4 ms·

Can't do de-duplication if you're encrypting. No way Dropbox's storage back-end remains viable without de-dupe.

• mercer 9y ago
  Is that true though? I use Tarsnap and as I understand it, it does de-duplication server-side AND client-side encryption. That said, the point probably still stands that encryption is probably not feasibly with Dropbox feature set (or while maintaining a certain performance).
  • cperciva 9y ago
    Tarsnap deduplicates your data with respect to your data. It can't compare your data with everybody else's data, because your data is encrypted with keys which only you hold. Dropbox deduplicates everybody's data, so that they'll be able to take advantage when you and someone else both store the same file. (Of course, this trivially means they can recognize when someone stores a file which the FBI has previously provided to them.)
    • mercer 9y ago
      Ah, of course! Thanks for clearing that up (I was hoping you would chime in). Oh, and thanks for a product that does what I need it to do. I'd maybe have liked a bit more documentation (for example, how to speed up retrieving a backup), but other than that I'm very happy with it!