Smart Sync - Changing File to Online Only

#1

I’m currently creating our proof of concept with Dropbox and Boxifier. Everything syncs fine when I add a folder with Boxifier. With Smart Sync being a relatively new feature for Dropbox, Smart Sync does not work with Boxifier. The green checkbox appears next to folder and file I used to back up using Boxifier. When I go to the Smart Sync context menu item for the folder and switch it from Local to Online Only, the file will not switch modes. It stays in Local mode (green checkbox).

I was wondering how to get Smart Sync working. If it is not currently supported, do you have an ETA on what it will be implemented or fixed?

Thanks,
Ryan.

#2

Smart Sync is not currently supported because it has certain requirements from the underlying filesystem. Boxifier works by virtualizing the filesystem underneath Dropbox so that it can sync folders from various filesystems, but some of those filesystems are not compatible with Smart Sync. Moreover, Smart Sync operates using a kernel driver, which complicates things even further.

The context menu which stays in Local mode is on purpose. Boxifier integrates with Dropbox in order to achieve that. If Boxifier were not integrated with Dropbox to handle this scenario, marking those folders as “Online Only” would trash their contents. Some people like to think that Boxifier is just doing some fancy symlinks, but just try to set “Online Only” on a symlinked folder (without using/installing Boxifier) and you will just trash its contents.

I would love to hear your thoughts on how making Smart Sync work with folders that are synced by Boxifier would benefit you. I mean it. Please let me know.

Dropbox Smart Sync does nothing
#3

“I would love to hear your thoughts on how making Smart Sync work with folders that are synced by Boxifier would benefit you.”

We have ~1TB in NAS storage backed up to Dropbox for Business using a PC on our network that is running Boxifier. So far, so good.

Our remote users would like to be shared into the NAS files up in Dropbox AND use Smart Sync to not have their local drive filled with all 1TB of NAS files. We have tried doing this twice in the past year; most recently about a week ago (mid-Mar. 2018). The failure has been the same each time: Despite a Smart Sync default setting in Dropbox of “Online Only” for all new shares and despite right clicking on the NAS root folder in Dropbox on the PCs and selecting “Online Only,” the NAS files “leak” into our users local drives filling them up. This does not happen with other non-Boxifier folders that are shared and Smart Synced, but none of them are near the size of the Boxifier NAS share. Maybe leakage is occurring there but it is too small to notice.