Forum Discussion
OneDrive Client, Files on Demand and Syncing large libraries
Could you post the link to the "documented" 300,000 library ceiling recommendation?
Our computers are blue-screening from the load of OneDrive, and this is without hydrating any files!
Also if anybody has other references on so-called "gap folders" and the behavior on "restricted view" permissions?
All the current technical documentation regarding the Sync Client and it's limits can be found here:
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/invalid-file-names-and-file-types-in-onedrive-onedrive-for-business-and-sharepoint-64883a5d-228e-48f5-b3d2-eb39e07630fa?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US#synctoomany
Interestingly, and I'm assuming this is based on feedback, the upper sync limit has been revised down from 300,000 files to 100,000.
There isn't any formal documentation regarding the behavior of Restricted View and it's impact on the sync client, but in our testing it does honor the underlying permission limits defined by the permission level:
The critical thing to understand with this is that this is a recursive permission, this permission will cascade down the rest of the directory tree underneath where this permission is defined, regardless of any other permission a user may have (Even if you have broken inheritance further down). In our use case, we applied this permission to our "Archive" folders inside our document libraries, effectively allowing our colleagues to access archived content in the browser, but restricting their ability to download it with the sync client. Not only does this help protect the archived content, it relieves stress on the client.
I would recommend that anyone currently struggling with over-loaded clients take a second look at cloud content and determine if any of the data in a Document Library really NEEDS to be synced, if not, there is probably method to help relive client stress by implementing Restricted View on parent folders that hold content that can effectively remain cloud-only and then re-assign contribute permission below that level.
- We still face issues with large list even if we sync a single folder. Any update on this?
There are a lot of variables involved that can impact sync performance. One thing to note however:
The OneDrive Team has been working on a method to sync individual folders that will be more performant, its related to the notion of "Sync Root". Essentially, SharePoint currently only allows the "Sync Root" to be the root of a Document Library. How this manifests in practice is that the Sync Client will download ALL the metadata regarding the entire library, even if you're only syncing a single subfolder. When they do manage to finish the work to allow SharePoint to set the Sync Root to a different level, you'll see improved performance when synchronizing a single subfolder.
However, another thing to keep in mind (that my organization learned the hard way), is that large libraries place additional pressure on the SQL infrastructure behind the scenes. Even if everything is working, you'll notice that all operations against a larger library will be slower across the board.
We are in the process of breaking up our larger libraries into smaller ones to ensure that we can maintain better performance in web browsing, sync, etc.
dustintadam I am wondering if you could share any updates on your experience with using OneDrive for Business Sync for large libraries. We have a use case where the company is attempting to replace certain network drives used by many users. i.e. For example, a drive with 5,000+ Folders and 7,500+files
Would you be able to offer any thoughts or input on such plan looking forward into 2020? Any input would be greatly appreciated!
