Patent ID: 8295615

Claim:
A system for synchronizing data comprising: a first data store and a second data store which are remotely located from each other, at least one of the first and second data stores containing stored digital content; a synchronization component configured to automatically synchronize the digital content between the first data store and the second data store such that both the first and second data store contain the digital content; a compression pre-processor configured to determine a compression ratio for the digital content and compare the compression ratio with a preselected threshold, the compression ratio being a ratio of an uncompressed file size of the digital content and a compressed file size of the digital content, the preselected threshold indicating whether it is situationally beneficial to compress the digital content; and a compression/decompression component configured to selectively compress the digital content only when the estimated compression ratio determined by the compression pre-processor exceeds the preselected threshold, wherein the selectively compressed digital content is automatically conveyed between the first data store and the second data store during synchronization operations involving the synchronization component so that the digital content is stored at both the first and second data stores, and wherein the compression/decompression component automatically decompresses received compressed digital content before storing the digital content in a receiving one of the first data store and the second data store and wherein when the estimated compression ratio does not exceed the preselected threshold the digital content is transmitted without being compressed.