iFolder

Novell iFolder is a piece of software that enable Microsoft Windows clients to synchronize their data between a Netware or Windows server volume and any number of clients. Typically users in a company store their personal and common data (like PowerPoint presentations, word documents and spreadsheets) on a server volume (for central access and backup/security reasons). Without iFolder or any similar software installed on their pc/laptop, they would need to manually copy any changes they make between the server and the client.

I"ve been using it for a year now. Novell has a demo running at ifolderdemo.novell.com, from where you can download and install a client on any computer you use, and log in from any of them to synchronize the latest changes to your data. The limit on Novell"s demo server is 10MB pr. user. As an example, it"s perfect for storing internet bookmarks. How often have you wanted to find some web page you knew you bookmarked once, but you can"t find it anymore because you don"t remember where you stored it.

A great thing about this software is that it"s using a method called 'delta block synchronization' for synchronizing, which means that it only updates changes, not the whole file. If you changed a couple of lines of text in a 20MB PowerPoint presentation and you"re on the road with a 9600Bps GSM connection, you would probably be grateful to hear that you can get away with synchronizing only those two line. This is an advantage you don"t find if you instead of iFolder would like to use Microsoft"s 'Offline Folders'.

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