Difference between File Share Distribution and JDS

sinergi
New Contributor III

Hello,

For some reason I can't seem to get my head around this and apologies in advance for sounding dumb but what is the difference exactly?

At present we have a master File Share Distribution point which we pump all our items (pkgs/scripts/configs) into via Casper Admin. This is currently configured as File Sharing over SMB.

I noticed we have a JDS Instance which allows us to replicate (this doesn't replicate for some reason) but not exactly sure why it is there! Why not setup another File Share Distribution point with File Sharing/HTTP enabled?

Thanks in advance.

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stevewood
Honored Contributor II
Honored Contributor II

@sinergi if you look at pages 69 and 70 in the Casper Admin Guide, there is a great chart there that explains the differences between each of the three types of distribution point: File Share, JDS, and Cloud.

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althea
Contributor

A few benefits of a JDS over FS Distribution point:

- JDS is managed by the JSS
- option of selective file replication to non-root JDS instances (e.g. your root JDS is in CA and you want your NY JDS to have most but not all of your packages, and then want to refine further so that Albany gets a smaller subset and Manhattan gets a different subset - that's all doable)
- JDS can host in-house apps and in-house ebooks, if that's something you want or need

If you have a geographically diverse user base, with offices (or data centers) in more than place, there may be a very clear benefit to using JDS over FS. If you don't, you'll probably want to look more closely at some of the other benefits on each side to see which makes more sense for your use case.

stevewood
Honored Contributor II
Honored Contributor II

@sinergi if you look at pages 69 and 70 in the Casper Admin Guide, there is a great chart there that explains the differences between each of the three types of distribution point: File Share, JDS, and Cloud.

sinergi
New Contributor III

That's great! Thanks for the info guys, read through the Casper Admin guide and it definitely cleared it up!

calum_rmit
New Contributor III

Does the JDS still replicate the entire contents of the repo into the SQL database?

daz_wallace
Contributor III

Hi Calum,

Only whilst an initial sync is happening.

The process is:

1) Use the web interface or Casper Admin to upload the package into the JDS.

2) This is copied to the root directory of the TomCat folder

3) This is broken up and stored in the database, after which it is removed from TomCat

4) Synced to the Master JDS, after which it is also removed from the Database

5) Other JDSes sync direct from here.

The only exception is scripts which stay in the Database now.

Hope that helps!

Darren