Need setup advice between 2 laptops and 1 NAS

[BlackDogs]

I am running a trial of VVPro (latest version) and I'm a little confused as to how best to setup the profiles so it would work the way I want it to. I am not sure a pure "sync" is the best.

The setup:
I have 2 laptops and 1 NAS. One of the laptops (Win7 Ultimate) is my main laptop and what I would consider the "master" for all my documents. The second laptop is a Win10Pro (a SurfacePro) that I would like to use occasionally when I don't want to carry around the Win7 (a Dell).

What I would like to achieve:
1) I would like to be able to ensure all my files on the Win7 laptop is backed up and archived onto the NAS.
2) I then would like to be able to "sync" or "replicate" certain working folders (the most used ones) to the Win10 laptop so they are available for my use when I'm using the Win10 instead of the Win7 laptop. I will need need to make sure changed files on the Win10 is "synced" back to the Win7 somehow.
3) I also need to "sync" the Outlook file between the two laptops since when I'm working on the Win10 I would need to be able to access Outlook (note, my Outlook setup is not Outlook Exchange, but just the Outlook client).

Questions:
1) What is the best approach to get this to work?
2) Should the NAS be the central point or should it be point-to-point?
3) What are the recommended types of sync/replication settings?

I am quite certain VVPro can do the job but I just need some advice on the best ways to setup the profiles to do what I need/want. I am anticipating that I am going to need more than one profile to do this.

Thanks

[TGRMN Software]

Hi, do you wish to have changes that happen to files while working on the Surface to be reflected to the PC?
If yes, then best would be to sync the laptop vs the NAS and a selected set of folders between NAS and Surface. The 2 profiles would run one on the PC and one on the Surface.
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[Guest]

The Surface and the Dell laptop would not be used concurrently, so there is no need to have changes that happen to files while working on the Surface to be reflected on to the Dell laptop immediately.

I do need the changes reflected when I transition back to the Dell laptop.

So if I understand your suggestion correctly your recommendation is to:
1) use the "file sync" with the Dell laptop as source to the NAS as target - this would be a profile on the laptop
2) use the "file sync" with the NAS as the source to the Surface as target for the folders I need - this would be a profile on the Surface
3) this is the one I'm not sure about - what is the second profile on the Dell laptop? Another "file sync" with the NAS as source and Dell laptop as target?

Is there anything else I should know in terms of the details of the setup? Do the drive letter(s) used for the NAS matter between the Surface and the Dell laptop?

Should the Surface have 2 profiles, one is the "pull" from the NAS and the other is the "push" back to the NAS?

Thanks much!

[TGRMN Software]

Hi,

[Alice]

I have a similar set up / requirement, ie :

1 x Windows Server 2016 is my 'master storage' (just upgraded to 2016 last night - hoping VV will be 'certified' to work on that soon... )
1 x Home Desktop PC
2 x my own Home laptops - 1 leaves the house with me each work day to employer's site and holds a sub-set of my main data ie not 'personally sensitive' docs in case it's stolen (yes it's encrypted and yes it's 'Kensington-locked' to the desk !)
1 x work-issued laptop
1 x USB key encrypted to my employer's standard (only way to copy data to/from their laptop/network - by design)

I use multiple DOS .bat files to transfer data using '/autocompare' switch with 'Backup (mirror)' jobs which allows me a final visual check before 'commit' and most importantly I have enabled the 'smart' archiving feature of VV to cope with accidental overwrites and provide a degree of 'versioning'. The 'archived' folders are '.zip'(ed) and backed up to multiple external HDDs at end-of-week and end-of-month. You think you'll never need them....believe me you will !

I use .bat files because that 'forces' me to pay greater attention to which device I am copying to / from, rather than just double-clicking on a .fsf or any other semi-automated method eg VVScheduler. The batch files are also named in relation to the device and 'direction of data travel' (up or down), so 'usbup' / 'usbdown'.bats also only exist on my work-issued laptop and one of my personal laptops which I take to work.

There's quite a degree of self-discipline involved in dealing with 'master' data in my view - don't be tempted to create 'shortcuts' to the logical movement of data - in my case... [ Desktop PC >> Server >> personal laptop >> USB key >> work-issued laptop (then the reverse after work completed) ]. Always follow a set of process rules, so for me I quite often work at the weekend on company files on my home Desktop PC (cos it's the most powerful and has the biggest screen), but I then always run VV to update the master copy on the server (adding / amending to the VV archive) when I finish my work at home, then I VNC onto the server and VV the files onto one of my own laptops (which I take to work), lastly on that laptop I VV the files onto a work-issued USB key, which is the only way to get an appropriate subset of files onto their device/network.

Also this set up allows me to have my important data away from my home when I'm not there, in case the house burns down ( ) or similar, and I keep a full copy on an external hard disk in the boot of my car for safety too....updated at end-of-month.

Sounds like a long process, but it works for me ! Just 'food for thought' (Also bear in mind you need to be correctly licenced for VV installs)

[BlackDogs]

@TGRMN and @Alice - thank you for the reply. I'll give it a try and will come back to this thread if I have more questions/issues.

I think my process is giong to be a bit more manual as I will manually run the profiles when I need to in order to avoid bogging down my Dell laptop in particular.

[TGRMN Software]

BTW we have being testing VV on Windows Server 2016 and all seems good so far!
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TGRMN Software Support
http://www.tgrmn.com
http://www.compareandmerge.com