How Synchronization Works

Synchronization will not work if there is no backup file or if there is a backup in progress.
On the standby server, during either scheduled or on-demand synchronization, the standby server pulls the current backup from /usr/local/smx/backups on the primary server.
NEVER schedule a synchronization or perform an on-demand synchronization at the same time a backup is occurring on the primary server.
NEVER start an on-demand backup while synchronizing servers.
The backup file is copied to /usr/local/smx/backups on the standby machine which brings up two important points:
- NEVER schedule a local, remote or on-demand backup on the standby machine. If you do, it will overwrite the file transferred over from the primary server.
- NEVER direct a backup from the primary server to /usr/local/smx/backups on a standby server. This will prevent synchronization from working properly.
NEVER back up to the desktop from the standby server, because that process overwrites the existing file in /usr/local/smx/backups.
As the second part of synchronization, the standby server runs a restore to itself using the file found in its own /usr/local/smx/backups directory. This should be the only file ever copied over from the primary server.