SugarSync Review – Online File Storage and Synchronization

By Chad

We’ve reached a point where a lot of us live and work with multiple computers, and often times need to be able access the same files from all of those computers. This leads to endless piles of cd’s, pockets full of flash-drives and an ever growing list of email attachments we send ourselves to get a document from one location to another.

If only there was an easy way to synchronize files between multiple computers automatically…

Enter SugarSync.

SugarSync is an easy to use application that allows file backup and synchronization between devices – even if those devices aren’t on the same network – making it much easier than it used to be to access and update your files.

SugarSync Review

Setup is really simple. Create an online account, download the SugarSync application to each computer you want to backup and/or synchronize and then select the folders you want.

That’s pretty much it. Depending on your needs, you can set each individual folder to either simply backup online, or synchronize with other computers.

All the files and folders you select in SugarSync are backed up to your encrypted online account, making them easily accessible from anywhere you can get an internet connection… even if you don’t have your own computer handy! The web interface also allows for easy file sharing and collaboration.

As a user, you can invite friends/family/colleagues to sign up for a free account, and then share one of your folders with them. If it’s something you just want them to be able to see (like family photos) it can be “read-only,” or if it’s a group project it can be “editable.” This way, when one person updates the project, everyone’s computer has the new work saved. Previous versions of all files are also saved, so you can track who updated what.

Editing a Word document on one laptop (or other device, like a BlackBerry) posts the changes directly to the online account, and then back down to the other computers almost instantly, so all machines have the most recent version of the file at all times.

Lets run through a quick overview of the online interface, the desktop client and (my personal favorite) the BlackBerry application.

SugarSync.com and The Desktop Client

When you log into SugarSync.com you are greeted by a screen that lists your recent activity (across all synchronized computers), a list of computers and other important items, your available storage space and a few other goodies.

By selecting one of your synchronized computers, you have access to all of the files you have set up with SugarSync on that computer. When viewing the files on a particular computer, you can open one by clicking on it, or you can move, delete or copy.

You also have an option to send files. This will send an email to any address(es) you specify with a unique link to the file(s) you selected to share. This link will allow the recipient of the email to download your file, but only for 21 days – after that the link is disabled.

This way, if you want to email a couple dozen photos to your great aunt across the country, you don’t need to waste time attaching them all.

In addition to your synced computers, you also have the option to select your “Magic Briefcase,” your Mobile Photos and your Web Archive.

The Magic Briefcase is basically a folder that SugarSync creates on all of your computers that is always kept synchronized. It’s a nice, simple tool for users who don’t want to take the time to manually select folders to sync… all they need to do is drop them into the Briefcase and they are good to go.

Note: Placing files in the Briefcase does NOT copy them, it MOVES them completely.

The Mobile Photos is pretty self explanatory… these are the pictures that you have taken from your mobile phone, which we’ll discuss a little more later on in our SugarSync review.

The Web Archive is a place to store files that you do not want synchronized with your computer. It’s basically just a storage vault, so you can copy something into your archive and safely delete it from your computer, knowing you still have a copy online.

The desktop application offers pretty much all the functionality of the web client. When you first open the program you’ll see a list of the files on the computer you are currently viewing, as well as a list to the left containing icons for your Magic Briefcase, Web Archive, etc.

There are also convenient buttons for accessing the photo gallery, your online site and your shared folders. You can also easily send and share files, so the only time you’d really need to work directly with the online interface is when you were away from your personal computer.

Clicking the “Manage Sync Folders” button at the top of the screen will open a window that allows you to add local folders to SugarSync, as well as select folders from other computers to synchronize. If a folder is added to SugarSync but not connected to another computer, the contents are being backed up in real time, but not affecting any other hard drives. The entire interface is extremely user friendly, but if organizing different folders is more work than you are interested in, you can always just use the Magic Briefcase as described earlier.

SugarSync For BlackBerry

This is where it gets really fun. SugarSync offers several mobile clients including support for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Mobile devices, and Symbian  – in addition to the ability to access your online account from pretty much any web enabled phone.

From the SugarSync application you can do pretty much anything you want. Accessing computers and online files is a breeze, simply navigate to and select the file you need and SugarSync will download it to your phone and cache it for use.

If you have the right software, you can edit files from your phone (usinge “Docs-To-Go” to edit an MS Word document on a BlackBerry for example). Once you finish editing a file, SugarSync notes the change and asks if it should be uploaded.

You can easily upload any files from your BlackBerry, the only problem here is that there isn’t an option to upload multiple files into a que – each file must be selected individually. This makes uploading, let’s say an photo or two that you want to share really quickly a breeze, but beyond that you will probably want to wait to transfer the files to your computer and upload them from there.

One of the real benefits of the mobile application is that if you know in advance that you want the pictures you are taking uploaded, you can fire up the application and select “Take photo,” which will launch your BlackBerry’s native camera application and upload any pictures you take from there (please note, only photos taken from within the SugarSync app are automatically uploaded) to you Mobile Photos folder, which is synchronized across all of your computers.

Viewing images from your device is equally simple. Each image is downloaded and and cached to your phone, and you can scroll through the pictures in a particular folder one at a time. Each picture also has a “High Res” option in case you need to view in greater detail.

SugarSync is also capable of streaming music to your phone as well, so if you synchronize your iTunes library, you’ll be able to access it anywhere, without necessarily having to keep it all on your phone at once.

SugarSync offers several different price options depending on how much storage you need. Each plan includes a 30 day free trial, which is plenty of time to get comfortable with it before making any final decisions.