Question about sync order with multiple peers

[eric90066]

Hello, 

I am a little confused about how sync works with multiple peers.  I assumed once one peer received a file in a shared folder all other peers would receive the same file at virtually the same time.  

Let me explain my setup.

I have 4 peers all sharing the same folder in sync.   I own three of the peers.   The fourth belongs to a client.

One peer is on a remote server and is always on. 

Two are local (one is on a windows computer, the other on a NAS) which is on and off depending on the time of day and such.

The third is running on a iPhone remotely (belonging to a client).

Finally, the local units are setup selective sync, unencrypted.  The remote peer is setup non selective sync, encrypted.

The key to this flow is that the remote server would always have copies to share between the peers.  So that if a client sent a picture and the local machines were offline (NAS and computer) – as soon as either came online, they would get a copy of the file (if they wanted via selective sync).

However, earlier today I had the NAS off, the windows machine on and I was sent a file from the client.  I could not download the file from the remote server (via selective sync) even though the remote machine’s history indicated the file had been added.

It was not until the NAS was online that that the file could be added.   It appears the workflow is this:

Client machine - NAS –  local computer – remote server.

The only reason I can think for this work flow is the original share link sent to the client (the iphone) may have been from the NAS. 

But I don't know why that should matter.  If that is the case, is there a way to change the order of this to:

Client machine – remote server – nas – local machine

...without supplying a new share link to the client?

[Helen]

15 hours ago, eric90066 said:

I could not download the file from the remote server

Why? what exactly the problem was - the placeholder did not appear? or it appeared but was not clickable? or it was clickable but gave an error, which exactly? 

Connection is not a linear chain (like Client machine – remote server – nas – local machine, or whatever), it's a mesh - everyone is connected to everyone, of course if there is a network between them. It doesn't matter who shared the link to who, all peers share files with all others, provided the peer has read-write access to the share. 

So depending on why you could not download the file from remote server, the problem might be that iPhone and Windows are not connected to each other, so file was not sent. Or Server is not connected to either of these, otherwise it'd act as a middle man and pass the file over from iPhone to Windows, etc. 
What do you have in peers list - are all peers online in each other's list? and what is your actual network setup? 
 

[eric90066]

Hi Helen,

14 hours ago, Helen said:

Why? what exactly the problem was - the placeholder did not appear? or it appeared but was not clickable? or it was clickable but gave an error, which exactly? 

Connection is not a linear chain (like Client machine – remote server – nas – local machine, or whatever), it's a mesh - everyone is connected to everyone, of course if there is a network between them. It doesn't matter who shared the link to who, all peers share files with all others, provided the peer has read-write access to the share. 

So depending on why you could not download the file from remote server, the problem might be that iPhone and Windows are not connected to each other, so file was not sent. Or Server is not connected to either of these, otherwise it'd act as a middle man and pass the file over from iPhone to Windows, etc. 
What do you have in peers list - are all peers online in each other's list? and what is your actual network setup? 
 

The placeholder did appear and  when clicked to download a box appeared that said the file was not available.

All peers were not online.  As mentioned, the NAS was offline (the iPhone was offline as well).  So only the local machine and the remote server were online.  When I turned on the NAS, the file became available for download.  

The NAS, remote server, local machine, and iPhone were all listed in peer list.   Not sure what more I can tell you regarding the network setup...

[Helen]

On 1/26/2017 at 4:08 AM, eric90066 said:

The NAS, remote server, local machine, and iPhone were all listed in peer list.

online? 
then we'll need the debug logs from iPhone, NAS, and Windows. and the filename(s) that cannot be synced. Here's instruction 

 

On 1/26/2017 at 4:08 AM, eric90066 said:

that said the file was not available.

I don't think there is such message. The message will be either "this file will be synced when peer comes online" or "Sync can sync placeholder within their parent folders" 
The latter means that placeholder was moved out of sync share. 

[eric90066]

7 hours ago, Helen said:

online? 
then we'll need the debug logs from iPhone, NAS, and Windows. and the filename(s) that cannot be synced. Here's instruction 

No.  Nas and iPhone offline.  Window machine and remote server online.

 

7 hours ago, Helen said:

I don't think there is such message. The message will be either "this file will be synced when peer comes online" or "Sync can sync placeholder within their parent folders" 
The latter means that placeholder was moved out of sync share. 

Yes, I was paraphrasing.   When I right clicked on the placeholder and hit sync file (again paraphrasing) I got the error "this file will be synced when peer comes online".

When the NAS came online, all peers (remote server and windows machine) synced and the file was available.  

[Helen]

So, there was not direct connection between your PC and iPhone, and NAS acted as a middle man. 
You can use this article to troubleshoot connection, or contact support and send the logs to them.