Re: "secure Dropbox clone" (was: Re: [IAB] IETF88 Technical Plenary hums)

[Vinayak Hegde <[e-mail]>]

There is Unison[1] which can sync across computers across networks and
across OSes (Windows ,Linux, etc). It is open-source (GPL-licensed ) and
trivial to setup. The transfer connections can be tunneled over encrypted
SSH.

I have been using it for a while and it works well for the set of
requirements you have noted.

-- Vinayak

1. http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/


On Thu, Nov 7, 2013 at 6:31 PM, Eggert, Lars <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> On 06 Nov 2013, at 12:41, Russ Housley <[e-mail]> wrote:
> > 5.  Many insecure protocols are used in the Internet today, and the IETF
> should create a secure alternative for the popular ones.
>
> since a "secure DropBox alternative" was brought up: the pieces for
> building such do exist, but some exist outside the IETF. For example,
> SNIA's CDMI (http://www.snia.org/cdmi) could be useful, and on the IETF
> side we have of course WebDAV.
>
> In many cases, the reason that such alternatives don't exist probably
> isn't because there aren't any open protocols available to build them with,
> it's that the proprietary services have polished clients that are simple to
> set up, available for many clients, and that they have a robust and
> well-managed backend. There's not much the IETF can do about these factors.
>
> In the specific case of DropBox clones, several vendors of storage systems
> (incl. my employer) are making or will shortly be making mobile clients
> available that use said storage systems as a backend instead of the public
> cloud. So at least for that particular application, there are alternatives
> available.
>
> Lars
>
>