The article below explains how To Use BitTorrent Sync. BitTorrent Sync performs synchronization using the BitTorrent protocol between arbitrary devices. This software runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, that is, it can be used on almost any device – both on workstations and on servers or network storages.
Synchronization Process
BitTorrent Sync synchronizes files using a peer-to-peer P2P network, this protocol can be effectively used to transfer large files between multiple devices, this data transfer principle is used in applications such as µTorrent, Transmission, and BitTorrent. BitTorrent Sync differs from cloud services in that user data is stored locally, and synchronization requires at least one device connected to the network.
BitTorrent Sync uses data encryption using the AES algorithm with a key length of 128 bits, which can be either randomly generated or user-selected. The key is derived from a “secret” that can be shared among users exchanging data. Data is sent directly from device to device, if the receiving device is unavailable (for example, behind a firewall or turned off), then the data will be sent to another network node. But the data will only be accepted by the node if it knows the secret key to decrypt and view the data. A network node can be added to synchronization if it is given the corresponding secret key, allowing it to view (RO-access) or modify (RW-access) data.
Application
Synchronization of work files between devices is the most obvious use, you can simply synchronize data between multiple PCs or servers, ensuring that each of the devices has identical information. This method is useful in organizing the storage of personal and corporate data.
Backup – BitTorrent Sync can be used as a transport mechanism between the device whose data needs to be backed up and where the backups are stored. In fact, on the backup device, you can create “mirrors” of the necessary directories and implement incremental backup or versioning on their basis.
Mirroring and replication of non-critical data in cloud or clustered web applications– it is possible to ensure the storage of an identical set of data on several servers, which allows you to distribute the load associated with downloading this data by users between them. One has only to take into account that synchronization is not instantaneous but may take some time, that is, in real work, you should not rely on the fact that all synchronized nodes have an up-to-date and identical data set.
It is also worth considering that replicas do not intelligently resolve conflicts – if there are files in the dataset with the same name and path, then only the latest version will be saved. Thus, if files are created by the software on several nodes at once (master-master replication), then it is worth using naming techniques that will avoid name conflicts.