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Working on Projects With Two Computers

E

energyboy

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 22, 2014
43
0
Any suggestions as to how to manage all projects on two computers without having to make duplicates and having to update files on another when is completed or revised?

My best solution so far is having everything stored on a 2TB external by Seagate (Backup Plus Slim) and have all working files on that and just connect/disconnect when switching computers. I don't like to use the MacBook too often as heat is a major issue when rendering in After Effect or converting videos in Handbrake (already had the GPU overheat and fail) but I often (almost daily) take it with me to work as I have software my employer doesn't to get some tasks completed. I thought about a NAS but thats expensive, and also thought about connecting the 2TB external to my Airport Extreme but file transfer is extremely slow.

Any suggestions?
 
energyboy said:
Any suggestions as to how to manage all projects on two computers without having to make duplicates and having to update files on another when is completed or revised?

My best solution so far is having everything stored on a 2TB external by Seagate (Backup Plus Slim) and have all working files on that and just connect/disconnect when switching computers. I don't like to use the MacBook too often as heat is a major issue when rendering in After Effect or converting videos in Handbrake (already had the GPU overheat and fail) but I often (almost daily) take it with me to work as I have software my employer doesn't to get some tasks completed. I thought about a NAS but thats expensive, and also thought about connecting the 2TB external to my Airport Extreme but file transfer is extremely slow.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

you answered your own question. I dont see it being any more effective any other way.
 
Yeah you answered it yourself. Just make sure you have a decent time machine backup running as externals are prone to go if your moving it about a lot. An SSD external would be the best choice as it has no moving parts.

Other lesser options you may not have considered are:

You could use DropBox as a working folder but make sure it has time to sync at the end of the day. All files are accessed and stored locally so as fast as your internal drive but sync-duplicated to dropbox when a change is discovered. By the time you get home, if you leave your machine on it should have an identical copy on its own hard drive.

You could also have the mac book as the primary drive and connect directly to it using ethernet in file-mode when at home but then it would need to be on all the time which you don't like.
 
I use Dropbox for some things, but that does create duplicates. In general I rely on discipline and Chronosync, which I run every morning during breakfast to sync my MBP I take to work with my home iMac. Duplicates again.

I consider an external drive too much of a "ball and chain" problem, although I do use the for backups and stationary drives on my server.

BTW, using the server to have all the files in one location is *not* a good idea because accessing remotely over the Internet is just too slow (and I've got 25/25 Mbps service).
 
Urh, you didn't say what kind of projects, it entirely depends on what you're trying to do. Video maybe?

With text files like software development or writing than either revision control or a Dropbox like synchronization is a solution. With video and photo then you can either have a NAS solution with a local buffer disk, or a detachable storage as you mention. A photographer I know went with the NAS solution with a buffer disk based on my recommendation and has been happy.
 
I've used Dropbox for this for ages and I can't imagine anything better. I move from my laptop to desktop to home machine and just sit down and work and everything is up to date. Not sure why anything would be duplicated???
 
Try using Bittorent Sync.

I'm using it to sync my documents and photo archive approx. 1TB of data.
Using for a year now, no problems.

You could also use ownCloud if you want something like dropbox but on your hardware.
 
I keep some things on dropbox to work in multiple places.

I have:
Mac Pro @ work
Mac Mini @ home
Macbook Air @ coffee shop, etc.

The other thing I do is store things that need higher level security and backup on a network drive at work. I can then connect to the server and map the network drive (as long as I have internet, which isn't a problem at home and I can tether to my phone).
 
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