Let me describe my scenario a little more fully, since it may be an odd one…
I have 9 databases, comprising 113 GB of data and ~350k files. Just opening all of these databases at once causes DEVONthink to use 7 GB of RAM on my Mac, and depending on what operations I’m performing, I’ve seen it be many times higher than that.
So, in general I just keep three databases open most of the time: Global Inbox, Documents (small, often accessed), and Files (large, mostly financial).
For many years now, I’ve used either ChronoSync or rsync to synchronize my databases between laptop and desktop, with the personal requirement that only one machine ever opens or modifies any of its files at one time. When I’m making the “switch” I will quit all apps on both devices, perform the sync, and then proceed to work on either the desktop or the laptop. In effect, it is like having one machine across two physical devices. This works very well.
The new piece I’m trying to add in is keeping the Inbox and Documents databases sync’d with my mobile devices, because I’m trying to use DEVONthink instead of other apps (it has replaced iCloud files, Apple Notes, Notability, etc). This has largely been working quite well also, and with iCloud sync I was able to just not sync the Inbox and Documents on my laptop, and rely on remote syncing to bring it up to speed when necessary. The other databases were being ChronoSync’d.
The addition of Bonjour sync’ing means that my mobile devices need to be sync’d before I leave the house, but hopefully with DEVONthink running most of the time on my desktop — until I shut it down to sync to the laptop — and with background refresh active on those devices, this should all work out. I don’t need the mobile devices to sync while out of the house.
The main complexity, then, is the relationship between the laptop and the desktop. I’d prefer to keep the simplicity and absoluteness of the ChronoSync workflow. So this is what I’m thinking to do now. Please let me know if this is incompatible with Bonjour syncing:
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Use ChronoSync to sync all databases between laptop and desktop, ensuring that DEVONthink is only ever running post-sync on one machine.
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While using the desktop, Bonjour is enabled so the mobile devices can see or deliver any updates. If changes were made on both the laptop, pre-sync, and the mobile devices, then there may be a version conflict and I’ve told DTTG to duplicate the file in that case. This rarely happens, since I tend to use the mobile devices as a read-only reference, rather than to author things there.
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While using the laptop, Bonjour is not enabled and the mobile devices must use their local copies (I always use deep copying).
The only thing I can think of that might prevent this from working is if Bonjour syncing depends on files not being copied by ChronoSync, so that if I make changes on the laptop and sync back, everything gets borked.
If that’s the case, I may need to abandon DTTG. I have too much data to leave DEVONthink running with all database open all of the time on both machines, and the ChronoSync workflow has proven to be ideal in almost all respects, with the exception of how I involve the mobile devices.