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Forum Discussion
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Backup, sync, external drives and local backup
Hi.
I want help to see if I'm doing the right thing here. Maybe I'm being dumb and you have a better idea for my problem.
My computer has 500GB of space.
I work on my projects locally a...
It really depends, it sounds like if anything goes wrong, your most recent work will be on dropbox, and your last sync of the files from your external HDD will be available via your offsite backup. So for me this sounds like the optimal solution and I wouldn't really change anything unless for whatever reason you feel that in the event of some problem, you want to access your folders from your HDD quickly, rather than wait for the external backup copy.
You can have the google drive folder located on an external drive, but it can cause some occasional issues if it isn't connected 24/7. In my experience it's usually fine, it'll just wait until you plug it in and not do much in between.
is it really not supported? I'm running an M2 Macbook Pro and an M1 Mac Mini. I actually have Dropbox synced to an External 3.5" 4TB HDD that's inside an enclosure. I'm actually able to disconnect either computer and connect it to the external hdd and it works just fine. Been doing this for over a year and a half now.
I say go for it. It clears up space on your internal ssd, and you can bring around the external hdd with you if you ever need to be mobile. I do it this way cause sometimes I need the content that's on my dropbox but I don't have immediate access to wifi or ethernet internet. Having a physical dropbox folder on a hard drive allows me to access the files wherever I go.
To each their own, I don't know the "compatibility" but it's been working great so far.
I'll say this though, when you turn on your computer and boot into your OS (operating system if any noobs are reading this) and Dropbox is one of the starting up programs, it will prompt you and give you a message that it can't find the Dropbox Folder if your drive isn't connected to your computer. When that happens, always choose the cancel or quit button. Don't do the re-link or unlink thing cause that will make you have to resync again. If you know you have to use your dropbox and sync, plug it into your laptop/computer before turning it on and logging in to your OS.
Good luck!
Hi.
Interesting moment I get your message, Miraflor9000. I just bought a new 8TB external drive and decided to sync DropBox to it. After a week, it finished last Sunday. It is working okay. Thank you for sharing your experience. I don't know why Dropbox says syncing to External Drives are a problem, it looks fine until now.
Thank you again!
- Rich
Super User II
Luix wrote:
I don't know why Dropbox says syncing to External Drives are a problem ...
Because it can be, and HAS BEEN, a problem. Yes, some people have had success, but many other people storing Dropbox on an external drive have lost all of their files as a result of a problem with the drive or it becoming disconnected while Dropbox was running. This is why Dropbox warns against it.
Thank you, Rich and Miraflor9000.
My problem here was some vendors sent me some video projects in the past via DropBox, so they were all stored in there ONLY. I need to say I was counting on luck until last week. Now I have a physical backup too, and this backup is copied to an AWS server, so I'm kind of safe for now. Hahaha.
About the power outage issue, you are right again. Good idea! Thank you!
Gotcha! haha so random cause I was just randomly looking at the forum.
hmm so you just purchased an 8TB? That's gotta be a drive that's plugged in with an AC adapter for power, correct?
Not sure if you already have the set up, but I highly recommend purchasing something like an APC or Cyberpower Battery Backup Surge Protector. I have any external drives that run on AC wall outlet power attached to these. So just in case the power goes out, they won't get damaged internally by a power outage or something. The internal battery of the surge protectors will switch on and they keep the drives powered long enough for me to be able to disconnect and power them off myself.
As Rich has mentioned above, a power outage could damage any hard drive and result in failure.
Welp, hope your drive stays alive and works.& when in doubt, always make a backup of your backup and you'll be fine.
