Uninformed question...I assume dropbox syncs machines via their server (ie: all data is synched up to their server first, then back down?) Or does it do peer to peer? (and if so, $9.95/50GB seems really expensive.) While less reliable, this would save them tons of bandwidth, and while it wouldn't work for some people, for me it would be perfect as I always have at least one machine that is on the net that would suffice for my master.
They sync directly to other machines over LAN and also send the files to their servers.
Bandwidth is saved through other means. The files are split up into chunks for which they compare hashes. If a chunk has already been uploaded to their servers by ANY Dropbox user it won't get reuploaded again.
This is especially effective for media sharing, because lots of people will download the same torrents and put them in their Dropbox folders to watch somewhere else.
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$9.95/month for 50GB seems a bit steep to me.
Uninformed question...I assume dropbox syncs machines via their server (ie: all data is synched up to their server first, then back down?) Or does it do peer to peer? (and if so, $9.95/50GB seems really expensive.) While less reliable, this would save them tons of bandwidth, and while it wouldn't work for some people, for me it would be perfect as I always have at least one machine that is on the net that would suffice for my master.
They do both.
They sync directly to other machines over LAN and also send the files to their servers. Bandwidth is saved through other means. The files are split up into chunks for which they compare hashes. If a chunk has already been uploaded to their servers by ANY Dropbox user it won't get reuploaded again. This is especially effective for media sharing, because lots of people will download the same torrents and put them in their Dropbox folders to watch somewhere else.