FileSyncTask: Using Phing to synchronize files and directories

Overview

FileSyncTask is a Phing extension for Unix systems which synchronizes files and directories from one location to another while minimizing data transfer. FileSyncTask can copy or display directory contents and copy files, optionally using compression and recursion.

Rather than using FTP or some other form of file transfer, FileSyncTask uses rsync to copy only the diffs of files that have actually changed. Only actual changed pieces of files are transferred, rather than the whole file, which results in transferring only a small amount of data and are very fast. FTP, for example, would transfer the entire file, even if only one byte changed. The tiny pieces of diffs are then compressed on the fly, further saving you file transfer time and reducing the load on the network.

FileSyncTask can be used to synchronize Website trees from staging to production servers and to backup key areas of the filesystems. More…