3. Managing Offline File Synchronization
Synchronizing the offline
files cache keeps the files up to date on the client computer and
merges any changes the user has made back to the shared folder. The way
Windows syncs depends on whether the computer is on a fast link, a slow
link, or a costed network.
Sync Center, shown in Figure 2, simplifies the management of cached offline
files and folders. In Sync Center, a sync partnership is established
for every shared folder that has locally cached contents. Each sync
partnership has a set of properties that enables you to control whether
and how syncing occurs.
You can open Sync Center from Control Panel. In Control Panel, tap or
click View By and then select either Large Icons or Small Icons. Next,
tap or click Sync Center. After you display Sync Center, you can easily
check for synchronization problems, start or stop syncing, and configure
syncing.
In Sync Center, the View Sync Partnerships page is selected by default. On this page, you can manually synchronize offline files by pressing and holding or right-clicking the Offline Files entry and then selecting Sync Offline Files.
Group Policy settings control how offline file synchronization works.
Generally, offline files are automatically synchronized when a user
reconnects to the network after being disconnected from the network or
electing to work offline. You can also configure synchronization so that it occurs at one of the following times:
-
At a specific, scheduled time -
When the user logs on -
When the computer is idle -
When the user locks or unlocks Windows
You can create and manage scheduled synchronization by following these steps:
-
In Sync Center, press and hold or right-click the sync partnership you want to work with, and then tap or click Schedule For Offline Files. -
If you’ve previously scheduled synchronization for this resource, you can do the following:
-
Create a new schedule Tap or click Create A New Sync Schedule, and then follow steps 3–7. -
View or edit an existing schedule
Tap or click View Or Edit An Existing Sync Schedule, tap or click the
schedule to change, tap or click Next, and then follow steps 3–7. -
Delete an existing schedule
Tap or click Delete An Existing Sync Schedule, tap or click the
schedule to delete, and then tap or click Delete. Tap or click OK, and
then skip the remaining steps.
-
Review the items you are configuring and clear the check boxes for
any items you don’t want to configure. Tap or click Next, and then tap
or click At A Scheduled Time. -
The Start On and At options are configured so that scheduled syncing will start immediately, as shown in Figure 3.
If you want to start scheduled syncing on a different date and time,
use the options provided to change the start date and time.
-
The Repeat Every option sets the sync interval. The default interval
is once every day. You can set the repeat interval to a value in
minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months. Because only changes are synced,
you might want to sync more frequently than you would with early
Windows operating systems. For example, with important files, you might want to sync every three to four hours. -
If you want to configure when syncing starts or stops, tap or click
More Options. By default, sync starts only if the computer is awake and
not in sleep or hibernate state. You also can configure syncing to:
-
Start only if the computer has been idle for at least N minutes, where N is a value you provide. -
Start only if the computer is running on external power (as opposed to battery). -
Stop sync if the computer wakes up from being idle. -
Stop the sync if the computer is no longer running on external power.
-
When you are ready to continue, tap or click Next. Type a descriptive name for the scheduled synchronization, and then tap or click Save Schedule.
Syncing on an Event or Action
You can create and manage synchronization based on events or actions by following these steps:
-
In Sync Center, tap or click the sync partnership you want to work with, and then tap or click Schedule. -
If you’ve previously scheduled synchronization for this resource, you can do the following:
-
Create a new schedule Tap or click Create A New Sync Schedule, and then follow steps 3–5. -
View or edit an existing schedule
Tap or click View Or Edit An Existing Sync Schedule, tap or click the
schedule to change, tap or click Next, and then follow steps 3–5. -
Delete an existing schedule
Tap or click Delete An Existing Sync Schedule, tap or click the
schedule to delete, and then tap or click Delete. Tap or click OK, and
then skip the remaining steps.
-
Review the items you are configuring, clear the check boxes for any
items you don’t want to configure, and then tap or click Next. Tap or
click When An Event Occurs. -
As shown in Figure 4, use the check boxes provided to specify the events and actions that start automatic syncing. You can start sync:
-
When a user logs on to the computer -
When the computer has been idle for at least N minutes, where N is a value you provide -
When a user locks the computer -
When a user unlocks the computer
-
When you are ready to continue, tap or click Next. Type a descriptive
name for the scheduled sync, and then tap or click Save Schedule.
Resolving Synchronization Conflicts and Errors
Synchronization results provide details, errors, and warnings. To
view current sync results, open Sync Center, and then tap or click View
Sync Results. You can review sync details to determine when syncing was
started, stopped, or completed. You can review errors and warnings to
determine whether there are problems with the synchronization
configuration.
Synchronization conflicts occur if a user makes changes to an offline
file that is updated online by another user. You can view and resolve
synchronization conflicts by following these steps:
-
In Sync Center, tap or click View Sync Conflicts. -
The main pane specifies whether there are any conflicts, as shown in Figure 5.
-
To display the Resolve Conflict dialog box, double-tap or double-click a conflict you want to resolve. -
You can now do the following:
-
Tap or click the version you want to keep. If you want to keep the
local version and overwrite the network version, tap or click the
version listed as On This Computer. If you want to keep the network
version and overwrite the local version, tap or click the version listed
as being on the shared network location. -
Tap or click Keep Both Versions to write the local version to the
shared network location with a new file name. Generally, the new file
name will be the same as the old file name, but with a numeric suffix
indicating the version increment. If you are at all unsure about which
version of a file to keep, keep both versions, and then compare the two
versions carefully for changes that should be merged or discarded.
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