GoodSync Pro for Webmasters and Website Developers

GoodSync is frequently used in the website development environment. It performs the following two main actions:

• code deployment to one or multiple websites,
• collection of user input from web servers.

Website Management - Code Deployment to One or Multiple Websites

The following features make GoodSync an ideal website deployment tool:

• By using FTP/SFTP/WebDAV protocols, GoodSync can easily deploy your web solution to a remote web server.
• You can develop your website in a Windows environment and deploy it to a Unix server with GoodSync running on the Windows machine (MacOS and Unix command line versions will be available shortly).
• If your web server is on a local network, GoodSync can deploy your web solution using local area network.
• By using one-way synchronization (e.g., staging - to production) and by checking the "Propagate Deletion" checkbox, GoodSync will remove all unnecessary files on your production system that were left there from previous versions or default installations thus eliminating a large security hole in your production environment.
• By using the "Exclude" filter with previously described settings, you can exclude permanent files containing such data as data base connection settings from synchronization.
• If you want to be extra careful, you can use the "Save Previous Versions of deleted replaced files" option. All these files will be saved to a service folder that you can later inspect and delete manually.
• By creating several GoodSync "jobs" with similar settings and different destinations, and by "chaining" them, you can deploy identical web solutions to several web servers with a push of a button.
• Alternatively, you can use GoodSync command line option to perform any combination of GoodSync "jobs" and other actions performed by scripts, e.g., you can register DLLs or make necessary registry modifications on the server if you chose to run GoodSync from that server OR you can compile your application to prepare it for upload.
• If the deployment needs to happen in the off hours or happens periodically (e.g., weekly updates), you can use the built-in GoodSync scheduler.

Website Management - User Input Collection

Many modern websites collect input from users, e.g., allow upload of pictures. One obvious solution for such websites is to back up the entire server harddrive (or harddrives). Unfortunately that feature has a number of drawbacks:

• Most of the webmasters these days use servers that are hosted by somebody else and don't have immediate access to these servers.
• The backup of hard drives of managed servers is a costly operation performed by the staff of the hosting company.
• Once the server backup is created (usually on a tape or a platter), it is taken offline. It usually takes several days to restore data from a backup at a managed hosting service.

An alternative solution is to deploy GoodSync though an FTP protocol (we recommend SFTP - a secure versions of FTP). GoodSync will connect to the FTP server, analyze its contents, identify newly uploaded content, and copy it to the local backup drive.

That feature of GoodSync allows for a transparent backup of web servers that are located remotely to local computers without the need for anybody to perform any actions in the secure area where these computers are stored (in case of collocated or managed servers).

Backup of your website data with GoodSync has the following advantages:

• The webmaster himself with no intervention from the hosting company staff can perform it.
• GoodSync can be scheduled to perform this task automatically providing a great level of business continuity.
• GoodSync performs comparative analysis of local storage vs. the contents of the server and only downloads the new or updated files thus greatly reducing the backup time and saving bandwidth.
• GoodSync is available for a low one-time fee; all backups and synchronizations become free from the moment you purchase the product.
• Once a file backup of your website is created, it can be used immediately to restore your website as soon as the FTP or WebDAV server is available.