The Hardware

While this article will primarily focus on software and its configuration for such use, it is still important to note that the hardware you currently own or plan on using will have a significant impact in performance and how well this feature will work for you.  With that said, I'll briefly cover hardware...

Brand and Interoperability

Which brand should you choose and will your network be reliable with different brands of hardware?  Well, I can go into this topic for days and even recommend which products to stay clear from.  However, I will keep it short and say that you should always research hardware thoroughly before you buy if you're really that concerned about wireless performance.  Buying the cheapest wireless router and/or adapters you can find is, in most cases, not a wise decision.  Also, there are a number of issues many may face when purchasing products from different manufacturers and attempting to make them all work together reliably.  You may even want to focus on products targeted at a different kind of user, as I will briefly touch on later in this article.

802.11B, G, Draft N?

I will keep this short.  My advice?  Stay clear of Draft N products and avoid the headaches altogether.  Many buy these products thinking that they will be able to achieve the highest performance.  Based on experience and both testing and configuring these for a number of people, Draft N is honestly unreliable and in mostly all cases, unable to perform as well as a quality 802.11G setup.  Folks, do your research and don't be lured into purchase simply based on specs for these kind of products. 

Which Adapter?  USB, PCI , Direct Ethernet?

Even if you purchase a quality wireless router, if you install a cheap or unreliable adapter on your HTPC, you will experience a number of connectivity issues that can drive you crazy.  Based on personal experience, mostly all USB adapters I have used and/or tested have been unacceptable in terms of overall performance and reliability.  For more information and even some suggestions, you can refer to our HTPC Guide.

Hardware Configuration

Finally, you want to make sure that you have your hardware configured properly so that each machine will access all files or folders you plan on synchronizing properly.  I've found that the slightest change in settings will make a difference both in terms of the hardware being used, and the operating systems you have in your network. 

Share Configuration & Security

Before I get to the excellent software application I recommend for such use, it is important to touch on the configuration of your network in order for it all to work flawlessly.  In this case, I actually will provide an example based on a main PC running Windows XP and an HTPC running Windows Vista Ultimate.  Now, I've played with Vista enough to say that it has proven to be quite a challenge to get it working the way I want it to half the time...depending on the task at hand.  When it comes to networking, this definitely applies but frustrations aside, Vista does indeed offer a number of neat features that are useful for this particular type of setup. 

While Vista does have some nice features in terms of file sharing, configuring it to work well with a machine running WinXP can be a challenge, depending on what you want it to do. 

**click to enlarge**

Vista features a "Network and Sharing Center" that provides a number of advanced options which offers a high level of control on what is being shared.  Personally, I like these features and find most highly useful.  For those new to Vista and running WinXP, you'll find that you'll need to enable a few options here in order to access the shared folders and/or files on the Vista machine.  This is where to start, and there are a few options here you will need to enable in order for all your PC's to access files without any connectivity issues or permission/access errors.

Vista does offer a high level of control over the media files being shared in a network.  Some useful features include the ability to enable or disable sharing of music, video and pictures individually.  You can also share files based on ratings and even share those files based on parental ratings, provided you have properly defined these settings.  Anyways, without going too off track, these are menus you definitely want to focus on when configuring a systems for file synchronization.

If you plan on sharing files between Vista and WinXP, you'll want to take care of all these settings before you even get to sharing your files and folders for use.

Once you have sorted out all potential issues that may deny access to each machine, you can move on to sharing the folders you plan to sync with all your systems on your network. 

**click to enlarge**

On a network with only WinXP machines, this is quite easy for most users.  However, with a Vista machine, it will require some additional changes in order for both PC's to have the proper access rights to all files.  One of the main focuses of Vista is security.  With that said, it offers greater control on file permissions and you may need to make some changes based on what level of control you want between your systems.  This also can have an impact on file synchronization and the software that is featured in this article.

Once you have properly configured both machines, you'll want to test and make sure both can access the files and/or folders you plan on synchronizing.

Next: Sync Software