This category has a ton of software products. FTP software, for example, has been around for decades. Our approach was to look for products that worked (or had versions for) multiple platforms, as well as a deep feature set and a solid interface. Later, I’ll show you two tools I personally use regularly and rely upon, as well as two enterprise-class tools for when you need to move vast amounts of data on an ongoing basis.
A couple of my favorite problem solvers
I include in this category two tools I often rely on to solve two very different challenges: bulk image manipulation and WordPress database transfer. They’re not related, except that they are data migration tools – and that both have saved me a ton of time and gotten me out of some very tight challenges. Our pick for the best multi-platform sync tool is GoodSync. There are many other excellent sync tools out there, but GoodSync distinguishes itself by running on MacOS, Linux, Windows, iOS, Android, and even some NAS boxes. GoodSync is sold in 5-license sets, so you can mix and match platforms with a great deal of flexibility. Pros:
It runs on a wide range of platformsSingle license for all platformsFree (more limited) version
Cons:
Multi-device support is not freeUsers report licensing snafus with lifetime license
Honorable mention: rsync
No discussion of file sync utilities is complete without mentioning rsync. This is a command-line utility available in most Linux implementations. It was created initially to solve the problem of syncing large file structures between Australia and other continents over the low-bandwidth intermittently reliable connections of the 1990s. The utility distinguishes itself by keeping bandwidth usage to a bare minimum and carefully understanding the differences between two directories, only syncing the bytes (not the files) necessary to bring the two into parity. I am personally grateful to rsync for getting me out of jams on numerous occasions. Many volume cloning tools exist, but most of them are specific to a single platform. If you think about what cloning is all about, it includes an awareness of volume format down to the sector level – and that differs from OS to OS. True Image distinguishes itself by being able to create images for a wide range of PC-based file systems including NTFS, Ext2/Ext3/Ext4, ReiserFS, Linux SWAP, HFS+/HFSX, FAT16/32/exFAT as well as Mac-based formats including APFS, HFS+, Core Storage, FAT32, and NTFS (including Boot Camp). Pros:
Clear interfaceIncludes anti-malware supportReal-time imaging option
Cons:
No native Linux versionSome users report difficulty creating bootable media
Best Windows-only alternative: Paragon Drive Copy ProfessionalBest Mac-only alternative: Carbon Copy ClonerBest thumb-drive mountable alternative: CloneZilla
FileZilla, on the other hand, is free and it’s multi-platform. It supports the basic FTP protocol (which you really shouldn’t be using) as well as FTP over TLS (FTPS) and SFTP. FileZilla works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. There’s a Pro version available for twenty bucks that adds connections to popular file-sharing services. But we’re recommending the base FileZilla. It works, it does its job, it’s free. Pros:
FreeNo SCP support
Cons:
Interface feels datedSupport for cloud services add-on upsell
Best Windows-only alternatives: WinSCP, WS_FTPBest Mac-only alternatives: Forklift, Transmit
That’s what NetDrive does. We particularly like that NetDrive not only mounts remote FTP volumes, but it will allow you to mount most cloud services as drives as well. NetDrive is available for Windows, Linux, Mac, and Android. Pros:
Supports mount-on-bootSupports locking files
Cons
No support for client-side encryption
Alternatives: CloudMounter, WebDrive
Enterprise-level tools
We’re ending our list with two outstanding open-source enterprise-level tools from the Apache Foundation: NIFi and Airflow. Both of these can manage small projects but can scale to vast projects. Sure, I could have done that in Photoshop, but it would have taken an hour or more of very tedious mousing. Instead, I did it in XnConvert in less than five minutes. All I did was select the files to operate on, tell it a few transformations to perform and specify the output format. That’s XnConvert. That’s what it does, and it does it very, very well – for free. What more could you want? Simply exporting a WordPress database on the local machine and importing it on the production machine won’t work because a lot of the internal data will have the wrong domain. This is where WP Migrate DB Pro comes in. It helps you move databases back and forth and modifies the records so that the database is appropriate for the machine it’s running on. It does more like allows you to make that database move relatively regularly, syncing changes, so you don’t lose any data. The bottom line is this: if you don’t develop WordPress sites, you won’t care. If you do develop WordPress sites, you’ll need this, even if you don’t know you need it. My butt: saved numerous times. It’s a commercial tool with a non-cheap price tag, but the company’s name is Delicious Brains, so what more can I say? So there you go. You’re not required to choose the tools we present as best since there are many great tools in this category. That’s why we included alternatives, especially if you want something specific for your favorite platform. More to the point, NiFi generalizes that process. It has an enormous library of data processors (tools for parsing and moving data in a wide range of formats and from a wide range of systems). You can then string these processors together with logic and data-relevant operations. You can split streams, allowing various threads to run concurrently. You can also back-limit processing, which means you can slow down until another processing flow catches up. This is a big, wonderful, powerful project, and since it’s open-source, it’s also free (although there is commercial support for it through HortonWorks). Unlike every other tool on this list, AirFlow is entirely controlled through programming. You need to code in Python for every operation managed by AirFlow. What AirFlow does, though, is provide the ability to manage tasks and dependencies. The product comes with a wide range of integrations, as well as tools for managing and tracking the processing of any given flow. Flows can be triggered by external events or on a schedule (replacing the much more cumbersome crontab mechanism). What are your favorite tools? Let us know in the comments below. You can follow my day-to-day project updates on social media. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @DavidGewirtz, on Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.
