AeroFS Makes Cloudless, Secure File Sync Easy

AeroFS is a tool somewhat similar to BitTorrent Sync, that allows you to securely synchronize files between computers. The data is synchronized directly between clients, without using a central cloud server.

The tool is free for personal use (1-3 teammates), with unlimited syncing and 1 collaboration folder or, if you want unlimited collaborators, you must pay a fee of $10 per teammate/month. AeroFS is available for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X and Android.

Like other file sync tools such as Dropbox or Ubuntu one, AeroFS synchronizes the contents of a folder across all your devices but, unlike these services, it doesn't use a central server * - instead, the files are synced directly between devices. This means that your data is safe, the sync speed doesn't depend on a central server and there are no storage space limitations.

* Optionally, you can install a tool called AeroFS Team Server, available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X, which acts as a central repository for all your team's files. Using it, the entire team's files can be backed up either locally or at Amazon S3.

AeroFS features:

• Private: your data never resides on the AeroFS servers. Everything you sync using AeroFS is private, and will only be shared with people you explicitly invite;
• Unlimited: with AeroFS, you and your team can sync as much data as you need, for free. No caps, no file size limits;
• AeroFS uses AES-256 with 2048-bit RSA to encrypt the data. Because the encryption is end-to-end, even AeroFS can't see your data;
• Versioning: files are automatically versioned, allowing team members to retrieve old versions that were accidentally changed or deleted;
• Collaboration;
• Selective sync;
• Remotely wipe stolen or lost devices;
• Optional command line interface so you can run it on a server;
• Available for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X and Android;
• Ubuntu AppIndicator support.

AeroFS is great, but not perfect and there are a a few missing features that are worth mentioning: you can't sync folders outside the AeroFS directory (symbolic links don't work either) and you can't get a share link for a file like you can do with Dropbox or Ubuntu One.

Also, from what I've read, AeroFS doesn't use a "true" peer-to-peer (P2P) technology like BitTorrent Sync: the files are downloaded from a single computer and not simultaneously from multiple computers. On the other hand,  AeroFS is easier to use compared to BitTorrent Sync, at least under Linux.

Download AeroFS

Download AeroFS for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X or Android (Ubuntu .deb available) - you need to register (free for personal) before downloading.

Once installed, simply launch AeroFS from the menu / Dash.

If you want to use the command line client, run the following command:

aerofs-cli

You can control AeroFS by using the following command:

aerofs-sh

After entering the command above in a terminal, type "help" (without the quotes) to see all the available options.