Best Practices for Syncing Solutions

Hey everyone, I'm setting up a new workflow that relies heavily on cloud file syncing across multiple devices. I'm looking for solid best practices to ensure data integrity, minimize conflicts, and keep performance optimal. Any recommended strategies or tools?

Great question! Here are some things that have worked for my team:

• Versioning: Enable file versioning on the service you use. It helps roll back if conflicts occur.
• Selective Sync: Only sync the folders you need on each device to reduce bandwidth usage.
• Conflict Resolution Policy: Decide whether the latest edit wins or keep both versions with a suffix.
• Network Monitoring: Use tools like netstat or built‑in stats to watch for sync bottlenecks.
• Periodic Audits: Run a checksum comparison (e.g., sha256sum) on critical files weekly.

Also, consider using a dedicated sync client like Syncthing for peer‑to‑peer setups if you need more control.

Adding to Mira's points, make sure you:

1. Set a consistent time synchronization across all devices (NTP). Desynchronized clocks cause odd conflict timestamps.
2. Use file locking where possible for files that are edited simultaneously.
3. Consider splitting large binary assets from source code; binaries don't need frequent sync.

We've also scripted a pre‑commit hook that checks if the file size exceeds a threshold before allowing a push to the cloud.