13.2 Synchronization Process Overview

Figure 13-2 illustrates at a high level the information and content that get synchronized in ESN. The table that follows the figure describes some of the results and implications of the processes that take place.

The figure does not illustrate functional details. For example, it does not attempt to show the flow of LDAP metadata and file/folder metadata to ESN services for storage and indexing.

Figure 13-2 What Gets Synchronized and Where

Letter	Details
	ESN relies on the SQL database and the ESN Search (Lucene) indexer in order to provide access to Users and groups and Files and folders
	ESN stores metadata for users, groups, files, and folders in the SQL appliance or server.
	After the metadata is retrieved and stored, ESN directs the ESN Search (Lucene) indexer to process it for viewing by administrators and users. Users, groups, files, and folders are only visible and accessible through ESN after their metadata is stored and indexed. For more details about the content indexing process, see Net Folder File Content Indexing Overview
	Regular LDAP synchronization ensures that ESN is updated when users are added or removed and when group memberships changes in the LDAP identity store. it is usually sufficient to synchronize LDAP once a day, but some organizations require more frequent synchronization to keep ESN abreast of changes in their identity stores.
	Net Folder synchronization is highly configurable: Schedules for Net Folder Servers: You can set synchronization schedules for each Net Folder Server. The Net Folders associated with that server are then synchronized according to the general nature of the volume or share where they reside. Schedules for Net Folders: You can also set synchronization schedules for individual Net Folders that will override the server schedules and synchronize the folders either more or less frequently than the server schedule dictates. Manual: These are especially helpful when you create Net Folders to ensure that ESN users can browse and access the files and folders that they contain. Just-in-Time Synchronization (JITS): You can enable JITS so that as ESN users browse in Net Folders, file and folder metadata is synchronized with ESN. For more details about the synchronization process, see Net Folder Synchronization Detail Overview
	For users to be able to search file content, folders must have content indexing enabled. For folders that are enabled for content indexing, ESN retrieves the content for each file and directs the indexer to process it for searchability.
	By default, Net Folders allow data synchronization with desktop applications. To prevent users from getting a local copy of sensitive files on the organization’s file server, the download functionality can be disabled.