1.3 How iFolder Works

Novell iFolder is as simple and convenient to use as it appears. After installation, the iFolder client works transparently to synchronize your files. The following sequence reveals what is happening in the background:

  1. The iFolder session begins when you start your computer.
  2. The iFolder client logs and tracks changes you make to files in the iFolder directory.
  3. You activate your Internet or network connection and log in to the iFolder server to activate synchronization, which then occurs at prespecified intervals or on demand.
  4. When it is time to synchronize, the iFolder client reconciles changes in the iFolder directory with those on the server. It compares the metadata for the files and directories to determine if there have been changes since the last synchronization.
  5. The iFolder server downloads any new files from the iFolder server to the local iFolder directory. Typically, the synchronization transfers only the changed portion of an existing file on a 4 KB block level. It might transfer the entire file, depending on how the application in use saved file changes. If encryption is enabled for the account, the iFolder client decrypts the files before storing them in the directory.
  6. The iFolder client uploads any new files or changes to files from the local iFolder directory to the iFolder server. The synchronization transfers only the changed portion of an existing file on a 4 KB block level. It might transfer the entire file, depending on how the application in use saved file changes. If encryption is enabled for the account, the iFolder client encrypts the files before sending them out over the Internet or network connection to the iFolder server.
  7. The iFolder server receives the new files and increases its synchronization index.
  8. If there is a conflict, iFolder uses time stamps for resolution and puts the old file in the conflict bin on the workstation.
  9. Another of your iFolder client workstations connects to the iFolder server, and repeats Step 4 through Step 8. The file changes from the first workstation are downloaded to second. The file changes from the second are uploaded to the iFolder server.
  10. When the iFolder server next synchronizes with the first workstation, it downloads the new data it received from the second workstation to the first workstation.

In this way, iFolder captures information about the changes you make locally so that it can make those changes to files on the centralized iFolder server and, subsequently, to all your workstations.