Dozens of hosts (one server, multiple clients): Do I need to add a new device to all hosts?

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I plan to share one folder on one host with up to 70 other hosts: · 1 “server”, “send-only” · 70 “clients”, “receive-only” in regards to the “server”

I want the sync to be as fast as possible: Whenever new files are added to the server folder, they should spread like in a torrent network, so I want the clients to share data also among themselves to speed up the spreading (n:m).

Questions:

  1. Do I need to add every device on every device? – Meaning: Whenever I add a new client, do I need to add it to all other clients as well (n:m), or is it enough to add the device to the server (1:n)?
  2. Since I want only the “server” to be the reference, I’d like to set it to “send-only”; the clients should be set to “receive-only”. However, would that stop the clients from sending/sharing data received from the “server” with each other (“torrent-mode”)?

Folder properties: Around 200 GB, many small files.

Infrastructure: No internet connection.

Thanks a lot for considering! Johannes

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Looks as if the answer to question 1 is to be found here:

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1:n is fine. Recv only doesn’t mean data isn’t shared to other devices, just that it won’t invent changes of its own.

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That’s great then, thanks!

Speaking of which: How to efficiently configure all clients in the same way, is there an automation mechanism available I haven’t discovered yet? Can I preconfigure each client with a master device and a specific folder during installation?

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You can pre-generate client configs so the point to the central device, yes. Still need to accept those clients there when they connect the first time, manually or using automation towards the api. Or use some config management system to generate both sides based on a known set of device IDs.

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Thank you. Pre-generating seems possible with this Puppet module:

Since we also use Puppet, that could be an approach.

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To achieve that receive-only folder type is fine, but you do need to connect all device with everyone. Otherwise they only sync with the central device.

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Oh, thanks for the clarification! This is cumbersome, though :frowning:

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That reminds me a bit of the above topic. Maybe it could discuss further on the basis of a master key that can only be valid for one device. If the key is withdrawn, the associated connections are also invalid.

The introducer feature could maybe also be considered in this case, but I cannot conclusively assess that. In general, I find the feature a bit confusing.

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The introducer feature already allows adding all devices automatically: When @johannes-braunias pre-generates the config, the central devices can be set as an introducer and thus all devices will already automatically connected to each other. However at that point the folder won’t be shared with all of these devices yet. That would require some new feature that allows not only automatically adding devices from an introducer, but also automatically sharing folders with introduced devices. Basically an introducer would then have to capabilities: Introduce new devices and introduce existing devices to share a folder. However given this is already a complex and confusing feature, it’s doubtful adding yet more complexity and nuance to it is a good idea.

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