Need to have a large sync only run during certain hours

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Posts: 29
Joined: 9 Jun 2020

troels

I need to download 25TB from my Google Drive which will take several weeks to complete. My issue is that I need the sync to run only during the night as it blocks out all other internet traffic whilst it is running (I'm in a shared house and got complaints the last time I tried to run the sync 24/7).

Is there any facility to have the sync only run during a specified window (say 11:30pm to 6:30am), then pause, and continue again at 11:30pm the next day?

I've searched the forum for "schedule" and "scheduling" and all the posts are all related to kicking off a sync at a scheduled time, which is not what I need.
Posts: 1037
Joined: 8 May 2006

therube

It would seem you can do it with Task Scheduler.

Automatically Start and Close Programs at Specific Time

I'm not sure what the 'Stop task if it runs longer then:' condition happens (so test it out ;-))?
Posts: 29
Joined: 9 Jun 2020

troels

Yeah I'm looking for a cleaner solution, within the app. Randomly killing the app, in the middle of the sync, could leave stuff messed up, the FFS databases wouldn't be updated, files could be corrupted or not able to resume etc.
Posts: 21
Joined: 25 Dec 2017

David Morrow

I would go to the filters section of FFS. At the top, in the "Include" section is "*" so everything is sync'd. I would remove the * and replace it with just a couple folders that you are sure can be sync'd in just a few hours. Of course this will mean that each day you will have to change that filter. Or wild card filters so that you only sync certain file types *.mp3, *.mp4, *.xls, etc. I'm sure you can come up with something creative.

The Task Scheduler was my first choice as noted above.

LeoW

troels,

Any chance you own your own router at home? If so it might have a quality of service feature that you can implement for your computer that will restrict the total amount of bandwidth that the software on your computer consumes out of the total available bandwidth on the router. This can usually be configured by the hours of the day so you could grant minimal bandwidth during the day and more at night. This will prevent you from choking the other users from being able to use the Internet during the day.
Posts: 29
Joined: 9 Jun 2020

troels

Thanks for the suggestions. Chopping up the sync would be too complicated and hard to maintain. Scheduling killing of the task would leave a mess - example leaving "lock" files which cause errors on subsequent runs.

I have access to the router but there are no QOS or scheduling or bandwidth control features.

The solution I've found is to use a separate bandwidth-limiter app, which can limit or unrestrict bandwidth, based on a schedule. Which is exactly what I wanted. Been running successfully for a week or so now.

Unfortunately this quite an expensive paid-for app. Be nice if FFS had a similar facility built in.

LeoW

I found a program that's only $30 that should do the job. That price comes with two years of software updates. https://www.netlimiter.com/

Software was going to be my backup recommendation.
Posts: 29
Joined: 9 Jun 2020

troels

I found a program that's only $30 that should do the job. That price comes with two years of software updates. https://www.netlimiter.com/

Software was going to be my backup recommendation. LeoW, 17 Aug 2023, 02:28
Tried that one and couldn't get the scheduler part to work reliably. I'm using:

https://www.softperfect.com/products/bandwidth/

It's working reliably (my main consideration - medium bandwith use during the day (Netflix, Prime etc still work), then let it rip at midnight to 6am. I'm on the free trial but the version with scheduling built in is expensive. My sync will run longer than 30 days...

LeoW

Looks like your stuck with the $50 app. It sounds expensive for your needs, especially if they're not long term. I was going to look for another one that was a little bit less but I doubt my research will come up with something that is substantially less because all I found initially was $30 and as you mentioned it doesn't work for you anyway. Bing Chat AI Gave me the names of another four software programs that will do the job for you only they're all the same $50. It seems $50 is the going rate for a quality bandwidth manager.

25 TB is a LOT of data. I wasn't aware that Google even offered that much storage space.

Longshot: Perhaps you can get everybody to split the cost of a new router that will give you better performance for the Internet for everybody and it will cost each person a small amount of money and less than the $50 that you'll need for this software product. Outdated routers have slow processors and very little ram. When I last updated my router the previous one was several years old and had a lot less resources as far as memory and processor than my current one. A decent streaming router with quality of service on Amazon is about $100. That might be a better long term investment for your home.
Posts: 29
Joined: 9 Jun 2020

troels

Looks like your stuck with the $50 app. It going rate for a quality bandwidth manager. LeoW, 17 Aug 2023, 03:27
The version of the app with scheduling functions is $159...

LeoW

Hmm,

Are you sure about the price? When I go to the website you posted and look at pricing the bandwidth manager is $49 for a single user license. If it really is well over $100 can recommend a couple of other$50 programs that will also do the job.
FFS Support forum bandwidth Manager.png
FFS Support forum bandwidth Manager.png (9.06 KiB) Viewed 1063 times
Also, check out rclone software. It's a simple open source command line utility for copying files to and from cloud services just like you're trying to do. It supports Google Drive. You might be able to put it in a batch file and have it executed through Windows scheduler add a certain time and then in the morning you just need to kill it. No need to worry about any file corruption it will handle that on its own. You can create a Google config in the app and tell it to copy from Google to your local drive at the command line. It's a simple one file program with no installer. It will check the integrity of the files that it transfers and pick up exactly where it left off the day before. This may solve your whole problem.
Posts: 29
Joined: 9 Jun 2020

troels

Hmm,

Are you sure about the price? When I go to the website you posted and look at pricing the bandwidth manager is $49 for a single user license. If it really is well over $100 can recommend a couple of other$50 programs that will also do the job.
LeoW, 17 Aug 2023, 05:21
Check on here:

https://www.softperfect.com/order/?product=sbm

The first version that includes schedules is the Professional license.

I think $49 must be USD (for the Standard license) not AUD.

LeoW

The first version that includes schedules is the Professional license.

I think $49 must be USD (for the Standard license) not AUD.
Yes. USD. The Pro is $99 US.

That sucks that they charge so much. other programs that I have looked at this evening have not been up to the level of versatility and quality of that program. I've spent a bit of time looking for an alternative solution for you but can't find a software program that is as nice as this one for less money. Even if Netlimiter for $30 worked, it doesn't, I don't think, have a scheduler.

I think you're currently using one of the best software options available to you for your needs. You can probably forego the scheduling portion and manually start and stop the synching twice a day.

There may be another less expensive option, I just don't know what it is. Sorry.

If the price is a true burden I would give rclone a serious look. You won't have 24/7 hands off administration but it's free and will protect your data during transfer. Rclone really looks after your data. It preserves timestamps and verifies checksums at all times. Transfers over limited bandwidth; intermittent connections, or subject to quota can be restarted, from the last good file transferred. You can kill it in the morning and restart it at night before bed. It will pick up where it left off without skipping a beat.