Hi everybody, this is my first post here and I have a question regarding something I want to do
This is the scenario: you sync your files to a server (like owncloud does) as the primary backup method with the clients (your PC, your laptop, you phone, etc) syncing from/to that server. However if the server its not available then the clients simply sync among each other, with a change in a file on -for example- your laptop changing/creating that file in your PC and phone.
Syncthing views every device as an equal peer, regardless if that device is a server, PC or a phone. If all devices are connected to each other than any change on any device is synced to all other devices.
If your server is offline then your PC and phone will sync to each other, when your server comes back online all devices will sync to each other.
However you should not view Syncthing as a backup solution - it’s meant for syncing files and folders between devices NOT for making backups to a server. If you need a solution for making long term storage of files and folders you should think about the following setup:
Use Syncthing to sync between PC and phone to make sure all files on both locations are constantly up to date. Syncthing is built to sync files quickly between devices.
Use rsync, rdiff-backup, Unison or any other backup tool to make regular daily backups from your PC to the server. These tools are built to create long term copies of your data.
Let me know if this makes sense or if anything is unclear. Maybe you can share a little more about how you want to setup backup & syncing between devices and I’ll try to share more specific ideas for you.