[Owncloud] Synchronization in owncloud

Tue Mar 23 19:49:02 UTC 2010

On 22.03.2010, at 21:52, Hasanat Kazmi wrote:

> 5. Clearing my "service discovery" point: We always have to enter URL of WebDav host. If we use service discovery mechanism (e.g. like that used in iTunes, which finds other computers in the network sharing music), then we can automatically locate the server which is being hosted within the network -- e.g. if take out my laptop and connect to home network, Now my cloud is also hosted in my home network and it exposes its host service to the network. The client on my laptop will find it automatically and tell me that my last sync was with that host (or there is a new host, do I want to create a sync relationship with that?). 
> Secondly, I can also search for hosts/clouds... Do you think this can be a good feature.. Right now all syncing solutions lack such a functionality.

This is an interesting idea. I think it is not a common usecase that you don´t have you owncloud configured yet and you don´t know the url.
But why not :-)

> We go with WebDav. I still have reservations for large file: if we are transferring a blue-ray movie and connection breaks half-through, so on reconnection, do we have to start transfer from beginning or can we implement a download manager sort of functionality to tackle this?

True. At the moment I suggest to go with WebDAV because it works with all operation system, you don´t need a client application, no problems with proxyservers and firewall. Open standard. Easy to install the server and more.
But at a later stage we could develop our own protocol of course. At the moment I think we should go with WebDAV.

> I have a little confusion about what have you envisioned. Should it be something like, a folder which syncs automatically (like dropbox) or are you envisioning something more.... please elaborate.

I think we want to have different ways to access the data. Mounting with fuse or direct access with the WebDAV kioslave if you have a fast internet connection, webinterface if you have no local storage like on mobile phones, or syncing of all files or a part of the files if you need offline support like on notebooks.

I think the GSoC project should solve only the syncing part.

> Hasanat Kazmi
> +923464362473
> 
> 
> On Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 11:54 AM, Frank Karlitschek <karlitschek at kde.org> wrote:
> Hi Hasanat,
> 
> 1. I don´t have experience with Unison but it looks nice. :-) I would still suggest to mount the ownCloud via webdav and then sync between the two  "local" folders.
> 4. PyQT is fine with me for the GUI
> 5. I´m not sure what you mean. You always want to sync with you ownCloud installation. So you have to put your ownCloud url in the syncinc client configuration somehow. What exactly do you mean?
> 
> Cheers
> Frank
> 
> 
> On 17.03.2010, at 17:51, Hasanat Kazmi wrote:
> 
> > Hi,
> >
> > 1. I think a very good contender for synchronization in our case can be Unison. Please do read this [1], its FAQ and a comparision between unision, rsync and webdav.
> > 2. Rsync doesn't require SSH, it needs it for security. The same goes for webdav. We can always use rsync on 80 or 443 but then we will lose ability of server to have a website on 80 and I think this can't be gone away with.
> > 3. Rsync fails at versioning, though it makes quite decent logs.
> > 4. We can discuss about GUI once we decide what to do with core system. PyQT is my favorite though.
> > 5. We must put some service discovery mechanism too. I have worked with ZeroConf. That can be used here.
> >
> > More ideas please..
> >
> > [1] http://alliance.seas.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/wiki/index.php?n=Main.UnisonFAQGeneral
> >
> > Hasanat Kazmi
> > +923464362473
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 2:10 PM, Frank Karlitschek <karlitschek at kde.org> wrote:
> >
> > On 15.03.2010, at 09:14, Hasanat Kazmi wrote:
> >
> > > Hi,
> > > I want to add synchronization features in owncloud as part of gsoc.
> > > I want it to be a synchronisation software (like Ubuntu One or dropbox) using rsync. But using webdav or any other tecnology can be an option. Please pour in suggestions. How do you please think synchorinzation should go in owncloud?
> > >
> > >
> > > Hasanat Kazmi
> > > +923464362473
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Owncloud mailing list
> > > Owncloud at kde.org
> > > https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/owncloud
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > this sounds great. It would be fantastic if you could work on the syncing.
> >
> > I already have some ideas how synchronization can be done.
> > A reality check is of course missing. :-)
> >
> > The idea is to have a small client application, perhaps a python script with a Qt QUI or something else running on the client.
> >
> > This client mounts the server folder via WebDAV in a "hidden" directory and than runs rsync or an other syncing script between the "hidden" server directory and the local data directory.
> >
> > This has several benefits compared with directly syncing via rsync with the server or an own protocoll.
> > 1. It works via port 80 or 443 and with all proxy servers and firewalls.
> > 2. You don´t need an SSH server or account on the server for syncing. So installation of the ownCloud server is easier.
> > 3. You get automatic versioning backuping and logging for free if you use WebDAV.
> >
> > What do you think? :_)
> >
> > Cheers
> > Frank
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Frank Karlitschek
> > karlitschek at kde.org
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> 
> 
> --
> Frank Karlitschek
> karlitschek at kde.org
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

--
Frank Karlitschek
karlitschek at kde.org