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Firefox Sync - Is it a Backup service or Not?

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  • Last reply by Paul

Stone
Stone
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I always thought Firefox Sync was kind of a backup service. Today I was disappointed to learn that Firefox Sync cannot be trusted as a backup service.

A search for “firefox sync” finds 2,929 results in Community Discussion Only.

As late as 2/2/23, Top 10 Contributor Paul says: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1404105#answer-1563509

“It appears from your question, that you are using Firefox Sync as a back up service. This is not what Sync is designed to do. The Firefox Sync service takes a copy of the data you wish to include and transfers it to a second device... The storage in between all attached devices is both temporary and fragile and is not stable enough to be (and is not designed as) a reliable backup service.”

I looked through all the Mozilla Help Articles I could find about Firefox Sync. Not one of them mentions that Firefox Sync should not be relied upon as a backup service.

Then I found this blog searching Google: “The Future of Sync”. https://blog.mozilla.org/services/2020/09/15/the-future-of-sync/

In the blog, JR Conlin says, among other things: “A New Hope Service: A lot of folks expected it to be a Backup service. The good news is, now it is a backup service. Sync is more reliable now.”

JR Conlin posted the above blog in Sept 2020. Is there anyone who can comment on JR Conlin’s statement or the progress of his and his team’s work?

Thank You to all volunteers.

I always thought Firefox Sync was kind of a backup service. Today I was disappointed to learn that Firefox Sync cannot be trusted as a backup service. A search for “firefox sync” finds 2,929 results in Community Discussion Only. As late as 2/2/23, Top 10 Contributor Paul says: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1404105#answer-1563509 “It appears from your question, that you are using Firefox Sync as a back up service. This is not what Sync is designed to do. The Firefox Sync service takes a copy of the data you wish to include and transfers it to a second device... The storage in between all attached devices is both temporary and fragile and is not stable enough to be (and is not designed as) a reliable backup service.” I looked through all the Mozilla Help Articles I could find about Firefox Sync. Not one of them mentions that Firefox Sync should not be relied upon as a backup service. Then I found this blog searching Google: “The Future of Sync”. https://blog.mozilla.org/services/2020/09/15/the-future-of-sync/ In the blog, JR Conlin says, among other things: “A New Hope Service: A lot of folks expected it to be a Backup service. The good news is, now it is a backup service. Sync is more reliable now.” JR Conlin posted the above blog in Sept 2020. Is there anyone who can comment on JR Conlin’s statement or the progress of his and his team’s work? Thank You to all volunteers.

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Paul
Paul
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Hi

Yes, I need to follow up with Mr Conlin about that. Firefox Sync is much more stable, but by design it is not long term stable storage to be used as a backup.