About File Sync for Filevine

File Sync is an automation that syncs Filevine Project folders, sub-folders, and their documents to a select group of storage providers. File Sync also provides the ability to interact—edit, create, and delete— with these documents via local network shares on your computer (Windows or Mac).

As with Filevine, your data is encrypted during sync and storage. Neostella does not own or interact with your document data other than to maintain the sync relationship with Filevine.

Note: Once the sync is configured, any document associated from within Filevine will also exist within your storage provider. File Sync shows a live replica of your files and folder structures in Filevine. Any edits, additions, or deletions in Filevine will be reflected in your storage provider.

If Filevine is down or you migrate from Filevine’s platform, your firm will retain possession of the documents from your configured Filevine projects in your connected storage provider that you already own (i.e. SharePoint, AWS, Dropbox, etc).

How it Works

One-Way Sync (Available via SharePoint and Dropbox)

1. The sync is configured to first create a connection (relationship) from a Filevine Project to the storage provider. The parent folder (root folder) equals the name of the Filevine project.
2. Documents, folders, and sub-folder structures are synced one way from Filevine to a storage provider.
3. The one-way sync listens for Create, Edit, and Delete events from Filevine and updates the replicated data in the storage provider.
4. When changes are made in Filevine they will be reflected in the storage provider in near real-time. The sync occurs on two-minute intervals.
5. Any changes made in the storage provider will not sync back to Filevine.

Good For: Full disaster recovery and offline Filevine backup purposes, ensuring documents are accessible in a secure, external location.

Example Use Cases:

• View photo slideshows
• Access documents without the internet
• Open large video files
• Accessing local files for use in third party applications (such as annotation apps)

Two-Way Sync (Available via AWS, Sharepoint, and Dropbox)

1. The sync is configured to first create a connection (relationship) from a Filevine Project to the storage provider. The parent folder (root folder) equals the name of the Filevine project.
2. Once established, the sync can manage the Project documents , folders, and sub-folder structures are synced and managed two-ways from both Filevine and the storage provider.
   NOTE: All root project folders, directions, and associations must originate from Filevine. A sync of newly created documents or a migration of existing documents from a storage provider to Filevine is not possible.
3. The two-way sync listens for Create, Edit, and Delete events from Filevine and updates the replicated data in the storage provider and listens for Create, Edit, and Delete events from the storage provider (or local network share) and updates the replicated data in Filevine.
4. When changes are made in Filevine, they will be reflected back in the storage provider in near real-time. The sync occurs on two-minute intervals.
5. When changes are made in the storage provider (or on the local network share), they will also be reflected back in Filevine.

Good For: Accessing, editing, uploading, and downloading files outside of Filevine.

Example Use Cases: 

• Accessing documents offline and tracking changes when reconnected to internet

Storage Structures (Available via AWS, Sharepoint, and Dropbox)

Optimize storage structures based on Filevine data. Options include:

• Mimic the exact project level folder structure.
• Create initial subfolders before project folders based on Project Types (template names) 
• Further differentiate within the Project Type subfolders with subfolders based on hashtags in the projects.

Example: PI #car_accident or PI #slip_and_fall

File Sync AWS S3

• Sync Filevine documents to an AWS S3
• AWS One-Way Sync is an affordable, scalable storage solution for disaster recovery
• AWS Two-Way Sync is a good solution for large firms that require the use of local files for certain applications to function properly all while maintaining Filevine as your firm-wide document solution
• Use ACL policies to limit read and write permissions based on folders or granular permissions

File Sync SharePoint

• One-Way or Two-Way Syncs available
• Inherit Filevine project-level permissions to ensure only authorized users can access or edit project folders and documents
• Utilize Two-Way Sync to edit and update documents with native desktop applications without re-uploading to Filevine

Note: Payment for storage capacity beyond 1TB is determined by SharePoint. Please ensure that your SharePoint has sufficient storage to accommodate the documents you intend to sync.

See File Sync SharePoint in Action

File Sync Dropbox

• One-Way or Two-Way Syncs available
• Utilize Two-Way Sync to edit and update documents with Dropbox desktop application and local storage without re-uploading to Filevine
• Use ACL policies to limit read and write permissions based on folders or granular permissions

Note: Payment for storage capacity is determined by Dropbox. Please ensure that your Dropbox account has sufficient storage to accommodate the documents you intend to sync.

Limitations and Quotas

What does File Sync not do?

• Support file extensions not supported by Filevine
• Integrate with storage solutions that are not specifically listed above
• Support permission management not specifically described above.
• Allow for document locking or check in/out process.

For more information on Neodeluxe File Sync's limitations and restrictions, please visit File Sync Limitations.