First published on MSDN on Sep 28, 2015
In " The Complete Synchronization Process - Part 1: New User Synchronization ", we covered the complete synchronization process as it relates to new objects.In " The Complete Synchronization Process - Part 2: Existing User Synchronization ", we stepped through the sync process for modifying a preexisting user object. In " The Complete Synchronization Process - Part 3: Joins ", we discussed joins. In the fourth (and final) installment in this series, I'd like to talk about the difference between full and delta import and synchronization run profiles.
When discussing new and existing user sync, it was mentioned that there are actually two types of imports and two types of synchronizations. Let us now dig deeper into the distinctions, there.
Terminology:
FI: Full Import
FS: Full Synchronization
DI: Delta Import
DS: Delta Synchronization
CS: Connector Space
MV: Metaverse
The very first run you will perform when building FIM (or adding a new data source) is a full import . During a full import , everything in the connected data source is brought into the connector space . The key point to remember about a full import is that, regardless of total number of objects or objects with changes, everything will be refreshed. In the below illustration, of the eight represented user objects, only one has changed (indicated in red). During the full import , all eight are (again) recreated in the connector space .
This contrasts with a delta import in that, unlike a full import , a delta brings in only changes. While there may be eight total objects in the connected data source, only two have changes (indicated in red). With a delta import , only those two changed users will be refreshed in the connector space .
This same logic carries over to synchronizations as well. Here we see a representation of a full synchronization . Even though only one of eight objects has changed in the connector space , a full synchronization will cause all six steps (filter/delete, join, project, import attribute flow, provision, export attribute flow) to be performed on all eight objects in the Metaverse .
Likewise, a delta synchronization will only cause the six synchronization steps to be performed on the users who have actually experienced a change. In the below illustration, we see that, of the eight connector space objects, only two have had a change (as indicated in red). As such, only those two objects are synchronized into the Metaverse .
Questions? Comments? Love FIM so much you can't even stand it?
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