Introduction Syncing folders and files between computers and devices can be done in many different ways. One method for automatically syncing content isBitTorrent Sync. BitTorrent Sync is a method of synchronizing content based on the popular BitTorrent protocol for file sharing. Unlike traditional BitTorrent, files shared using BitTorrent Sync are encrypted and access is restricted based on a shared secret that is auto-generated. While BitTorrent proper is often used to distribute files in a public way, BitTorrent Sync is often used as a private method to sync and share files between devices due to its added security measures. In this guide, we will discuss how to install and configure BitTorrent Sync on two Ubuntu 12.04 VPS instances. Install BitTorrent Sync To begin, we will need to install BitTorrent Sync on both of our Ubuntu 12.04 instances. If you would like to install BitTorrent Sync on your local computer to allow you to sync with your server, you can find the binary packages here. BitTorrent Sync is relatively easy to install on Ubuntu 12.04, but it is not included in the default repositories. We can use a PPA (personal package archive) so that we can have access to a maintained BitTorrent Sync repository and manage it with our normal apt tools. Ubuntu 12.04 includes the PPA tools in a package called python-software-properties, which we can download through apt: sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install python-software-properties After this is installed, we can add the PPA that contains updated Ubuntu packages: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tuxpoldo/btsync Press "enter" to add the new PPA. Once the new repository…

Introduction Understanding networking is a fundamental part of configuring complex environments on the internet. This has implications when trying to communicate between servers efficiently, developing secure network policies, and keeping your nodes organized. In a previous guide found on myip.com, we went over some basic networking terminology. You should look through that guide to make sure you are familiar with the concepts presented there. In this article, we will discuss some more specific concepts that are involved with designing or interacting with networked computers. Specifically, we will be covering network classes, subnets, and CIDR notation for grouping IP addresses. Understanding IP addresses Every location or device on a network must be addressable. This is simply a term that means that it can be reached by referencing its designation under a predefined system of addresses. In the normal TCP/IP model of network layering, this is handled on a few different layers, but usually, when we refer to an address on a network, we are talking about an IP address. IP addresses allow network resources to be reached through a network interface. If one computer wants to communicate with another computer, it can address the information to the remote computer's IP address. Assuming that the two computers are on the same network, or that the different computers and devices in between can translate requests across networks, the computers should be able to reach each other and send information. Each IP address must be unique on its own network. Networks can be isolated from one another, and they can be bridged and translated to provide…