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Forum Discussion
Solved
superduper and smart-sync problem
I am using "superduper" for years to make a 1:1 backup of my macbookpro's SSD. It's in addition to TimeMachine and allows me to work (nearly) without interruption if the computer or it's drive fails....
I just discovered this very easy solution:
Simply "program" a new superduper-script which ignors the directories "users/*/Dropbox*"
For the easy steps to create a script refer to page 20 on this document:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/com.shirtpocket/SuperDuper/SuperDuper.pdf
Hope this helps!
Lusil
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox Staff
mairc wrote:
I will need more storage on the backup volume than the actual size of the macbookpro's SSD.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Hey Lusil,
thank you and of course you are right and I also understand the beckgrounds, but unforunately: this does not solve the problem.
If there is anybody how can suggest a working solution (maybe another tool than superduper?) I would be very lucky. And I am sure, I am not the only one...
Christian
Hi:
I just had exactly the same problem and would really like Dropbox support to suggest a solution.
Details: I've been using SmartSync with many of my files set to Online Only in two different Super Duper accounts (1 work, 1 personal). When Super Duper made a backup (bootable clone) of my 500GB MacBook Pro, the size of that backup was a whopping 895GB. Of course, restoring from the clone filled the MacBook Pro and then caused the restore to fail for lack of space.
The wonderful Super Duper support guy figured out it had something to do with Dropbox files being backed up even though they are marked Online Only. He suggested writing a Super Duper Copy Script to restore all files except those in my two Dropbox accounts. That worked for one of the Dropbox accounts; the second Dropbox account did not get ignored and tried to restore anyway. Help please.
- Rich
Super User II
There really isn't anything for Dropbox to resolve here as the SmartSync feature is working as intended.
Files marked as Online-only will be automatically downloaded back to the computer when they're accessed. Dropbox can't tell if it's you opening a file, an antivirus app scanning a file or a backup process backing up your files. Anything that attempts to access an Online-only file will cause it to be downloaded back to the comptuer. In the case of a backup process, both are doing exactly what they're supposed to do; the backup app attempts to access the file, Dropbox recognizes this and downloads the file to the comptuer, then the backup process backs it up.
Your best course of action will be to set an exclusion for your Dropbox folder within your backup software, and then manually backup your Dropbox folder so Online-only files aren't downloaded.
Thanks Rich. I understand what's happening and why. But if the smart peeps at Dropbox (who I really admire and couldn't live without) could figure away around this it would be such a timesaver. Manually backing up the Dropbox folder is not such a good plan in the long run.
