What is Digg?44 Comments
- amnesiac096, on 03/29/2009, -0/+17DropBox's free storage is 2 gb, not 5 gb
- yifanlu94, on 03/29/2009, -0/+16Why do you need to share a whole OS? Why not just share files like DropBox was meant for?
- timf, on 03/29/2009, -3/+16They use DropBox to sync the VDI image to multiple computers over the internet.
Did you even read the article?
You are the ignorant *****. - nextekcarl, on 03/29/2009, -1/+13The article is talking about sharing the whole virtual machine, not just some directories. So this way if you install updates (for example) you'd only have to do that on one of the machines the virtual machine is installed on. But since the size limit of the free Dropbox accounts is only 2 GB (not the 5 they list) I'm not sure how practical it is. Sort of an interesting idea, but probably not worth it for several reasons.
- SniperZero, on 03/29/2009, -4/+14Wait so I have to download then upload 10GB(for ubuntu) for the image each time to use it? uhh I think thats not practical at all.
- Wandel, on 03/29/2009, -0/+10You can get up to 5GB free, using their new referral system.
- Lownin, on 03/29/2009, -0/+9Dropbox does, in fact, only upload the delta for what has changed in a file.
- inactive, on 03/29/2009, -0/+7I dont use dropbox myself, but unless it does a binary diff of the .vdi and upload the generated patch this is indeed ***** retarted. Also since it just used the dropbox directory on the filesystem it obviously isnt limited to just virtualbox for shared virtualmachines either.
- Lownin, on 03/29/2009, -0/+7Nope! Dropbox syncs a local directory to 'the cloud' behind the scenes. It also only uploads the delta, so you should only have to upload the VM once, and should only have to download it once on each system. After that, the only thing that needs uploaded/downloaded is what has changed. They have a video that shows how it's all set up. It's also kind of funny.
- enkideridu, on 05/15/2009, -0/+6An operating system is a lot of stuff to download and upload..
- ha3er0, on 06/16/2009, -0/+3not each time only the first time. It uploads the new changes each time after that, the way I understand from the article.
- int19h, on 03/30/2009, -0/+3An operating system doesn't have to be hundreds of megabytes, they can be quite small too. Take a look at Puppy Linux, for instance.
- Azathothh, on 03/31/2009, -0/+2uhhh fun?
- ghostofpanty, on 03/29/2009, -5/+7***** kanye
- Nephersir7, on 03/29/2009, -0/+2this is not very pratical for most people due to lame ISP's throttling down our internet's speed
- user24, on 03/29/2009, -0/+2yes it is, and no it hasn't.
- user24, on 03/29/2009, -2/+4dropbox rocks. I'm not sure this is exactly the use it was intended for though.
PS: If you sign up with this link you get an extra 250Mb too ;0)
https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTQwMjU3NDk - antdude, on 03/29/2009, -0/+2And isn't this slow?
- amnesiac096, on 03/29/2009, -0/+1the article is misleading, you do not get 5 gb off the bat.
- MattBD, on 03/29/2009, -0/+1That's why they used DSL - Tiny Core Linux would be even more practical.
- webcrumb, on 03/29/2009, -1/+2I think there's something wrong with your referral link then. If you click on mine to sign up we both get 250MB. [/s in there somewhere]
https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTE3MjI3NTk - freezerburn666, on 03/31/2009, -0/+1i dont know what the point is but i'm gonna try it for fun
- robdiggity, on 03/29/2009, -1/+2Exactly. Is this reliable if more than one of the VMs is running? I would think pagefile.sys would get corrupt.
- Linh, on 03/29/2009, -0/+1i love dropbox, and do the whole truecrypt for sharing sensitive materials...but this makes absolutely zero sense. As someone stated already use VNC/RDP. No client to install on the host machine, and you don't have to wait for it to download if you're on a remote machine.
If you need to test a VM on different hardware, ok, maybe I see it as useful. But it would still be far more beneficial to do it over a shared network drive rather than going outside your network. - webcrumb, on 03/30/2009, -0/+1Bah. I've had none. :D
- int19h, on 03/30/2009, -1/+2It runs all by itself, in a, you know, virtual machine. No reason any files should be corrupted. Read up.
- user24, on 03/29/2009, -0/+1hahaha
/s noted
Interestingly, while 6 people have signed up via my link, 4 of whom completed the dropbox install, none of those people have dugg me up.
Says something about the psychology of digg users; they'll take what they can get for free, but they won't say thanks. Not that I'm pissed. Heck I've made an extra gig in the last 16 hours just by posting two links. And I don't even need the space! - amoore2600, on 04/01/2009, -0/+1rsync!!!!
- Wandel, on 03/29/2009, -0/+1Well, it's been updated now.
- robdiggity, on 03/30/2009, -1/+2Here let me clarify:
1. Consider the virtual disk file on the host OS which contains the guest OS you intend to run in your VM.
2. Now assume the guest OS is XP (or the like), with a big happy pagefile.sys (virtual memory paging file) residing on the virtual "disk."
3. Now concurrently share that virtual disk file (complete with single pagefile.sys) among multiple running VMs.
Now don't stand too closely to all of this, because the computer(s) running the VMs will explode. - Corte, on 03/31/2009, -0/+1sorry, but lol@you guys because in the initial round of invites they gave 5GB accounts, which can also get the referral bonus :smug:
- explodingzebras, on 07/14/2009, -0/+0Yup you get extra space for referrals :D
https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTExNDA2NjY5 - robdiggity, on 03/29/2009, -1/+1EDIT Ah - it looks like he is using a linux distro for the OS on the virtual machine. So each individual VM likely has its own swap partition. Still though, don't try this with XP/whatever.
- user24, on 03/29/2009, -2/+2yeah the referral system is great; both you and I get 250mb extra free if you sign up here: https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTQwMjU3NDk
You can also pay for more space if you need it. - J3ph42, on 04/02/2009, -0/+0You can get up to 5GB free on DropBox using referrals right now. Follow a referral code like this one: https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTExNzkyNTk and you'll start out with some extra space, and you can send a referral code to others to get more.
- zoja87, on 07/13/2009, -0/+0Good post ! i love dropbox as well, check out what i think of it http://tr.im/rTWs ! :)
- InactiveCargo, on 03/29/2009, -4/+3"Is it Practical?
I think this is more practical than having a USB installed virtual machine. For someone like me who depends on virtual machines a lot I think this is the ideal solution. There is also an unofficial USB client for dropbox which you can use at your own risk from here."
I don't get it. You're using Dropbox to give yourself a GUI to a virtual machine on different computers. Why don't you just use remote desktop and accomplish the exact same thing? Microsoft and Apple have RDP services and RDP clients for accessing the machine on different platforms, or you could fall back to the nearly-supported-everywhere VNC.
Just host it in one place, and then connect. Connects straight away and from experience, Microsoft RDP (I don't know about Apple's) is usable over 56k. Once you get to 256kbit there should be nothing stopping you.
But obviously bandwidth isn't a problem since you're advocating downloading half a gig of virtual image before using the OS (in this case DSL, but if you want anything more serious we're looking at a 5gig image)
What happens when you move from your home PC with 1GB of RAM to your friend's PC with 512mb of RAM and you set your VM up with 512mb? Use 384mb and suffer slowdown, or use remote desktop and deal with a little bit of redraw time on the screen, but no performance penalties?
Or if we really want enterprise-y, why not use Citrix or TS Remote App? Granted, you'd need a server, but if the network infrastructure you're running on accommodates downloading a 5gb virtual image then I think someone has the capabilities to get their hands on one...
Maybe with differential syncing it would work okay, but it looks like this article was written as a solution in need of a problem. - Robuster, on 04/01/2009, -1/+0Yes, some of us enjoy stuff like this.
- rnawky, on 03/28/2009, -19/+18This is ***** retarded.
How about using "Shared Folders" in the VM - ddoorn, on 03/29/2009, -4/+1Dropbox appears to no longer be working...has it been shut down?
http://twitter.com/Dropbox - tonyscha, on 03/29/2009, -5/+2Sign up with a referral and get 250MB more space - https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTY4ODM0OQ
- ukblacknight, on 03/28/2009, -15/+11My thoughts exactly. How did this even get 32 diggs??!
- rnawky, on 03/28/2009, -12/+832 Ignorant *****.
- md10, on 03/29/2009, -6/+1When you use Linux for a prolonged time, it will rub off on you. You will become a Linux Haxor! That'll be about the same time your brain shuts down and sane people have to endure POS articles like this one. Sharing Virtual Machine images through Dropbox. Oh, the pain! Do something sensible and share your porn instead (I'm sure Richard Stallman and Co. would appreciate it). That is, if you can't get laid.
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