Google introduces Backup and Sync for Photos and Drive

Has anyone had a chance to check out how this increases the performance of uploads?

One easy way to improve uploading is to increase the number of threads uploading but that can easily nuke my terrible upload connection.

6 days agopermalink

Tommi K1

The uploading speed increase trick did stop decade or two ago when majority of services stopped being designed for dial-up connections where every connection got capped, so using multiple connections allowed to have more bandwidth from the server.

Now the speeds are related to your bandwidth and doesn't help to have more connections (nor most often possible as how servers connections are designed).

6 days agopermalink

No this isn't true. Just last year or the year before I had to kill apple uploading from my computer because it was creating a ton of streams nuking my connection.

This has nothing to do with bandwidth caps imposed by ISP and everything to do with latency affecting the transfer of data of a TCPIP stream.

Quick explanation from google:

"With all that said, there is an indirect relationship between transfer speed and latency. For example, a packet takes time to travel from a server to the client, and there is a limited number of packets that can be sent (in a TCP/IP data transfer) before the server stops and awaits acknowledgement for already received packets in order to continue, so excessive latency can have a negative effect on transfer speed, especially with untweaked PCs on a broadband Internet connection."

5 days agopermalink

One "gotcha" for me with google photos is their spotty support for RAW files.

Ideally I'd like to just point the service at my photos directory and "set it and forget it" but unfortunately a large number of my RAW files are unsupported.

While this might be expected for old niche formats such as Pentax's .pef raws (serves me right for using pentax!) or my panasonic point and shoot camera it was a total surprise to find that my Sony NEX-3n (at one time one of the hottest selling consumer mirror-less cameras) is unsupported while every other RAW writing sony device released before and after the NEX-3n is supported. Now I have a partial backup of everything but my pentax/3n/panny pictures.

from google's list of supported RAW formats:
Sony
A7, A7R, A7S, A7 Mark II, A55, A58, A65, A77, A77 Mark II, A99, A700, A3000, A5000, A5100, A6000, QX1, NEX-5, NEX-5N, NEX-5R, NEX-6, NEX-7, NEX-C3, NEX-F3, RX1, RX1R, RX10, RX10 Mark II, RX100, RX100 Mark II, RX100 Mark III, RX100 Mark IV

6 days ago*permalink

zodiacfml

Finally. Google Drive and Photos app in a computer is redundant. I wonder if they will do this for mobile devices.

1 week agopermalink

ScanSpeak

Thanks Google but no way.

I'm not interested in having an ad company hold my data.

1 week agopermalink

sh10453

Google has demonstrated more than once that it cannot be trusted or relied on when it comes to image apps.
Picasa, and the NIK collection are just examples.

Besides, this is just a renaming of Google Drive.
Google Drive for desktop PC's has been out there for years, and it's similar to DropBox and other applications for cloud storage.
So beware. If you install this app, it will automatically uninstall and replace Google Drive from your PC

1 week agopermalink

Impulses

Actually the Drive client will self update to this, it's essentially just an update for the former with integration for Photos... And really poor branding on Google's part. The beta and release timing were kinda botched too, I'm glad to have the Photos integration but it seems there's quite a few bugs still present. They've never been great at keeping any desktop/x86 solutions current and relevant, never mind Linux.

1 week agopermalink

Photocounter

When you upload, submit, store, send or receive content to or through our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content...This license continues even if you stop using our Services.

1 week agopermalink

Dr Blackjack

Really? Source?

1 week agopermalink

http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/terms/

most of that is standard for any web service. To host/post your photos google has to do all of those things. The only worrisome part is that the license continues once you stop using google photos.

1 week agopermalink

Richard Murdey

That's a selective quote from the full Google TOS.
https://www.google.com/policies/terms/

"Some Services may offer you ways to access and remove content that has been provided to that Service. Also, in some of our Services, there are terms or settings that narrow the scope of our use of the content submitted in those Services."

The Google TOS is written very broadly to cover themselves from any legal action. Google never publicly displays a photo you haven't shared publicly &c or uses your photos for any purpose other than within the framework of Google photos service.

1 week agopermalink

Hachu21

Here the full paragraph from Google "terms of service" :

"Your Content in our Services
Some of our Services allow you to upload, submit, store, send or receive content. You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours.
When you upload, submit, store, send or receive content to or through our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes
(...)
Also, in some of our Services, there are terms or settings that narrow the scope of our use of the content submitted in those Services. Make sure you have the necessary rights to grant us this license for any content that you submit to our Services."

So, yes, using Google services you accept to give them a full licence over your content.

6 days agopermalink

Photocounter

...NEITHER GOOGLE NOR ITS SUPPLIERS OR DISTRIBUTORS MAKE ANY SPECIFIC PROMISES ABOUT THE SERVICES...WE DON’T MAKE ANY COMMITMENTS ABOUT...THE SERVICES, THE SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS OF THE SERVICES, OR THEIR RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY...

SOME JURISDICTIONS PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN WARRANTIES...OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE...TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE EXCLUDE ALL WARRANTIES. WHEN PERMITTED BY LAW, GOOGLE...WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST PROFITS, REVENUES, OR DATA, FINANCIAL LOSSES OR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES.

TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE TOTAL LIABILITY OF GOOGLE, AND ITS SUPPLIERS AND DISTRIBUTORS, FOR ANY CLAIMS UNDER THESE TERMS, INCLUDING FOR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES, IS LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US TO USE THE SERVICES (OR, IF WE CHOOSE, TO SUPPLYING YOU THE SERVICES AGAIN).

IN ALL CASES, GOOGLE, AND ITS SUPPLIERS AND DISTRIBUTORS, WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE THAT IS NOT REASONABLY FORESEEABLE.

1 week agopermalink

The Name is Bond

That's pretty standard, not just to google.

1 week agopermalink

Gollan

You will find a similar disclaimer of liability for the hard drive or any other storage device you are using.

1 week agopermalink

BLongborough

"You will need to restart your computer before you can use whatsitsname".

No, thanks, and please stop wasting my time. Can we have Picasa back?

1 week ago*permalink

WSLam

The old Google Photos Backup app (on MacOS) can backup network drives (e.g. NAS), but this new one will only backup local drives.

1 week agopermalink

PhotoUniverse

When is it going to be cancelled?

1 week agopermalink

OneLeggedCat

Don't worry. If it proves to be an awful product, they'll keep it around forever. If it proves to be a good product, they'll destroy it's functionality over time, and THEN cancel it. So you'll have sufficient warning to leave.

1 week agopermalink

docdelete

Darn it! It still doesn't handle nested folders. Not for me anyway - I have a top level folder named after my son, no photos in the first level, but inside are dozens of named folders (years, events etc) and the new app simply doesn't see any photos if I ask it to look at the only the top folder. I can't believe this is too much to ask.

1 week agopermalink

SnapperHed

Well well, always a catch eh? That unfortunatley makes it virtually worthless as few people just dogpile all their photos into a single folder.

1 week agopermalink

Satyaa

There may be a paid version coming soon that will address those shortcomings ;)

1 week agopermalink

docdelete

For a paid version I expect features to be added, not for a failing to be remedied. :(

1 week agopermalink

nicoboston

@docdelete
What are you talking about? All my "nested folders" are synchronized.

1 week agopermalink

Google already had fast and powerful tool for syncing and uploading, called Picasa, but they just had to replace it with this cute and dumb pos.

1 week agopermalink

DMax82

Yes, this. I am still using Picasa 3 on my desktop because Google has yet to release anything nearly as good. Haven't used it for uploading recently, bit love the program.

1 week agopermalink

Upload still works, as long as you upload to an existing pre-Google photo folder/album.

1 week agopermalink

docdelete

I agree - Picasa had the ability to scan folders /totally/ like any self-respecting media management app. How is it that Google is happy to go backwards as far as dealing with nested folders is concerned? I mean, the work was already done, right?

1 week agopermalink

Barleyman

Still use Picasa. And yes, it is amazing for creating albums and sharing, as you don't have to share/sync everything int he folder. Really nice way to manage what you share, and how it is presented to folks online..

1 week agopermalink

And when Google makes a compressed copy of your photo it erases relevant EXIF data including when the original photo was taken. I used it briefly as iPhone photo backup but reverted to OneDrive backup as it doesn't change the original and makes it simple to archive on my home server.

1 week agopermalink

s1oth1ovechunk

No it doesn't...

1 week agopermalink

@s1oth1ovechunk: It most certainly does. Location information is removed too. Verified on over 400 iOS photos. Another half-baked Google product.

1 week agopermalink

Your settings are incorrect, you can choose to upload without compression.

1 week agopermalink

SnapperHed

@Suave It's nothing to do with settings. You must use google drive in order to store the original file (which counts against your storage). Everything stored in the google photos app is compressed (unlimited storage).

1 week agopermalink

@suave: without letting google compress your photos it counts against your Google Drive limit. It's easy to fill that 15GB between email, documents, video and photos.

1 week agopermalink

your Google Drive _free_ limit

1 week agopermalink