File Collaboration Session

A communication session made up of two or more hosts, each with a designated root of folders and files that are to be shared or collaborated on. A collaboration session coordinates the primary functions of file locking and synchronization.

Participating Host

A host that is participating in a file collaboration session.

Directory Watch Set

The configured root folder and all sub folders that are being watched and collaborated on for a participating host.

Source Host

The host where a file access or change event originated from.

Target Host

One or more hosts where file access and change events will be propagated to.

Initial Synchronization Process

The background process that occurs at the start of a file collaboration session, where the directory watch set is recursively scanned on all participating hosts, file conflict resolution is performed, and any files that require updating are synchronized with the most current copy of the file.

File Access Event

An event that is triggered from the opening or closing of a file.

File Change Event

A event that causes a file to be changed in some way, for example: file modify, file delete, file rename, file attribute change, etc.

File Lock Conflict

A file collaboration condition that exists when two users open a file at the same time and both hold exclusive locks on the file.

Quarantined File

A file that has been removed from a file collaboration session as a result of a file lock conflict that could not be resolved. This file will remain quarantined until the user manually removes it from quarantine.

Peerlet

A solution built for the Peer Management Center framework. An Peerlet is a distributed application containing various parts, some of which function at a focal point called the Peer Management Center and others invoked at remote points designated as Peer Agents.

File Collaboration Job

A specific instance of a Peerlet that can be created, saved, modified, and run. A Peerlet represents a type of Job.

In the case of File Collaboration, a File Collaboration Job represents a single configurable file collaboration session. The two terms may be used interchangeably throughout the interface and this document.

Peer Management Center

The focal software component where Peerlets are installed, configured and ran. The Peer Management Center can host Peerlets of various types and is where the components of a centralized solution function. The Peer Agent is invoked by Peerlets', distributing components with messages sent through the Peer Management Center Broker.

The Peer Management Center runs as three parts: a Windows Service that is set to run all the time, along with a rich client application and a web server component that both connect to the primary service for configuration and monitoring.

Views

Individual sections of the Peer Management Center's user interface, each providing unique information and control.

Examples: Main View, Job View, Peer Agent Summary View, Alerts View, Job Alerts View, etc.

Peerlet Editor

A container within the user interface of the Peer Management Center which shows runtime and configuration information for a single file collaboration job. A Peerlet Editor is represented by a single tab, typically in the large center section of the Peer Management Center's interface. The editor itself consists of multiple sub-tabs, with various runtime and configuration information dispersed amongst the sub-tabs. For more information, see the help section on Runtime Job Views.

Editors for multiple file collaboration jobs can be opened in several different editor tabs, allowing for quick movement between jobs.

The Peerlet Editor area of the Peer Management Center will be referred to as the File Collaboration Runtime View throughout this document.

Peer Management Center Broker

The central messaging system of the Peerlet framework. The Peer Management Center Broker serves to connect the Peer Management Center and the Peer Agents, forming a Peer Management Center "network" that can be cast over local or wide-area networks via TCP/IP. A Peer Management Center environment will deploy one or more Peer Management Center Brokers.

Peer Agent (or "Agent")

A lightweight, distributed component that is used to perform operations on the host on which it is running. A Peer Management Center environment will typically contain several Peer Agent, one per participating networked host. Peer Agents invoke the distributed portions of a Peerlet, and will often run near resources of interest, such as collaborated files. The Peer Agent is designed to be purposed across the entire Peer Management Center solution suite, and will normally be directed to perform functions with messages received from Peerlets through the Peer Management Center Broker.

Heartbeat

A communication mechanism used between the the Peer Management Center and all connected Peer Agents to ensure that Peer Agents are alive and responsive. Heartbeats share information about the Peer Agent host server with the Peer Management Center, aid in verifying when an Peer Agent is no longer available, and signal when a disconnected Peer Agent has reconnected. All heartbeat information is sent through the Peer Management Center Broker.