BitTorrent today announced its Sync file synchronization tool has gained support for network-attached storage (NAS) devices. The company has partnered with Netgear, which will offer BitTorrent Sync in its storefront, and says additional partners “will be announced soon.”
The move means users will be able to access and transfer their data from a NAS device to a desktop, mobile, or other NAS device, without limits or storage fees. As BitTorrent explains it, Sync eliminates the process of having to open ports on your router, set up a VPN, choose security settings, and create user names/passwords. The company promises that Sync on NAS “ensures your data is available all the time, on all your devices.”
Because Sync is based on the BitTorrent protocol, there are no third-party servers involved when syncing your files: everything is stored only on your trusted devices, controlled and managed solely by you. You can regularly change your secrets (the keys that allow you to share and access folders), sync an unlimited number of files of any size between devices, and transfer everything encrypted at the maximum speed supported by your network, without being limited by a cloud service.
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
NAS devices are simple solutions for storing and serving up large amounts of data on a local network while providing a safeguard for disk drive failure. BitTorrent wants to build on that by also letting them easily move data to other devices inside or outside the given environment.
Most solutions out there already offer such an option by uploading the data to a storage provider, but BitTorrent explains why this is not ideal: “The alternative is to put your data in the cloud, but then you sacrificed capacity, performance and affordability. And the privacy of your data.”
As we say every time we write about Sync: whenever you’re sharing something on the Internet, remember that it is never completely private. Nevertheless, ever since January 2013 when BitTorrent announced its Sync software, which uses peer-to-peer technology to synchronize personal files across multiple computers and devices, it has grown very quickly. By November, it had already seen over 1 million users, and a month later, the number had doubled to 2 million users.
Now that BitTorrent is bringing Sync directly to ReadyNAS home and business products, we expect the userbase will continue to grow rather quickly.
See also – BitTorrent doubles Sync userbase to 2 million in a month, says it’s growing twice as fast as Dropbox did and With over 1 million users and 30PB synced, BitTorrent speeds up Sync, adds iPad support, and debuts an API
Top Image Credit: Thinkstock
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.