On 12/6/05, Jonathan Darton <jdarton at ibigroup.com> wrote: >> >I want to build 2 servers (both running samba) to provide file >> >storage to 2 offices (approx 100 miles apart, linked via DSL) but all >> >data writen to 1 server must also be saved to the other server. >> >Both servers would also allow users to access the data via a VPN thus >> >allowing 1 office with a failed server to access the other server via >> >the vpn and still see the data from both offices. >> >I currently have 1 server working but we want to add the second >> >office to the system. (Currently 1 office has 10 users and the second >> >office has 1 user connected via VPN ) but the second office will have >> >20 within 12 >> months >> >and the first will have 35 soon )) >> >> >Has anyone done anything like this ? >> >> I am currently synchronizing multiple office locations using a program >> called unison. Unison (http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/) is >> a very well written program that can perform 2 way file >> synchronization. There are many configurable options with unison and I recommend that you check it out. >> In each office I have a PII350 128RAM Fedora or CentOS server running >> unison and the files are accessed via samba. I also configure samba to >> hide (veto) all of the temporary files used during synchronization. >> For redundancy I place a slave server with each master server that >> backs up all the user data / file system using rsync. This way if one >> of my $5 PII servers catches fire I can automatically switch over with no downtime for the users. >> >> The only downfall I have encountered is with Autocad files not >> properly reading the synchronized .dwl lock file and more than one >> user working on the same file. As a work around for this I have >> configured Unison to keep a backup of the last 20 versions of a file. >> This way I can always hit my backups to retreive lost data. As a side >> note, if anyone knows a work around for the stubborn autocad dwl lock file let me know :))! >> >> In any case my implementation has allowed me to synchronize file >> systems between 4 offices (3 in Canada, 1 in USA), using recycled >> hardware that was otherwise going to be donated/trashed. >> >> Let me know if you have any further questions. > >I'm about to do a Unison setup on two CentOS servers, so I'm thrilled to see this response. I also work with Architects >>sometimes, so I'm interested to hear about the dwl lock file issue. > >My one compound question: how are you invoking Unison? In batch mode, with cron? How often? Wat other options did you >consider before settling on the scheme you use? I see the project is no longer supported, do you have rpms for it ? Thanks Denis