Is this first Windows based contender to RSYNC?
If you are working in the IT industry and have ever had to deal with large singular files or very large datasets, then the chances are that you have come across a Linux based program called RSYNC. RSYNC is small utility that was developed by two engineers (Andrew Tridgell and Paul Mackerras) and announced back in 1996. The tool is used to copy files between two systems over an SSH or stunnel.
Over the years this tool has become very popular due to a couple of unique qualities; in particular, the tool is much loved for its ability to transfer very large files efficiently by only transferring the blocks within the file that have changed. This results in very efficient transfer of large files over a WAN link. For example, if you had a PST file that was 10 Gigabytes most backup programs would struggle to transfer this file daily because even if it changed by only a couple of Megabytes it would have to be re-transferred in its entirety each time. With RSYNC only the blocks within the file that had changed would need to be uploaded or synchronised and this means only perhaps 10 Megabytes would need to be transferred each night as opposed to 10 Gigabytes.
RSYNC sounds fantastic, so what’s the problem?
Whilst it may sound like the ideal program to solve every IT administrators data transfer woes there is one rather big problem with RSYNC in that it only works (natively) on Linux based operating systems. This means for 90% of the worlds computers that are running on Windows it isn’t a viable option.
This leads on to the very surprising fact that despite RSYNC being such an efficient utility for transferring data, software developers that have transported the technology over to Windows platforms are few and far between (Cwrsync and Backup Assist are the most notable examples).
The software industry is not up to date with data requirements
This just reaffirms the fact that the software industry is outdated and is still struggling to keep up with the rate in which technology is advancing. With the advent of cloud computing and super-fast broadband even small businesses are now handling data sets that are creeping in to the Terabyte range and could typically be comprised of tens of millions of files. The reality is that most of the well-known backup providers are struggling to even handle this volume and size of data let alone transfer it efficiently over a WAN link.
The first Windows based RSYNC contender
Thankfully there is one company that have taken the initiative here and developed a real contender to RSYNC in the name of GS Rich Copy 360 Enterprise. This software has been developed by a company called GuruSquad from the ground upwards. Built in a programming language native to Windows (Microsoft .NET) it works perfectly on all modern Windows based environments and includes all the features often associated with RSYNC such as block level file transfer, end to end encryption and the ability to handle millions of files seamlessly.
This program will happily copy files locally across a LAN network, over a WAN network and will also handle advanced replication jobs. It comes with its own scheduling engine as well as the ability to log every aspect of the file transfer process.
The software supports every Windows based operating system from Windows XP up to Server 2012 R2 making it one of the most up to date backup and file synchronisation programs on the market today as well as being the first viable alternative to RSYNC for Windows based environments.
Shaking up the tech software industry
When you consider the implications of a real alternative to RSYNC for Windows it’s easy to see how this company are really shaking up the software industry and realistically they are forcing the hand of all the major backup software providers to really kick things up a gear.
There is no doubt that other software developers are going to follow suit with similar alternatives to RSYNC but luckily for Guru Squad they are one step ahead with their software which has already been fully tested and made available to the public.
To find out more about GS Rich Copy 360 Enterprise visit their website here.
Over the years this tool has become very popular due to a couple of unique qualities; in particular, the tool is much loved for its ability to transfer very large files efficiently by only transferring the blocks within the file that have changed. This results in very efficient transfer of large files over a WAN link. For example, if you had a PST file that was 10 Gigabytes most backup programs would struggle to transfer this file daily because even if it changed by only a couple of Megabytes it would have to be re-transferred in its entirety each time. With RSYNC only the blocks within the file that had changed would need to be uploaded or synchronised and this means only perhaps 10 Megabytes would need to be transferred each night as opposed to 10 Gigabytes.
RSYNC sounds fantastic, so what’s the problem?
Whilst it may sound like the ideal program to solve every IT administrators data transfer woes there is one rather big problem with RSYNC in that it only works (natively) on Linux based operating systems. This means for 90% of the worlds computers that are running on Windows it isn’t a viable option.
This leads on to the very surprising fact that despite RSYNC being such an efficient utility for transferring data, software developers that have transported the technology over to Windows platforms are few and far between (Cwrsync and Backup Assist are the most notable examples).
The software industry is not up to date with data requirements
This just reaffirms the fact that the software industry is outdated and is still struggling to keep up with the rate in which technology is advancing. With the advent of cloud computing and super-fast broadband even small businesses are now handling data sets that are creeping in to the Terabyte range and could typically be comprised of tens of millions of files. The reality is that most of the well-known backup providers are struggling to even handle this volume and size of data let alone transfer it efficiently over a WAN link.
The first Windows based RSYNC contender
Thankfully there is one company that have taken the initiative here and developed a real contender to RSYNC in the name of GS Rich Copy 360 Enterprise. This software has been developed by a company called GuruSquad from the ground upwards. Built in a programming language native to Windows (Microsoft .NET) it works perfectly on all modern Windows based environments and includes all the features often associated with RSYNC such as block level file transfer, end to end encryption and the ability to handle millions of files seamlessly.
This program will happily copy files locally across a LAN network, over a WAN network and will also handle advanced replication jobs. It comes with its own scheduling engine as well as the ability to log every aspect of the file transfer process.
The software supports every Windows based operating system from Windows XP up to Server 2012 R2 making it one of the most up to date backup and file synchronisation programs on the market today as well as being the first viable alternative to RSYNC for Windows based environments.
Shaking up the tech software industry
When you consider the implications of a real alternative to RSYNC for Windows it’s easy to see how this company are really shaking up the software industry and realistically they are forcing the hand of all the major backup software providers to really kick things up a gear.
There is no doubt that other software developers are going to follow suit with similar alternatives to RSYNC but luckily for Guru Squad they are one step ahead with their software which has already been fully tested and made available to the public.
To find out more about GS Rich Copy 360 Enterprise visit their website here.
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