FileCloud ServerLink

Introduction

FileCloud ServerLink is a feature that seamlessly replicates changes on one FileCloud site to another. Replicated data includes:

Files and Folders (Managed Storage Only)
User Accounts
User Groups
Comments
Favorites and Favorite Lists
File and Folder Shares
Folder Level Permissions
Metadata
Sort URLs
ACLs
Policies
Retention Policies
Notification Path Rules

Deployment Scenarios

ServerLink can be useful in several deployment scenarios.

An organization has headquarters in one geographic location but branches in other locations spread across the globe. If there is a single FileCloud server serving headquarters, the branch offices will observe increased latency when accessing files remotely. To alleviate the problem, each branch offices can have a secondary FileCloud Site that mirrors the primary FileCloud site at HQ.
An organization maintains a FileCloud site locally on the LAN for fast local access and a remote site on the cloud for remote file access. In this case the local FileCloud site can be connected by ServerLink to the remote FileCloud site on the cloud to keep data replicated.
An organization keeps an additional FileCloud site as a standby or backup so that if the main site goes down then the standby can be available for operation.

Overview

FileCloud replication involves a primary site and any number of secondary sites.

Typically, there is one primary site and multiple secondary sites. Changes that happen in the primary site are copied to the secondary site. Similarly changes that happen in a secondary site are copied to the primary site. When there are multiple secondary sites, if a change happens in one secondary site, that change is propagated to all secondary sites as well as the primary site.

Perform synchronization by running the replication client on the secondary servers. It is not necessary to run a replication client on the primary server.

ServerLink Deployment Considerations

ServerLink keeps entire sites in sync with each other. It is not possible to only keep part of a site in sync with another site.
Although ServerLink replicates changes as soon as possible, replication is not instantaneous and there may be a delay before changes in one site are propagated to another site. Your business processes should take this into account.
When different changes are made to a file simultaneously on primary and secondary sites, the change made in the primary site takes precedence. The file changed in the secondary site is available in previous versions, but the changes may never be copied to the primary site. Therefore, it is best to avoid working on the same sets of files in primary and secondary sites at the same time.

ServerLink Notes

File Locking is not enabled by default.
Team Folders are replicated if Team Folders are enabled in Admin settings and set up in the secondary server.
In FileCloud versions 20.1 through 20.3, when there is a synchronization error, ServerLink sends an alert message to the admin every 4 hours until the issue is resolved.
Starting in FileCloud version 21.1, when there is a synchronization error, ServerLink sends an alert message to the admin once an hour until the issue is resolved, up to 3 times in 24 hours. This alert procedure takes place each time a new error type occurs.
Note: The email is sent only from the site (primary or any secondary) which is subject to the error.