Robocopy is an MS DOS command line tool used to copy data, files and folders for Windows. It is no available in upgraded variants too. It is used in Windows OS as a default package for all versions beginning from Vista to Windows 10. It is designed to reliably mirror and copy files and folders while maintaining the attributes, properties, details of the owner, timestamps of the folder being copied.
Problems and Solutions related to Robocopy
But, the tool has some bugs and limitations. It is a great solution for a single user sharing some files on Windows platform. But, when you talk about scaling, it may cause problems.
Speed: The only way to make Robocopy faster is through multi-threading. Multithreading is the CPU’s ability to run several processes concurrently, in support of the OS. So, speed of the files relies on the CPU numbers.
Robocopy and files
It works primarily with folders. if you want to sync or backup a folder or file, it will require more effort. Files have to be excluded with the help of filespec filtering argument. And, the command only refers to the file names related to the folder chosen for copying. Completely-qualified path names aren’t supported. It is a problem when have to deal with specific files in a big folder hierarchy.
Large file size
Robocopy cannot be used for terabyte size files. There is a specific quantity of memory pool space which it can allocate to programs. Thus, if you over-stress it, errors may commence to occur.
SSH
Robocopy doesn’t codes its connection and you have no option to configure SSH in the tool. It needs users to install and configure coded channels like VPN/ SSH. When you use additional channels, it means you have to regularly manage and assist configuration changes and other execution complexities. A good robocopy replacement should have encryption, so that no additional assistance is needed.
Limit Bandwidth
Robocopy can limit bandwidth but the delay factor of the chosen bandwidth speed should be calculated by a user with a special formula. You need to conduct some experiment to search for a suitable delay because of volume and nature of the traffic on the network.
Bugs
Robocopy has a number of bugs such as limitless loops while copying data which are actually junction.
Sometimes, it fails to mirror files properly on versions previous than Vista. The progress bar to multithreading is missing. It fails to track the progress of copying files for a big time period. Thus, it completely fails to provide synchronization.
So, overall, you need Robocopy replacement to handle its limitations. A more robust and scalable solution is GSCopyPro. It wipes out all the limitations of Robocopy by offering you the best synchronization technology, amazing support for entrepreneurs, high signification performance improvements over Robocopy in different types of scenarios. Check out the features and functionality of GSCopyPro to find out how it is a perfect replacement for Robocopy and use it in your company for data mirroring, replicating and transfer.