SugarSync? Review vs. DropBox, Carbonite & Mozy | Side-by-Side Comparison
EducationSugarSync? Review vs. DropBox, Carbonite & Mozy | Side-by-Side Comparison
SugarSync allows you to keep all your files sync'ed across multiple computers and mobile devices. It also allows you to share folders of files and images with groups of friends or co-workers. How many times have you needed access to a file, stranded somewhere on a desktop computer back at home? Or have you and your co-worker constantly updated the same project files and and emailed countless versions back and forth to each other? Files should be files, accessible from anywhere, not files locked away on one computer.
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SugarSync handles this problem perfectly. Its a tiny download that you put onto any Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Blackberry, or Windows Mobile phone. Then it simply works in the background, syncing any files, folders, or images between all your computers and devices. If your friend or colleague installs it and adds you as a sharing partner, you get access to which ever files on each other's networks you specify for sharing. It takes just 3 minutes to install, and its free to get started.
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SugarSync vs. Dropbox
SugarSync is easily the winner in completeness of features - password protection for files and support for more file types are critical advantages with SugarSync. SugarSync has better sharing features as well as better accessibility from browsers and computers with lower specifications. Above all, its cheaper, with greater flexibility and features - so its an easy winner.
How is it different from Carbonite and Mozy?
Carbonite and Mozy are online backup solutions which simply sync your files to a backup server, keeping them safe in case you lose them. They don't provide sync-ing services - that is, if you want to have access to all your files from your home desktop, your work laptop, and your iPhone, you'll need a sync-ing solution like SugarSync. SugarSync, however, does provide online backup (like Mozy and Carbonite), since all your files are also backed up onto their server and you can download them anytime if you lose them.
Using SugarSync for your business
SugarSync offers a business service which lets you administer multiple users, provides redundant secure backup of your corporate files, and which gives you high-security encrypted file transfers. Business accounts start at a 3 user package with 100GB of storage space for $29.99 / month.
Who can benefit from SugarSync?
Here are some testimonials from the SugarSync site which show how different types of people have used and benefitted from SugarSync.
Small business user: “SugarSync is quite possibly the most amazing resource we use for our business” -- SugarSync is quite possibly the most amazing resource we use for our business. My partner and I are in real estate and had been looking for a system that would share files between my office, his office, our assistant's office, our transaction coordinator and be able to access remotely on our laptops and from home without a tremendous amount of "file transfer" and duplicate files. Not only are we able to have an extreme ease of use in accessing files almost instantaneously even after changes are made, we are able to transfer LARGE files to our assistants, our clients, other agents, escrow officers, etc. with the ease of one click. We use a pretty nifty scanner that scans all of our documents to PDF files and because of SugarSync, we are nearly Paperless. We turn our files in complete to our office and to a Paperless scanning company that turns our files into an electronic disc. It saves time, money and trees and we recommend it to everyone we do business with. We find it an extremely affordable solution and a very necessary part of how we remain efficient in being one of the top real estate consultants in our company.
Corporate professional: “Simplest backup known to man” -- SugarSync saved my life as a Web Design Freelancer so many times. All freelancers know that clients request files or changes at the worst times; Murphy's Law I suppose. Freelancing is all about timing. If you can respond to emails and allow file access to your clients fast, they will love you forever. SugarSync has dramatically helped me in three areas of my freelancing life: off-site file backup, cross-computer files access, and mobile file management. First and foremost, I've always been paranoid about losing my client files due to unforeseen circumstances. The last thing I want to do is re-create a website mock-up that took me two days to create. SugarSync allows for the simplest back-up known to man. Simply tell SugarSync Manager what folders to back up, and it will sync your files in the background. Perfect! Secondly, I am a lover of technology. So, that means I have a Mac and a PC. Syncing files between both, especially via off-site storage, has always been a nightmare. Ideally, I want to set up my important and ever-changing file folders to sync, and forget about them. SugarSync takes care of matching up the latest file version across my operating systems when I use Magic Briefcase. When I step away from both of my computers, I know that if anything happened to either one, I can grab my most recent files online. Whew! Finally, the best feature I love about SugarSync is the iPhone application. I can't live without this app! I can allow client access to any folder or sub-folder of my choice. Additionally, I can email individual files to my clients upon request. I'm a rock star in their eyes when I tell a client that I'm sending them a file while eating at In-N-Out Burger. Oh, and when I'm on a 6 hour bike ride getting away from my clients, the streaming audio feature allows me to stream music and podcasts directly from my SugarSync online music library. Killer! Overall, I have not found another online service that can compare with SugarSync. Redundant back-up, cross-computer syncing, and mobile file management are the selling points for my business. The moment I used SugarSync, I knew I was dealing with a company dedicated to making my life easier!
Frequent traveler: “SugarSync has genuinely changed my life” -- SugarSync has fundamentally improved the way I conduct business. As a frequent business traveler, I use my laptop most of the time, but, when I return home, I find that I need the power of my desktop computer. I used to set up my laptop and desktop side by side, drag files from my laptop to a hard drive, then copy those files onto my desktop. This process, which took valuable time from my work, was hitting my patience as well as my wallet--time is money! But for very little money, I soon realized, I could save so much time. SugarSync, which has a cost that pales in comparison to its worth to me, saved me hours and hours. SugarSync has genuinely changed my life.
Power tech user: “7 reasons why I love SugarSync” -- My little secret for those bad days and for those moments when I just don’t have everything I need. I can't help but share how wonderful this product has been to me. It is so easy and convenient to use adding just another plus to the list. 1. When active sync just doesn't want to sync, SugarSync is there. 2. When my flash drive just isn’t big enough to hold all that I need. SugarSync is there 3. When I need to share projects for work with certain people, SugarSync is there. This was particularly helpful when I didn't have everyone’s email addresses that I needed. 4. When the server goes down and I have to use documents that I don’t carry copies of, SugarSync is there. A few clicks and I have access to my documents and can fill them out on my mobile device. 5. When my laptop battery dies and I can’t find the cord but just have to show my pictures off of the kids. This reason is especially important if you just cannot get enough pictures. I store most of my photos on SugarSync so I can access them anywhere anytime. 6. If you use your pda or mobile phone for photos. I love the fact that it automatically uploads to a place I choose every time I take a picture. No more worries if I remembered to transfer the photos or where I saved them to. 7. I don’t have to have both devices online at the same time to sync the data. My desktops at home I am out and about working but am going to have to continue working when I get home. Just one quick click and the stuff I need is here. I have no choice to give this program anything other than 2 thumbs up. It has made my life easier and has kept me from pulling my hair out. It helps save time with making data transfer among multiple computers faster and easier. It’s my little secret, but one I cannot help but to share.
Students and professors: “SugarSync Solves the My Dog Threw Up On My Homework Problem” -- I teach English at a community college in Oregon, and my students have updated the old “My Dog Threw Up On My Homework” to 21st century excuses/problems: My printer is acting reeaallly strange and I couldn’t print out my homework. I left my homework in my printer. My computer crashed/got a virus/is at my Mom’s house/got stolen. I forgot my homework...but I did it, really! In the past I’ve encouraged them to buy a USB key and save their work to it so they have it with them at school, but it takes them too much thought to keep their USB synced to their Documents file and to always carry it with them. So I now ask, “Who wants a USB drive that’s always with you and always synchronized with your Documents folder?” I then show them the SugarSync site using our classroom computer, and show them my account and how my files are always available so that I can save them from anywhere with a web connection and print them out at school. I let them know we have 3 labs on campus with printers and that they can simply sign in to their SugarSync account, open their document and print it out. No excuses for late homework! It’s also very useful for doing their research when we’re in a classroom with computers. I show them how to do sophisticated searches in Google and in our library’s different publication databases, but since they can’t save anything on these computers, it’s been frustrating for them to spend the effort to find material and then not be able to save it. So I show them how to copy it into a Word document and then save it to their SugarSync account so their bookmarks and articles will be available when then get home. They think it’s really cool. This term I suggested the get a SugarSync account. Next term I’ll require it!
Home user: “It's the absolute best method to back up your data online” -- It was 75 degrees and sunny. I was on my way to my wedding in downtown Chicago. I was marrying the girl of my dreams. We had over 250 people in downtown Chicago that weekend so needless to say, I was very preoccupied. I woke up that morning and finalized the wedding speech that I had been working on for the last four months... After the "I-do's", we began the traditional cocktail hour, enjoyed dinner and began to dance the night away. And then, the music stopped. It was time for my speech. You know the dream where you're falling and all you know is that certain doom awaits you. That was exactly what was happening to me. I hadn't memorized my speech because I had just finished it that same morning. I had completely neglected to print the document, send it via email, or do anything that would have saved me from what was ultimately going to be a huge letdown to my family and my new bride. But, just as soon as the panic set in, it faded. See, I had an iPhone. My iPhone was my lifeline. I turned on my phone and clicked that magical SugarSync hummingbird. I clicked my home computer and instantly saw every document I had ever created - including my speech! So, I grabbed my iPhone, connected to SugarSync and pulled up the speech. I walked to the front of the ballroom with my bride on my arm and was able to regain my confidence and deliver the speech that I had worked so hard on and was so important to me and my family. Disaster averted! SugarSync is the absolute best method to back up your data online from multiple computers. Thank you SugarSync.
Source: http://www.sugarsync.com, http://www.carbonite.com, http://www.mozy.com.