Stub file

A file that appears to the user to be stored on the local disk and immediately available for use but is actually held either in part or entirely on a different storage medium.

Local file

A file that is fully available without network access to a master participant; all of its bytes are present (stored locally) on the participant.

Rehydrated file

A file that was stubbed but has been fully reconstituted on the edge participant.

Master participant

Always has a complete set of files for the job.  None of its files are stubbed; they are always stored physically on that device.

Edge participant

A subset of the files stored on a master participant are physically stored on an edge participant; the rest of the files on an edge participant are stub files that take up minimal space but can be rehydrated as needed.

Master Data Service

A service that handles requests from edge participants for files on a master participant.  The Master Data Service is installed on the Peer Agent server as part of the Peer Agent installation process.

Volume policy

Specifies how much of the available space on the volume monitored by the Agent/edge participant to be assigned for local (hydrated) files.

Temporary storage space

Space that is used to temporarily store the content of stub files that are being rehydrated.

Utilization policy

Defines when a file should be stubbed versus fully hydrated across all volumes of this edge participant.  Parameters are based on the size of the files to be potentially stubbed and when they were last accessed and modified.  A utilization policy enables you to balance getting the best performance while keeping the cache as full as possible.

Pinning filter

Specifies whether specific files or files in a particular directory are always stubbed or always local on the edge participant.  A pinning filter similar is to a utilization policy—it can be applied to multiple jobs.  If there is a conflict between a pinning filter and utilization policy (where, for example, you might have something set to be always stubbed), the pinning filter will take precedence.