real time mirror posts on separate servers?

Offline
Offline
Community Member

Right now, my vault is on Dropbox. I'd like to mirror -- as in a Raid 1 -- all changes on a separate server ... maybe my own site, maybe iCloud.

I know I can do a copy during my nightly backup, (a little tricky if I use my server on Bluehost -- that becomes an ftp process), but the idea of mirroring changes is attractive to me: Especially if one value becomes unavailable for some reason (which would allow me to work with the other vault once defined in preferences).

Regarding the latter: CAN I put a vault on my Bluehost server and sync to it as I would in Dropbox? I have multiple machines that need access to it including an iPhone and iPad.

Thank you


1Password Version: 6.0.2
Extension Version: 602004
OS Version: OS X 10.11.3
Sync Type: Dropbox

Comments

  • Drew_AG
    Drew_AG
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @Offline,

    Thanks for writing in with your questions!

    I wonder if you could elaborate a bit on what you're hoping to be able to do - is your goal to have a copy of your 1Password data somewhere other than on your devices and in Dropbox (i.e. as a backup of sorts)? Or are you asking if it's possible to sync 1Password between your devices using your own server instead of Dropbox? Or are you just trying to make sure you can still access your data if Dropbox stops working?

    Your 1Password data is stored locally on your Mac and iOS devices, and Dropbox simply has a copy of your vault that it uses to sync changes between those devices. So even if Dropbox stopped working or you lost your internet connection, 1Password would still work on each device - it just wouldn't be able to sync changes from one device to another.

    If you're trying to make a backup of your 1Password data on a server somewhere, it might be a better idea to copy the backup files that 1Password for Mac automatically creates. Those are also stored locally on your Mac - to find them, open the main 1Password app and go to the menu option for 1Password > Preferences, then select the Backup tab and click the Show Files button. In the folder that opens, you'll see all your 1Password backup files, and you can copy those to another server/drive if you want. (Also, if you backup your Mac, your 1Password data and backup files will be backed up as well.)

    Now, if you'd like to sync 1Password via your own server instead of using Dropbox, that's possible in the Mac version of 1Password by using the Folder sync option. We recommend using Folder Sync to point to a local folder on your Mac, then use a tool such as rsync (or another file copy tool) to copy the contents of the folder to/from the network volume.

    Unfortunately though, this won't work with 1Password for iOS because it doesn't have the Folder Sync option (which is due to sandboxing restrictions on iOS). However, you could use Wi-Fi sync between your Mac and one or more iOS devices, as Wi-Fi Sync can be enabled at the same time as Folder Sync. It's not as easy or as seamless of a sync solution as Dropbox or iCloud, though.

    Does that help to answer your questions? If I misunderstood what you'd like to do, please let us know. Cheers! :)

  • Offline
    Offline
    Community Member

    I suppose this might work: I know my data is stored locally on my MacBook Pro and is synced with my Dropbox account (which my iPad and iPhone access as needed).

    Think of how a Raid 1 works: what's written on one disk is written on another so they're mirrored. Waiting until the end of the day when the system does a backup (or when you do a backup) is risky due to the number and complexity of passwords - not to mention secure notes and etc.

    I'd like to minimize the risk and am searching for a solution -- like everything in vault 1 = vault 2 either real-time or periodically during the day.

    I don't want to be concerned about a laptop being stolen or broken. The data should be independent of local hardware.

  • Hi @Offline,

    If you're using Dropbox you're getting most of those advantages out of the box, aren't you? Any write to our 1Password database triggers a sync to the agilekeychain or opvault file in dropbox which is a copy of your vault. That write triggers a sync between your Mac and the Dropbox servers. So your 1Password data should now be in three places : our internal database, your dropbox folder, and on the dropbox servers. This all happens in real time with zero (or little) configuration.

    This should work just fine for the case of your laptop suffering a hardware failure over night. You'd buy a new Mac, setup Dropbox, and then setup 1Password again to sync to dropbox. All of your data would be there again.

    Theft gets a little different as you have to wonder if they'll have access to your user account.

    Can you explain to me what dropbox doesn't do that you need it to do? As far as I'm concerned it mirrors folders across devices and has a copy on their servers.

    Rick

  • Offline
    Offline
    Community Member

    You're right. I get a little paranoid sometimes.
    I've been in IT for over 45 years.

  • littlebobbytables
    littlebobbytables
    1Password Alumni

    To try and answer your original question though @Offline. 1Password doesn't support updating two sources for sync data but you could potentially replicate it outside of 1Password. Both our Agile Keychain and OPVault containers are file bundles. Given your experience in this field you're probably either already aware of ways to monitor a folder for changes or are comfortable investigating your options here. You could have something monitor the folders for changes and then perform a one way sync so that your mirror is always overwritten with the changes in Dropbox. That's just off the top of my head but I think that could be moulded into a working solution.

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