acmeattic-devel team mailing list archive

[Karthik Swaminathan Nagaraj <nkarthiks@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, Jul 18, 2010 at 11:40 PM, krishnan <krishnan.parthasarathi@xxxxxxxxx
> wrote:

>
>   Yeah, it does seem to be the case that SpiderOak has a lot more useful
>> features, and their guarantee about security is much more believable than
>> Dropbox's. While we can still pick and choose the features that we would
>> like to implement, we need to pay close attention to designing the backend
>> architecture that allows these features to be built.
>>
>> In particular, I would like to see the following high level features built
>> in AcmeAttic: sync any folder on the client's filesystem with the attic,
>> sync from multiple devices, download (and sync) files that were synced from
>> a different machine. Encryption should be optional for specific files or
>> folders (it should by default be encrypted, but the user can change this if
>> required). Sharing should also be flexible, but I don't think we need to
>> implement the feature of creating a shared virtual folder that can have any
>> subset of files on the attic.
>>
>> --
>> Aditya
>>
>
> I think, the attic should serve as a logical drive for the user over the
> network like in the DropBox model.
>
> Are you in favour of differentiating the client machines from which the
> files were uploaded to the attic? I think we must leave it to the user to
> choose if wants to partition his backup data based on source client machine
> by creating separate folders. We should not make any distinctions based on
> client machine and must allow syncing of all files across all client
> installations.
>
>  Suppose, the user syncs his files to the attic from a client  (say, his
> laptop) to the attic. Now, the same user can sync the files from attic to
> another client (in a specified path) and use it as if it is just another
> folder on this client.
>
> Who specifies the path where the file in attic needs to be placed in new
> client installations? Even if we store it as a user preference in the
> server, we will have trouble implementing it across different operating
> systems. eg user might not have access to a location in a linux installation
> for which he had access in Windows. What would we do if the user changes the
> location from another client installation and expects it to change in
> already installed client machines as well? The simplest approach would be to
> pull files from attic and place it in the "Attic" folder in the new client
> installation and not bother about where in the filesystem it must be placed.
> This also gives the user a single location to observe what he/she has backed
> up on the attic from this client machine.
>

Exactly the problem SpiderOak tackles and I feel is a much more feature rich
version of DropBox. I don't know how many of you have actually used
SpiderOak, but here is how it handles this scenario.
Each client installation is different. Each user client has its own set of
shared folders. Indeed the attic is the place to store all the files, but
that does not limit us from providing backup functionality separately from
syncing. I am implying each client installation gets to choose which files
are backed up, but files from another client are not downloaded
automatically.
Use Case: I backup and sync my "Open Source Project Code" folder from my
desktop machine. (I want this folder to be revisioned and available across
all my machines).
I backup my "Music" from my laptop. I want this versioned alone but not
synced to my desktop and clutter / take up space on my work desktop.

Although, each client installation would be able to view and download (any
revision of) any shared file. Thus, this provides the obvious advantages of
the cloud including *omni presence*, but leaves the preferences to the
client.

Thus we should not limit ourselves to the "Attic" folder and try to handle
petty issues such as name clashes, etc. Each client's files are synced with
the cloud. A specifically marked "Sync" folder is synced between all client
installations (it would be great to specify which installations). There may
be any number of Sync folders, each of which is synonymous to a DropBox
folder.

I think the plan is to have a single client functionality in the initial
releases. Upon future release plans for many clients per user, I think we
can clarify this model.



>
>   Also, the user need not place all the files in the "Attic" folder in
> his/her laptop (the first client). Instead he can give symlinks/shortcuts to
> the folders and place it in the "Attic" folder of the client.
>
>   I think you are talking about client using symlinks for tracking changes
> to files/folders that user wishes to backup on the attic. The symlinking
> also provides the user a single view of all files backedup.
>
I think the clarification above kind of makes this more clear. Since each
client has its own set of shared folders, these folders can be anywhere on
the client machine. As the user points the client to the folder, each of the
folder becomes a top-level shared folder. There does not need to be a
symlink or copy to a single "DropBox"/"Attic" folder.


>  Cheers,
> Bharath
>
>
>  cheers,
> krishnan
>
> _______________________________________________
> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~acmeattic-devel<https://launchpad.net/%7Eacmeattic-devel>
> Post to     : acmeattic-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~acmeattic-devel<https://launchpad.net/%7Eacmeattic-devel>
> More help   : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>
>


-- 
Karthik