Synchronize large OSX "package files" across Internet

1

I use Parallels to run a VM on two different Macs. I would love to have a nightly sync process that updates the virtual machine files (which are packages I believe on OSX) without having to copy the entire 60 gigabytes. So essentially a delta or block level sync. I've tried GoodSync and ChronoSync. ChronoSync apparently doesn't support block level sync. And I can't get GoodSync to work. So, what is the easiest way to get this going? I have a VPN connection between the computers already so I just need the actual tool to do the sync. Thanks.

Nicholas

Posted 2015-07-31T01:30:59.793

Reputation: 608

Answers

1

ChronoSync only does file-level synching (i.e. no block-level). However, it can be configured to only copy the files that have changed within the package, rather than the entire package itself. That should greatly reduce the amount of data that it copies during a sync. Granted it will copy more data than a block-level sync, but it will be much less than the entire package file.

On the Options panel, in the File Handling section, there is the "Package handling" option that let's you change how package files are handled. Merge or Dissect would be what you would want to use. Which one is best, would just depend on your preference, but I would probably go with Merge.

user128998

Posted 2015-07-31T01:30:59.793

Reputation: 111

Thanks and I realize it can look inside the package. The problem is that there is a single 60 gig file inside the package. Still will take forever to sync. – Nicholas – 2015-07-31T03:26:24.103

I use VMWare Fusion and it has an option to split the hard disk of a virtual machine, into multiple 2GB files instead of one large file. I would imagine Parallels has a similar setting. – user128998 – 2015-07-31T04:03:52.100

Thanks I just did that and tried ChronoSync. It helped but still is a huge amount of data to sync. Bummer. – Nicholas – 2015-08-01T15:42:51.333

If you use ChronoSync with ChronoAgent, then you can turn on compression when transferring data between the two of them. It might help a little bit. Other than that, I think that's about the best you can hope for until you can find a block-level sync application. Unfortunately, I don't know of any for the Mac. – user128998 – 2015-08-03T12:42:17.643

Asked: 2015-07-31T01:30:59.793

Viewed: 104 times

Active: 2015-07-31T02:54:33.237