Sync multiple folder pairs in a batch
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 1 Jun 2021
I have organized my music collection into separate alphabetical root folders (A, B, C, etc.) which I'm backing up to a network drive. I am constantly adding new music and I am trying to figure out how to make a batch to sync only each root folder in real time. So if I add the new Nickelback album to the N folder it will update just that folder and not scan through the entire A-Z collection. Thanks in advance for any help and feedback.
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- Posts: 2946
- Joined: 22 Aug 2012
Not clear if you use RealTimeSync (RTS) to scan for changes, and upon detecting those run a FreeFileSync (FFS) sync, but I will assume so.
If you let RTS monitor the root folder of your A through Z folders and have defined a (single) FFS sync syncing all those folders when launched by RTS, FFS will scan all A through Z folders (incl. subfolders), but only sync any mismatches. Although perhaps requiring a bit more scan/compare time, it is by far the simplest solution.
If that is not OK for you, you can define multiple RTS tasks; each RTS task monitoring a different set of folders (e.g. a first RTS task monitoring A~M, and a second one monitoring N~Z) and each RTS task launching an FFS sync job that syncs the corresponding folders.
Or, ultimately you can define 26 RTS tasks, each monitoring a separate folder of the A through Z folders, and have each such task launch a specific FFS sync that will sync the corresponding A, B, ... or Z folder and its subfolders. Obviously this means you will need to define (and save) 26 RTS tasks and 26 FFS configurations.
If you let RTS monitor the root folder of your A through Z folders and have defined a (single) FFS sync syncing all those folders when launched by RTS, FFS will scan all A through Z folders (incl. subfolders), but only sync any mismatches. Although perhaps requiring a bit more scan/compare time, it is by far the simplest solution.
If that is not OK for you, you can define multiple RTS tasks; each RTS task monitoring a different set of folders (e.g. a first RTS task monitoring A~M, and a second one monitoring N~Z) and each RTS task launching an FFS sync job that syncs the corresponding folders.
Or, ultimately you can define 26 RTS tasks, each monitoring a separate folder of the A through Z folders, and have each such task launch a specific FFS sync that will sync the corresponding A, B, ... or Z folder and its subfolders. Obviously this means you will need to define (and save) 26 RTS tasks and 26 FFS configurations.
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 1 Jun 2021
I have been doing as you said in the second paragraph and made an RTS task to mirror just the main music folder to my Plex music library. I have added each lettered sub folder to Plex one at a time so it will only scan the one with changes, and not the whole music folder. That's what I''m trying to accomplish with FFS in part because the drive is failing after a year and a half. Granted, I've played a ton of music in that time, but I am trying to streamline the process and decrease the read/writes. It's 1.6TB of data consisting of 183,375 files, and that's a lot to scan just to add a few albums. I like to add the music as I get it, you know?
So, I've taken the your last suggestion and made an individual FFS, batch, and RTS for each lettered folder. It ended up being 35 of each because I had split some of the larger folders (e.g. Sa-Sm and Sn-Sz), again to decrease the work the drives had to do.
Now I have to figure out the best way to utilize them, and/or in what combination. My first thought is to just manually put each sub folder that I've added music to in a batch and run that. If I just run all 35 RTS tasks they'll do their initial scan and some will end up running unnecessarily. I haven't been using the program for very long so am still figuring it out. It's been an awesome resource so far though, just hoping to refine the process.
Ninja Edit: It has now occurred to me that part of my solution to limit the number of scans and syncs is to add the music directly to the Plex library then back that up to my main PC. I already have the drive mapped. Many thanks to the developers for having the "swap sides" option and save me too much trouble editing!
So, I've taken the your last suggestion and made an individual FFS, batch, and RTS for each lettered folder. It ended up being 35 of each because I had split some of the larger folders (e.g. Sa-Sm and Sn-Sz), again to decrease the work the drives had to do.
Now I have to figure out the best way to utilize them, and/or in what combination. My first thought is to just manually put each sub folder that I've added music to in a batch and run that. If I just run all 35 RTS tasks they'll do their initial scan and some will end up running unnecessarily. I haven't been using the program for very long so am still figuring it out. It's been an awesome resource so far though, just hoping to refine the process.
Ninja Edit: It has now occurred to me that part of my solution to limit the number of scans and syncs is to add the music directly to the Plex library then back that up to my main PC. I already have the drive mapped. Many thanks to the developers for having the "swap sides" option and save me too much trouble editing!
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- Posts: 2946
- Joined: 22 Aug 2012
You wrote:
> If I just run all 35 RTS tasks they'll do their initial scan and some will end up running unnecessarily.
That's not true. RTS will only launch its specified FFS sync job if it detects changes in the folder(s) monitored by that particular RTS job. And it is the Compare of an FFS sync that may be somewhat time consuming. So, there is no "initial scan" (unless RTS monitors a removable medium).
> If I just run all 35 RTS tasks they'll do their initial scan and some will end up running unnecessarily.
That's not true. RTS will only launch its specified FFS sync job if it detects changes in the folder(s) monitored by that particular RTS job. And it is the Compare of an FFS sync that may be somewhat time consuming. So, there is no "initial scan" (unless RTS monitors a removable medium).
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 1 Jun 2021
Ok, I ran some tests to see how it worked exactly. I made a RTS task to mirror a folder on an internal drive on my main PC to an external drive (mapped to main PC) on the Plex server. 10 seconds after I double clicked the task it ran the sync. I then edited it to go from the same internal drive on my PC to an internal drive on the server and it also ran after 10 seconds.
I know that once that has happened it will continue to monitor and only run when it sees a change. But unless I'm missing something I don't see a way to start the task without it initially scanning both folders at startup. Since I'm trying to avoid scanning the entire music library as much as possible, breaking up the tasks into the alphabetical sub folders is a better alternative than what I was running.
If I were to just open all 35 RTS jobs everyday when I boot up it would scan everything and I usually only add to 5-10 folders at a time. I'm also not sure if I would have 35 red icons in my notification area lol. If you know a better way to accomplish what I'm trying to do please let me know. I'm eager to learn.
I know that once that has happened it will continue to monitor and only run when it sees a change. But unless I'm missing something I don't see a way to start the task without it initially scanning both folders at startup. Since I'm trying to avoid scanning the entire music library as much as possible, breaking up the tasks into the alphabetical sub folders is a better alternative than what I was running.
If I were to just open all 35 RTS jobs everyday when I boot up it would scan everything and I usually only add to 5-10 folders at a time. I'm also not sure if I would have 35 red icons in my notification area lol. If you know a better way to accomplish what I'm trying to do please let me know. I'm eager to learn.
