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Often I find myself shuffling large directories (20 GB+) of data between computers or drives. What is the most reliable way to ensure that all data is being exactly mirrored with permissions/dates intact?

Bonus points if it's wrapped in a GUI rather than a terminal command.

I saw this question regarding copy utilities for OS X, however the answers were skewed towards speed. My concern is ultimately file/data integrity.

oa-
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Josh Newman
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2 Answers2

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rsync has proven to be very stable and effective throughout its years of Unix service. It’s included in any OS X since Tiger and it’s relatively easy to use.

If you want the bonus of a GUI, you can use Arrsync, a free utility better described as:

A Mac OS X graphical front end for the utility rsync.

If, on the other hand you want something more “easy to use” I can recommend you take a look at the two winners:

SuperDuper! ($)

Carbon Copy Cloner (Free, Donationware).

Either will allow you to clone entire drives or folders or anything you can imagine.

Their reliability to copy permissions, ACLs, and that stuff has been proven throughout the years.

oa-
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Martin Marconcini
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  • ++ for rsync and/or Carbon Copy Cloner. I use both in different situations, and they're definitely the way to go for ensuring data integrity on copy. – Robert S Ciaccio Dec 03 '10 at 16:35
  • @Martin: nice find on arrsync... I'll have to check that out. rsync is awesome but it has a ridiculous amount of options which can become quite overwhelming if you're a casual user. – Robert S Ciaccio Dec 03 '10 at 16:37
  • Thanks - I use (and own) SuperDuper, but I double checked and it will only copy full disks/images, not individual folders. I've already started using Arrsync, which seems pretty good. – Josh Newman Dec 03 '10 at 18:06
  • @3rdParty SuperDuper (and CCC) can be configured to only copy a single folder if that’s your desire. It’s a little bit weird because you have to use the included scripts and add/remove the folders you don’t want to. Check SuperDuper forums and you’ll find plenty of examples. – Martin Marconcini Dec 03 '10 at 20:47
  • @Martin - thanks! Will do. For now I think arrsync will do the trick. Cheers – Josh Newman Dec 03 '10 at 22:18
  • FYI for the curious, if you were not all aware. CarbonCopyCloner is built on (patched, for extended Mac/HFS permissions) rsync. I can't speak for SuperDuper. – Jason Salaz Dec 03 '10 at 23:12
  • @calavera ;) I’ve never used the arrsync btw, I used pure rsync (back when I knew what the Terminal was) ;) @3rdparty glad you find them useful. @VxJasonxV I believe SuperDuper went “beyond” rsync and that’s why they claim to be faster. But the idea is basically the same. – Martin Marconcini Dec 04 '10 at 04:12
  • I'm using Arrsync and it's decent. For free I can't really complain. – Ian C. Dec 06 '10 at 03:37
  • Today I found another alternative (it came in an RSS from MacUpdate): http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/33071/dropsync It’s called DROPSync (Shareware). – Martin Marconcini Dec 06 '10 at 16:33
  • FYI CarbonCopyCloner is only for HFS+. No go for exFAT volume that can be accessed through Windows 7 (BOOTCAMP) and OS X. – Bleep Bloop Apr 08 '11 at 19:44
  • FYI - SuperDuper is great, but if there are any errors at all it aborts. One corrupt file will stop all the rest from backing up. – radven Feb 07 '12 at 07:26
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As an alternative to CCC or rsync, you could check out ChronoSync; I've been using it for years and it's just rock-solid.

jeffbyrnes
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