So I had (what I thought was) a clever solution for syncing the DEVONthink database between Macs: storing the database in my iDisk which I keep a local copy of. Now for the most part this works, but my question is:
why on earth does DEVONthink have 10 billion database files? Ok maybe it isn’t 10 billion, 
but it looks like there’s 10 separate database files. Do I need all these? Can I junk any of em? Can I tweak this somewhere in the prefs? I’m wary of running the app until all 10 files sync to the machine that doesn’t yet have them, and iDisk syncing is admittedly slow sometimes.
Anyone else play with this? Any ideas? Much appreciated!
You need them all. Also I think someone else already said this but if your database grows at any kind of reasonable rate you will probably quickly outgrow the usefulness of .Mac as a backup for DT.
My approach is to use two separate machines (one at work and one at home) and I use my iPod to transfer between the two. It very fast and very convenient. I’m not suggesting you do the same, BUT, firewire drives are pretty cheap these days and will do the job well. Even better is the iPod if you like music, and unless you have a humongous music collection you’ll have oodles of space for backing up DT!
If you archive your DT database as a .zip file (incredibly easy to do directly from the Finder) you can save it easily to .Mac. I had this same problem in the beginning and it would hang up my iDisk each time. Archiving it works great and also saves space on your iDisk.
Alexandria
Alexandria:
Good tip!
Note: Make sure that your DEVONthink application is CLOSED before you make a copy or archive of the DEVONthink database folder from the Finder. Copying a database while it’s open is not a good idea. The same caution prevails at the other end: Make sure the DEVONthink application is CLOSED before you copy the transferred database over the existing DEVONthink database folder in ~/YourHome/Library/Application Support/.
My own database is much too large to fit in my .Mac account, so I use a portable FireWire drive (an iPod works) to transfer it.
Actually, I do an optimization and backup first then archive the backup. I assume that’s okay to do even if DT is open?
Alexandria