Why is iDisk so slow?

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R Walter - 29 Apr 2007 02:31 GMT

I use my .Mac iDisk to synchronize data files between an iBook and an
iMac, both running 10.3.9. I can modify a data file on one computer,
and the iDisk will automatically update the file to the other platform.
I find this very convenient, and I like the security of an off-site
Internet backup.

My only complaint - - it's soooo slow. For example, today I added an
empty folder to my iDisk document folder, and it took the iDisk about 60
seconds to synchronize the change. The same thing happens if I make
minor changes to a Apple works document - - it takes a long time for
the updated version to synchronize, even if I've only changed a few
characters in a 20K document. I've given up trying to synchronize large
Quicken files because of the long delay.

I have a cable modem which is quite fast for other applications. I'm not
referring to the "Backup" .Mac utility. I'm just referring to the iDisk
itself. What gives?

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Andy Hewitt - 29 Apr 2007 09:19 GMT

> I use my .Mac iDisk to synchronize data files between an iBook and an
> iMac, both running 10.3.9. I can modify a data file on one computer,
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> referring to the "Backup" .Mac utility. I'm just referring to the iDisk
> itself. What gives?

I find this too, as I store most of my Documents folder on it. However,
it does appear to be an OS issue, it's certainly not network speed, as
like you I only save a few documents, and they take ages to sync. You
can see the upload speed is at full bore as well (in my case up to about
53KB/s).

There are references in the 10.5 information to improving .Mac speeds,
so we can only hope they do fix this.

Signature

Andy Hewitt
<http://web.mac.com/andrewhewitt1/>

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Gregory Weston - 29 Apr 2007 11:48 GMT

> I use my .Mac iDisk to synchronize data files between an iBook and an
> iMac, both running 10.3.9. I can modify a data file on one computer,
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> the updated version to synchronize, even if I've only changed a few
> characters in a 20K document.

To the file system, you haven't changed "a few characters in a 20k
document." You've changed a 20k document.

> I've given up trying to synchronize large
> Quicken files because of the long delay.
>
> I have a cable modem which is quite fast for other applications. I'm not
> referring to the "Backup" .Mac utility. I'm just referring to the iDisk
> itself. What gives?

When you talk about how long something takes to "synchronize" should we
infer that you're using the option to mirror the iDisk locally? And is
the time your wondering about how long it takes for your machine to
start pushing the changes to the remote store? Or are you having issues
with how long it takes to finish once it has started?

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R Walter - 29 Apr 2007 20:28 GMT

>>I use my .Mac iDisk to synchronize data files between an iBook and an
>>iMac, both running 10.3.9. I can modify a data file on one computer,
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> start pushing the changes to the remote store? Or are you having issues
> with how long it takes to finish once it has started?

Yes, I do mirror my iDisk locally, but I recall having the same problem
when I wasn't using that option. The problem seems to be with the
remote synchronization. As in my previous example, even the creation of
an empty folder takes an unusually long time to sync.

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Gregory Weston - 29 Apr 2007 21:50 GMT

> > When you talk about how long something takes to "synchronize" should we
> > infer that you're using the option to mirror the iDisk locally? And is
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> remote synchronization. As in my previous example, even the creation of
> an empty folder takes an unusually long time to sync.

So presuming your answer is that you're concerned about how long the
synch takes to complete once it has started, the answer is that Apple's
WebDAV client is known to be fairly slow. Using the local mirroring
behavior is really the only built-in way to mitigate that.

Alternatively, you can use a 3rd-party program called Goliath.
<http://www.webdav.org/goliath/>

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Neill Massello - 29 Apr 2007 22:47 GMT

> I have a cable modem which is quite fast for other applications. I'm not
> referring to the "Backup" .Mac utility. I'm just referring to the iDisk
> itself. What gives?

Use something other than Finder to access your iDisk. Transmit, for
example, is much faster. It's also got a synchronization feature.

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Mac Forum / General / General / April 2007

Why is iDisk so slow?