Upgrading, backing up and syncing - advice welcomed.

[Kenneth Bird]

My wife has used Reunion 8 and more recently Reunion 9 over a period of many years. Due to a health issue I shall now be helping her by inputting new data for her and doing other menial management tasks. As I'll have to learn to use Reunion we are thinking it might be a good idea to upgrade to Reunion 10. We have an iMac, MBA and iPad and we would like to use Reunion on all 3 devices.

I'd like some thoughts on the following questions:

Is upgrade at this stage sensible? Are there advantages in our case to waiting for Reunion 11 especially bearing in mind the release might be some significant time off now? Also I'm used to using iCloud and Dropbox for syncing files - is Reunion a suitable candidate for cloud storage? Does LeisterPro support Dropbox or indeed any other form of syncing? It would appear an easy way of keeping the Macs at least up to date but instinct tells me Time Machine on one machine might be the safest solution.

Any thoughts on these questions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Kenneth Bird
Shropshire, UK

[Terry Medlar]

Re: Upgrading, backing up and syncing - advice welcomed.

Upgrade now and focus on the latest version. It is easy to learn.

[Janet Mobley]

Re: Upgrading, backing up and syncing - advice welcomed.

My wife has used Reunion 8 and more recently Reunion 9 over a period of many years. Due to a health issue I shall now be helping her by inputting new data for her and doing other menial management tasks. As I'll have to learn to use Reunion we are thinking it might be a good idea to upgrade to Reunion 10. We have an iMac, MBA and iPad and we would like to use Reunion on all 3 devices.

I'd like some thoughts on the following questions:

Is upgrade at this stage sensible? Are there advantages in our case to waiting for Reunion 11 especially bearing in mind the release might be some significant time off now? Also I'm used to using iCloud and Dropbox for syncing files - is Reunion a suitable candidate for cloud storage? Does LeisterPro support Dropbox or indeed any other form of syncing? It would appear an easy way of keeping the Macs at least up to date but instinct tells me Time Machine on one machine might be the safest solution.

Any thoughts on these questions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Kenneth Bird
Shropshire, UK

I can't answer your question but I am also one of a "bird family". My father's surname was Larke and my mother's surname was Robbins. Take a look at my website:

http://larkerobbinsfamily.net

My neighbor thought that was so funny that she created the pictures of the birds, a lark and a robin, that I use on my website.

Cheers from Northern California,

Janet Larke Mobley

[Al Poulin]

Re: Upgrading, backing up and syncing - advice welcomed.

Is upgrade at this stage sensible? Are there advantages in our case to waiting for Reunion 11 especially bearing in mind the release might be some significant time off now? Also I'm used to using iCloud and Dropbox for syncing files - is Reunion a suitable candidate for cloud storage? Does LeisterPro support Dropbox or indeed any other form of syncing? It would appear an easy way of keeping the Macs at least up to date but instinct tells me Time Machine on one machine might be the safest solution.

Kenneth,
I cannot address the syncing parts of your question.

Time Machine addresses a different problem. It is best for retrieving files or folders when necessary. But it is slow at restoring your Macs. If you do not already clone your iMac and MBA to an external drive (separate from your Time Machine drive), you may want to consider cloning as part of your strategy.

Al Poulin

[Kenneth Bird]

Re: Upgrading, backing up and syncing - advice welcomed.

Kenneth,
I cannot address the syncing parts of your question.

Time Machine addresses a different problem. It is best for retrieving files or folders when necessary. But it is slow at restoring your Macs. If you do not already clone your iMac and MBA to an external drive (separate from your Time Machine drive), you may want to consider cloning as part of your strategy.

Al Poulin

Thanks for that Al. A good point about Time Machine, I was thinking of relying on TM and the cloud. At present the data is backed up to external hard drive. That works quite well but I was aware that storage has changed much and wondered whether general opinion and Reunion had gone with Dropbox. Safety and integrity of the data is paramount so I think I'll stick with my present and your suggested system unless I hear a convincing argument otherwise.

Kenneth.

[Kenneth Bird]

Re: Upgrading, backing up and syncing - advice welcomed.

I can't answer your question but I am also one of a "bird family". My father's surname was Larke and my mother's surname was Robbins. Take a look at my website:

http://larkerobbinsfamily.net

My neighbor thought that was so funny that she created the pictures of the birds, a lark and a robin, that I use on my website.

Cheers from Northern California,

Janet Larke Mobley

Thanks Janet. I get much comment about my surname but have no coincidences like yours. What I often notice with other people is the not infrequent name and profession combination eg Mr Baker the baker.

Kenneth

[Kenneth Bird]

Re: Upgrading, backing up and syncing - advice welcomed.

Upgrade now and focus on the latest version. It is easy to learn.

Thank you Terry. A succinct reply and one that I'm almost certain we shall go with. It does seem to me that 10 offers many advantages over 9. I'm assuming that 10 still has a lot of control over font size. It would be important for my wife to have a large text option.

Kenneth

[David Walton]

Re: Upgrading, backing up and syncing - advice welcomed.

My wife has used Reunion 8 and more recently Reunion 9 over a period of many years. Due to a health issue I shall now be helping her by inputting new data for her and doing other menial management tasks. As I'll have to learn to use Reunion we are thinking it might be a good idea to upgrade to Reunion 10. We have an iMac, MBA and iPad and we would like to use Reunion on all 3 devices.

I'd like some thoughts on the following questions:

Is upgrade at this stage sensible? Are there advantages in our case to waiting for Reunion 11 especially bearing in mind the release might be some significant time off now? Also I'm used to using iCloud and Dropbox for syncing files - is Reunion a suitable candidate for cloud storage? Does LeisterPro support Dropbox or indeed any other form of syncing? It would appear an easy way of keeping the Macs at least up to date but instinct tells me Time Machine on one machine might be the safest solution.

Any thoughts on these questions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Kenneth Bird
Shropshire, UK

I have recently tried OneDrive, Google Drive and iCloud. This was relative to synchronization of media and my .familyfile10 across an iMac and MBP along with managing backups. At the same time I was using the media folder in a couple of windows machines. My comments relative to Reunion 10.0.6:

1. This was jumping in at the deep end and I quickly found that Reunion prefers to run on a single machine i.e. running an instance on both iMac and MBP, at the same time, was a no go.
2. As you swap between machines - switch on/off - close+restart the sync then it is very easy to forget where you are in the cycle. Reunion is not a single process and it is easy to create duplicate copies of individual items within the 'sync'...
3. The downside to synchronization is that an error on one machine will appear on a.n.other and it may take some time to realise that it has caused a problem with another, apparently, unrelated application.

What works for me:
Google Drive for synchronization and backup - ease of use, compatibility on various platforms etc.

Stay with the default Reunion install locations and do hands on sync + backup as and when required i.e. drag 'n drop to your sync folder rather than running from a familyfile in a sync folder.

Remember to setup your sync preferences i.e. keep your backup data separate from the ongoing sync data. The backup could be several GBs of media files needing infrequent attention (manual drag 'n drops) whilst the sync items are ticked in your folder preferences (Reunion.familyfile10 is a folder not a file). See my comments above - I use a drag 'n drop sync rather than running the familyfile from the Drive folder.

Think about the iMac as your primary machine and the MBA as a 'slave'.

I have had no problems with a single media storage folder moved to the Drive folder. If you go that route then add a file path in Multimedia File Preferences and run Repair Media Locations. Check the multimedia 'Other folder' option is ticked in Folder preferences and Choose Other Folder.

Google Drive can be moved within your file structure i.e. move the sync to Reunion rather than Reunion to sync.

You need to find a sync/backup procedure that works in your circumstances and that you are comfortable with. After initial teething problems I have had no disasters and the above works much better in practice than the written word might suggest!

Dave

[Kenneth Bird]

Re: Upgrading, backing up and syncing - advice welcomed.

I have recently tried OneDrive, Google Drive and iCloud. This was relative to synchronization of media and my .familyfile10 across an iMac and MBP along with managing backups. At the same time I was using the media folder in a couple of windows machines. My comments relative to Reunion 10.0.6:

1. This was jumping in at the deep end and I quickly found that Reunion prefers to run on a single machine i.e. running an instance on both iMac and MBP, at the same time, was a no go.
2. As you swap between machines - switch on/off - close+restart the sync then it is very easy to forget where you are in the cycle. Reunion is not a single process and it is easy to create duplicate copies of individual items within the 'sync'...
3. The downside to synchronization is that an error on one machine will appear on a.n.other and it may take some time to realise that it has caused a problem with another, apparently, unrelated application.

What works for me:
Google Drive for synchronization and backup - ease of use, compatibility on various platforms etc.

Stay with the default Reunion install locations and do hands on sync + backup as and when required i.e. drag 'n drop to your sync folder rather than running from a familyfile in a sync folder.

Remember to setup your sync preferences i.e. keep your backup data separate from the ongoing sync data. The backup could be several GBs of media files needing infrequent attention (manual drag 'n drops) whilst the sync items are ticked in your folder preferences (Reunion.familyfile10 is a folder not a file). See my comments above - I use a drag 'n drop sync rather than running the familyfile from the Drive folder.

Think about the iMac as your primary machine and the MBA as a 'slave'.

I have had no problems with a single media storage folder moved to the Drive folder. If you go that route then add a file path in Multimedia File Preferences and run Repair Media Locations. Check the multimedia 'Other folder' option is ticked in Folder preferences and Choose Other Folder.

Google Drive can be moved within your file structure i.e. move the sync to Reunion rather than Reunion to sync.

You need to find a sync/backup procedure that works in your circumstances and that you are comfortable with. After initial teething problems I have had no disasters and the above works much better in practice than the written word might suggest!

Dave

Thank you Dave for a most detailed answer. You've obviously dealt with many of the problems I've been concerned about and you have given me much to think about. I use Dropbox myself but you have made me think that a dedicated Google Drive for off site backup of our family data makes a lot of sense. Using the MBA as slave to the iMac makes a lot of sense. My wife has used the iPad app but has not used it to enter new data and sync it back because of the concerns that I voiced about the importance of knowing where the 'latest' data is. However with her recent visual problems the iPad app may be the best way for her to enter data. I need to consider all options.

It is my intention to upgrade to Reunion 10 this week and see whether through preferences we can get the display displaying in a way that my wife can see and use. If that is successful it may well be that I reverse your suggestion and use the iMac as the slave. My wife doesn't like using the iMac but it shouldn't be a problem as far as I can see. If possible I'd rather not use the iPad to input data.

Once again thank you for your help.

Kenneth