I recently set up sync using dropbox, and am watching as one of my databases is being uploaded. To my surprise, and worry, the number of items in the database is increasing at the same time as the number of items uploaded increases. The total number isn’t increasing at exactly the same speed as the number of items uploaded (so Achilles might in the end manage to reach the tortoise, so to speak), but as things seem now it might take a very long time to upload this database. Moreover, I’m wondering what all these additional items are, and if they’re hiding somewhere. What’s going on?
The number of items being Synced is not just the number of files. There is more data being transmitted than your records. Also, it’s likely you have the Conflict setting in DEVONthink’s Preferences > Sync is set to Duplicate documents. This can generate new files in the database.
ANY remote Sync location has inherent weaknesses to due network quality (or lack), as well as strategies employed by cloud services to minimize network impact (like bandwidth throttling and reducing the number of concurrent connections). Also, upload speeds are ALWAYS much slower than download speeds. And lastly, the first Sync almost always is the slowest as it’s generally the largest amount of data being transmitted.