Resilio Connect is based on peer-to-peer technology when Agents in a job create a distributed network of equally privileged nodes. Default configuration of Resilio Connect is target at discovering and exchanging the files with as many Agents as possible.
However, in some cases this topology is not desirable, and it's required that some or all Agents communicate only with a designated main node and don't communicate with each other at all.
Examples of such cases are:
1) slow, expensive or unstable network between the Agents. For example, Agents are in the filed and it's desirable that they only upload to and download files from a powerful central server with good network throughput.
2) network shaping. If Agent is connected and is synced with only one or a few remote Agents, it's easier to configure and shape incoming/outgoing connections and bandwidth traffic.
3) prioritize Agents. In setup with disabled peer-to-peer connection, the main servers will receive new data first and only then distribute it to others.
This can be done regardless of where the Agents are located - LAN or WAN - and can be achieved by making the following changes in a Job or Agent Profiles. It's advisable that these are made before job creation.
On Resilio Connect version 2.11 and older: Disable tracker servers in Agent Profile. Tracker serves only one goal - tell everyone about everyone in the job. With disabled tracker, Agents won't request other peers for the job, and will only learn about other Agents from "Known hosts" parameter.
On Resilio Connect version 2.12 and newer: it's not necessary to disable trackers. Trackers can remain active, but this will require adjusting parameter "Allowed peers". Put there AgentID of the servers that connection shall be established to, so that the tracker server only informs others about these. AgentID can be learned from the Agent details tab. If this parameter is not configured, the tracker server will return all available Agents in its reply.
Disable "Lan discovery" parameter. For Agents located in LAN, it's compulsory to disable it.
Edit parameter "Known hosts" and put there the IP or DNS names and listening port of the server(s) to which connection shall be established. These are the specific addresses that the Agents will be attempting in first place. With LAN discovery and trackers disabled, these are the only addresses that the Agent will be trying to connect to, so it's compulsory that they are accessible and ports are forwarded. If you use DNS name, make sure it's resolved into a reachable address for this Agent.
It can replace (provided use of tracker is disabled) or complement the "Allowed peers" parameter.
Additionally, raise the limit of actively connected agents for the main Server(s). In the Profile for such server(s) add custom parameter "transfer_peers_limit" with value not smaller that the number of Agents which will be connecting to it. This parameter won't make any harm for edge Agents though.
