If I have 5 computers setup to sync a single folder should I set each computer to sync to the other 4 computers or try to pick one to be a central hub and have it sync to the other 4.
Asking because if all devices are laptops that turn off sometimes, and someone adds a file while the central one is off, then no one else gets the file.
However when I tried adding each device to all the other devices they each show Disconnected except for the previous central device. It is also kind of tedious.
Technically speaking, a mesh (i.e. “many-to-many”) layout is more resilient than a hub-and-spoke model where one device is the “master”, and increases the odds that any given file will be replicated to at least one other node.
It’s the downside to a many-to-many setup. As the number of nodes increases, managing them becomes more of a chore. Syncthing’s introducer feature might help. Some users have also used Syncthing’s REST API to help automate things.
As far as the other devices being in a disconnected state…
If they have to connect over the internet, you’ll have to make decisions about port forwarding, firewalls, relays, global discovery, etc.
If the devices are running Windows, the Windows firewall needs to be set to “private” network instead of “public”, otherwise you’ll need to specifically add firewall rules to allow Syncthing be reachable by other nodes.
Agreed,
It is probably better and safer to create more server connections depending on which computers you have powered on. You may not have all five powered on at the same time and you may not want to necessarily have the master powered on all the time.
If you’re certain that the master is going to be up 100 percent of the time then that is different.
As an example I have three computers that are not all powered on at the same time and I back up my photos on my cell phone to my computers and I have a connection to each of the three computers and my cell phone so that I can power on any one of the three and synchronize my photos to that device.
Any two computers that I power on will synchronize photos with each other.
Just a thought.
The Introducer feature is one thing I was hoping existed, good to know that is in there. As long as I know a “mesh” configuration is supposed to work, then hopefully I can figure it all out.
I have three Windows machines working properly in a mesh now.
Synching:
PC1 → PC2 & PC3
PC2 → PC1 & PC3
PC3 → PC1 & PC2
This way any 2 PC’s will sync with each other.
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