Allway Sync: Easy file sync for Windows, now with Amazon S3 support

Filed under: Security, Utilities, Windows, Shareware

Allway Sync: Easy file sync for Windows, now with Amazon S3 support

by Brad Linder Jul 4th 2008

There are plenty of Windows applications out there that will let you synchronize files across multiple folders. But there are a few things that set Allway Sync apart. First up, you can install Allway Sync on a flash drive to carry with you and use on multiple PCs. Second, Allway Sync is free for personal use and you're only required to pay for a license if you're a heavy user of if you feel like it. No one will ever make you pay, but the software is totally worth buying.

The latest version also adds support for synchronizing files with an FTP server or Amazon S3 storage. This makes Allway Sync a great little tool for backing up your files to offsite storage. The only problem is that there's no built-in scheduler. You have to initiate each sync job manually. If you're lazy and prefer automated backups, you might be better off with a utility like Jungle Disk. But the advantage of performing manual backups is that Allway Sync provides detailed information about each new, changed, or questionable file.

[via Ed Bott]

Tags: allway, allway-sync, backup, synchronization

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Lee Mathews said 4:47PM on 7-04-2008

This app is rad. Apart from over utilzing the CPU sometimes, the S3 and FTP support and multi-destination syncing make it so full of win you won't care about a little CPU stress.

Alex M said 4:51PM on 7-04-2008

What I don't like about JungleDisk is that it puts buckets and files to S3 in its own strange way, so that it would be very complicated to retreive my files again without JungleDisk. It's application lock-in, in other words.

I wonder how Allway Sync does it; I couldn't find any details on their page.

JungleDave said 9:43PM on 7-04-2008

Note that as of Jungle Disk 2.0 you have the option of creating buckets that use a format compatible with other applications.

RRS said 6:28PM on 7-04-2008

I tried this program and I did liked it.

However, the threshold for "limited use" is very low
and the program quickly locks down asking
you to purchase a commercial license.
I found this quite misleading.

The program does litter the system
with its own hidden sync folders
which are not removed on
uninstalling the app.

I have since been using SyncBackSE
which is faster and more robust.

Allway Sync is good but it is
hardly free if you have even
moderate syncing needs.

alex3305 said 4:11PM on 7-05-2008

I formerly used SyncBack SE, but it didn't work out for me. It didn't work that well with my external hard disk so on my new Windows installation I used SyncToy from Microsoft. Altough it is supposed to be a beta, it is pretty robust and I didn't see it crash once!

Apart from that, it does the job better than SyncBack SE has done in months, and it's free too! :) Thus really recommend!

jfjb said 4:12PM on 7-05-2008

Allway Sync = 24.262KB memory use
Syncback = 2.584KB memory use

OK, you don't get S3 and FTP with Syncback, but you save (uhuh) 20 times the memory footprint that Firefox can use with any FTP add-on to do the same job. No?

jfjb said 3:52PM on 7-05-2008

sorry, saving 11 times the memory

JD Cohen said 12:07PM on 7-07-2008

Have any of you guys tried GoodSync? From what I can tell it offers everything AllwaySync offers, but more i.e. automatic scheduling, better memory usage, etc.

It also has free trial, then buy, but it's the best software I've found and it's worth the money.

Dramatiq said 2:56PM on 7-09-2008

AllwaySync works with S3! And the various methods of synchronization and sync scheduling are very nice.

However, I can't find any built-in encryption capability. Sorry, but there is NO WAY I'll send my data to any online storage site unless it's encrypted before leaving my system.

AllwaySync will be a "keeper" when that capability exists.

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