier.
Remote sync stopped working since I moved to Lion (despite the suggestion to delete items in my Keychain). This has been the most frustrating piece of software I've ever purchased. The auto mode (when working) was a dream. The manual mode is a nightmare and it's apparently intended to be. After contacting the developer multiple times it's clear to me he feels it's working as intended.
I did give it an extra star for making the uninstall painless.
I have been trying Synk Pro 7 for a week, and it just works as expected.
I have noticed:
- The Synk Engine always runs as root. It sometimes causes a problem of file permission for a remote volume which is readable only by the current user, not by root. We need an option to specify the owner of the engine.
- The exclusion list should accept a path input, otherwise it is impossible to specify invisible items.
I have been trialling Synk 7 on and off since March. I have probably sunk at least a whole working week in trying get it to run. But its behaviour is still erratic and the reasons for it are close to impossible to tracking down. And Decimus has been unable to give me any help or pointers besides nice words of encouragement.
And since Synk 6 is non-functional on Lion thus have to consider Synk abandonware.
The key problem is that Synk 7 almost never manages to get my boot drive into sync, pegging both my processor cores fully for 12+ hours (the most time I can give it during a weekday).
I have spent the last two weeks again tracking down what is tripping Synk 7 up. I successively reduced the workload from 3 million, to 2 million, to 500000, to 200000, to 100000, to 20000, to 3000 files by excluding stuff. None of these managed to get into sync by running it overnight. I then went the other way around, not by excluding stuff from by boot drive but by merely syncing individual folders. That worked well and miraculously after some successive buildups of number of files under considerations, syncing the whole boot drive worked (ie, it managed to get into sync).
Unfortunately, trying it again today, there is still no sign of it getting into sync after 4+ hours. My best guess is that the rare successes I had with Synk 7 are all down to luck, ie, there are one or more processes that cause Synk 7 to effectively hang itself but I have no clue what it is. Since my computer is usually running around 140 processes (counting the PIDs), finding the offending one by trial and error is anything but trivial.
And in their great wisdom, Decimus (or shall we say Benjamin Rister) did not build-in any debugging tools that would show me which folders (or files) are causing Synk 7 to never finish, thus essentially abandoning all their customers which have a slightly non-perfect system (with Synk 7 not working and Synk 6 also not working anymore on Lion).
Of course, they say, I should just look at the list of activities but more often than not this list is empty (whether that is a sign of Synk 7 having half-crashed or 'just' a UI bug is naturally an open question). And that Synk 7 can peg my processors with basically zero disk activity for several minutes does look much more like Synk 7 hanging itself as some external process causing it to re-scan a folder.
Naturally, Decimus could give me a debug build of Synk (one that simply logs what it is doing, making it maybe possible to say where it gets stuck). But that seems outside their technical or resource or goodwill range.
Decimus has abandoned the non-live sync backup market (they market Synk 7 as a live-sync tool and have stated to have no interest in adding a non-live mode to it). As has the creator and lead developer, who has left the company.
Thus, I too should probably abandon Synk and Decimus. I am sure there is some great work inside Synk 7 but launching a new product that at same time abandones a good deal of your customer base is not something that creates a lot of trust into their product.
Thus, as a warning to all potential buyers of Synk 7: Don't feel too comfortable using it as a backup tool for your boot drive (where lots of processes constantly write files), it might stop working at any moment.
I love Synk Pro 7: it is intelligently engineered, it is relatively simple to set up, and once this is done it is as effortless as Time Machine with much more flexibility and finesse. Like others here I still use SuperDuper! for regular bootable backups, because I do like that to happen on a schedule (at night). I also use QRecall for some things, partly because I am a software junky and I like the interface, but also because it does have specific capabilities that Synk doesn’t.
But if I was forced to choose, I’d go for Synk. I remember the days when despite the fact that it was expensive and awkward to use, the herd all stuck with Retrospect because it had been around for a long time and they were used to it. In those days the smarter choice was Synchronize! Pro, which was (and is) much more flexible and user-friendly, but times have moved again: S!P is still good, but it is no longer cutting edge, and it is stuck with an outdated licensing model. Synk, to my mind is the new gold standard.
I just really hope that the change in dev will not compromise things. Indications are that it won’t and I wish the team every success.
What is live syncing with this app like on very large files say a 4GB file? I assume if I make changes this app will sync the 4GB file over from scratch as I work slowing down my machine? 4GB or so even on an SSD is not instant by any account over a ethernet to a file server.
Is this app made for people just using tiny little office files not those working in media? I notice the demo vids all show little files. But what about huge files how does it cope with those?
Good or Bad over traditional manual or cron based syncing for large files is my question?
Well I got the trial and tried it. What it appears to do is throttle itself. It must have some code in there to not let large syncs eat up system resources. Not sure how they deal with multiple changes quickly etc. Seemed to work fine though. Solid app and very simple. UI is very simple and easy and hides complexity. So it is fast to use. I might buy it after I let the trial run 21 days to really burn it in.
Me again. It works great. It is much less hassle than manual/cron based apps. I will be buying it. Nice app but they need to show on their site some more real world syncs on the vids not single documents.
I've been using Synk Pro for about four months to synch my MacBook Pro, my office machine, and my MacBook Air, my travel laptop. I've had absolutely no problems linking User folders, Home folders, Apple Mail, and six special folders each pertaining to a different critical project. The system works flawlessly.
It even worked all right with Snow Leopard on the Pro and Lion on the Air, but as I never liked Lion -- it's a toy, not a serious OS update, and it resulted in a burnt out logic board -- both machines are now running SL. No matter. The settings work whatever the combination.
I don't even have to think about it, SP is doing its job. I can grab the Air and run out the door confident that all the folders and files I need are right there. Support on the few occasions I needed it, early on, has been personal and on the money.
I doubt that I'll give up Synk Pro for the iCloud. Despite Apple's efforts to make synching easier, most of their networking efforts have gone off half-assed and besides, Synk Pro already works.
I rate SP straight five-stars. (The one 4.5 below, Features, is an artifact of MacUpdate. It deserves five stars, too.)
Buy this software, it eclipses the competition and will make you smile.
PS I set up Synk Pro to copy Applications and made sure that Library files synched up with them. It took a little longer but now my Apps are all synched and remain that way after updates. How many synchronizing programs can do that? Decimus, you are genius to accomplish this in 5.5 MB!
Takes at least ten times longer than Synk 6, SuperDuper or CCC on my boot volume. Unless you like your computer to contribute to the room heating noticeably and provide a nice background hum via full-speed fans, there is little reason to use it over these three alternatives for the purpose of cloning a boot drive with lots of files.
Manu, you've been complaining about Synk 7 since it came out -- and you've been experiencing problems like no one else, I sympathize. Why not just use the other products and reduce your stress. Plus, each time you rate Synk Pro, it makes the overall rating less accurate. Twice should be the rule, once when you first try it and later on when you either love it or hate it.
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Synk is a live file synchronizer, designed to make surprisingly sophisticated sync and backup features accessible to everybody. Join the many dedicated users around the world, from grandmothers to Turing Award winners, from universities to movie studios, and even some higher-ups at a computer company we all know and love!
+2
timdmackey reviewed on 15 Dec 2011
I think the price could be a bit lower, but in the end the ease of use and stability of this app justifies the price, especially if you use it to keep many drives/folders in sync.
One note of complaint though, and I'm not entirely sure it's the fault of the program: I had this running on my early 2010 Mac Mini Server to keep a live backup of the OS drive, and I had to turn it off due to extremely high CPU usage. It would fluctuate anywhere from 60–140% of 2 cpu cores (ie-140%=100% first core and 40% second core). However, I run several scripts on my 2007 MacPro, including a live backup of the OS, and cpu usage is negligible. I have no idea what the issue is with the Mac Mini.
Dh-Harbach reviewed on 08 Dec 2011
only issue are permissions which are not adjusted between 2 macs. I need to give myself permission to read/write to documents when I changing my mac. that could be easier.
+1
+10
Rickdees reviewed on 07 Dec 2011
I did give it an extra star for making the uninstall painless.
+2
+5
Grandlepton reviewed on 05 Nov 2011
I have noticed:
- The Synk Engine always runs as root. It sometimes causes a problem of file permission for a remote volume which is readable only by the current user, not by root. We need an option to specify the owner of the engine.
- The exclusion list should accept a path input, otherwise it is impossible to specify invisible items.
+2
+12
Manu Chao reviewed on 30 Oct 2011
And since Synk 6 is non-functional on Lion thus have to consider Synk abandonware.
The key problem is that Synk 7 almost never manages to get my boot drive into sync, pegging both my processor cores fully for 12+ hours (the most time I can give it during a weekday).
I have spent the last two weeks again tracking down what is tripping Synk 7 up. I successively reduced the workload from 3 million, to 2 million, to 500000, to 200000, to 100000, to 20000, to 3000 files by excluding stuff. None of these managed to get into sync by running it overnight. I then went the other way around, not by excluding stuff from by boot drive but by merely syncing individual folders. That worked well and miraculously after some successive buildups of number of files under considerations, syncing the whole boot drive worked (ie, it managed to get into sync).
Unfortunately, trying it again today, there is still no sign of it getting into sync after 4+ hours. My best guess is that the rare successes I had with Synk 7 are all down to luck, ie, there are one or more processes that cause Synk 7 to effectively hang itself but I have no clue what it is. Since my computer is usually running around 140 processes (counting the PIDs), finding the offending one by trial and error is anything but trivial.
And in their great wisdom, Decimus (or shall we say Benjamin Rister) did not build-in any debugging tools that would show me which folders (or files) are causing Synk 7 to never finish, thus essentially abandoning all their customers which have a slightly non-perfect system (with Synk 7 not working and Synk 6 also not working anymore on Lion).
Of course, they say, I should just look at the list of activities but more often than not this list is empty (whether that is a sign of Synk 7 having half-crashed or 'just' a UI bug is naturally an open question). And that Synk 7 can peg my processors with basically zero disk activity for several minutes does look much more like Synk 7 hanging itself as some external process causing it to re-scan a folder.
Naturally, Decimus could give me a debug build of Synk (one that simply logs what it is doing, making it maybe possible to say where it gets stuck). But that seems outside their technical or resource or goodwill range.
Decimus has abandoned the non-live sync backup market (they market Synk 7 as a live-sync tool and have stated to have no interest in adding a non-live mode to it). As has the creator and lead developer, who has left the company.
Thus, I too should probably abandon Synk and Decimus. I am sure there is some great work inside Synk 7 but launching a new product that at same time abandones a good deal of your customer base is not something that creates a lot of trust into their product.
Thus, as a warning to all potential buyers of Synk 7: Don't feel too comfortable using it as a backup tool for your boot drive (where lots of processes constantly write files), it might stop working at any moment.
+52
Nicksloan reviewed on 02 Oct 2011
But if I was forced to choose, I’d go for Synk. I remember the days when despite the fact that it was expensive and awkward to use, the herd all stuck with Retrospect because it had been around for a long time and they were used to it. In those days the smarter choice was Synchronize! Pro, which was (and is) much more flexible and user-friendly, but times have moved again: S!P is still good, but it is no longer cutting edge, and it is stuck with an outdated licensing model. Synk, to my mind is the new gold standard.
I just really hope that the change in dev will not compromise things. Indications are that it won’t and I wish the team every success.
+17
Is this app made for people just using tiny little office files not those working in media? I notice the demo vids all show little files. But what about huge files how does it cope with those?
Good or Bad over traditional manual or cron based syncing for large files is my question?
+1
+17
+1
+17
+1
+4
Lionel reviewed on 06 Sep 2011
+1
+38
Bob.jacobson reviewed on 06 Sep 2011
I've been using Synk Pro for about four months to synch my MacBook Pro, my office machine, and my MacBook Air, my travel laptop. I've had absolutely no problems linking User folders, Home folders, Apple Mail, and six special folders each pertaining to a different critical project. The system works flawlessly.
It even worked all right with Snow Leopard on the Pro and Lion on the Air, but as I never liked Lion -- it's a toy, not a serious OS update, and it resulted in a burnt out logic board -- both machines are now running SL. No matter. The settings work whatever the combination.
I don't even have to think about it, SP is doing its job. I can grab the Air and run out the door confident that all the folders and files I need are right there. Support on the few occasions I needed it, early on, has been personal and on the money.
I doubt that I'll give up Synk Pro for the iCloud. Despite Apple's efforts to make synching easier, most of their networking efforts have gone off half-assed and besides, Synk Pro already works.
I rate SP straight five-stars. (The one 4.5 below, Features, is an artifact of MacUpdate. It deserves five stars, too.)
Buy this software, it eclipses the competition and will make you smile.
+1
+38
-2
+12
Manu Chao reviewed on 24 Aug 2011
+1
+38
+2
+38
+7
Wikno rated on 14 Jan 2012
Rzog rated on 14 Jan 2012
MacTribe rated on 28 Dec 2011
Ultranique rated on 01 Dec 2011
W_ing rated on 08 Oct 2011
manuelsosi rated on 07 Oct 2011
+38
Bob.jacobson rated on 06 Sep 2011
frankey rated on 15 Aug 2011
Lirumlar rated on 19 Jul 2011
+2
timdmackey rated on 15 Jul 2011