Network topology
Proper implementation of your network topology in the OneSite platform is a crucial part of the operation of any OneSite solution like Patch or Anywhere. To get the most our of OneSite's peer-to-peer content sharing, you will need to group clients into accurate Locations based on their network and IP ranges. Clients in the same Location will discover and download content from their peers in the local network rather than individually downloading content from the Internet.
The goal of an optimized topology is:
Minimize WAN usage
Maximize local, LAN-based peer-to-peer sharing.
Ensure fast, reliable content delivery.
Reflect your physical network topology of your environment.
This guide explains the key concepts, how topology influences content flow, and the built in features used by Location types.
If you would like to import your network topology from a spreadsheet, please see our Import your network topology page.
Locations
Locations are the building blocks of defining your network topology. A Location is defined by one or more IP ranges intended to identify machines that are connected over a LAN. Locations should be defined for any IP ranges that are separated by a WAN link to ensure accurate content routing and optimal peer-to-peer behavior.
There are three distinct Location types:
Default
WiFi
VPN
For more information regarding Locations and their types, please see our Locations page.
Central location
After installing your Adaptiva server, a Central Office will be automatically generated. This is the top-level Location and contains the Content Library, ensuring content is always available here.
All devices ultimately fall back to the Central Office for content if no other peer or parent Location has it, which we'll discuss more in the Content flow section below.
Auto locations
When a client registers with the server for the first time, it is going to send its IP address and subnet mask. The server will then determine if it is a known IP range and add it to the appropriate Location. If the client IP is in an unknown IP range, Adaptiva automatically generates an Auto-Location named Auto<networkID>. By default, these Auto locations will be under the Central Office.
For more information regarding Auto Location setup please see our Auto-Location page.
While functional, Auto-Locations often produce:
Too many small Locations that may actually be in the same physical location or LAN.
Inefficient content routing since it will always route back to the Central Office, even though another Location may be physically closer.
To fix this we want to set up our network typology from both a physical network standpoint as well as a logical network standpoint. To do so, we can create our own custom Locations which should look more akin to the image below depending on your own physical network of each Location that you may have.
Content flow
The main goal of the network topology is to minimize WAN usage and maximize LAN-based peer-to-peer sharing.
At each Location, elections are automatically held to choose a designated device per location that communicates and controls the flow of content. This ensures:
Content is only transferred once from a parent to a child office, reducing WAN traffic.
Clients detect and send content locally whenever possible.
Rendezvous Points (RVPs) and elections
During elections each client device self-evaluates things like:
CPU utilization
RAM
Operating system
Whether it is a desktop, laptop, or tablet
The client then volunteers itself as the RVP (Rendezvous Point), and then all client devices are evaluated and the best candidate is chosen as the RVP.
This entire process is automated and you can see which devices are RVPs from the Devices tab from Assets > Devices on the OneSite Admin Portal.
RVPs are responsible for:
Managing content flow - essentially a traffic cop that dictates which clients can proceed with content downloads based on priority.
Communicating with RVPs in parent and child Locations - content discovery if content is not located in the RVP's subnet.
Coordinating peer discovery - finds new peers and adds to a table in memory.
Content search
Once the RVP is established and a client's policy requests content, the client will proceeds to search in a particular order. Below is a content search from the network topology diagram example above.
Local
The Client device checks itself to see if it has the specific content already.
Houston WiFi Location client.
Subnet
The Client then asks other peers on the same subnet to find the specific content.
Houston WiFi Location client.
Location
The client asks the RVP of its subnet to reach out to the other RVPs at the same Location.
RVP from Houston WiFi Location asks RVP from Houston Location.
Parent
The RVP then asks the Parent RVP to find the specific content.
RVP from Houston WiFi Location asks RVP from America DC.
Central Location
If it still not found, the RVP will ask the Central Office.
RVP fro Houston WiFi asks RVP from Central Office.
Locations can be configured to download directly from the internet-based Content Delivery Network (CDN) if desired. This can be done during the creation or modification of a Location by toggling on Allow Direct CDN Download. Please see our Location settings and actions page.
OneSite protocols
Adaptiva offers two proprietary protocols that optimize the delivery of content between Locations:
Adaptive Background Transport - Used between Locations
Adaptive Foreground Transport protocol - Used within Locations
Misconfigured offices can lead to:
Foreground protocol used over WAN which will result in WAN saturation.
Background protocol used over LAN which will cause slower distribution of content.
Background Adaptive Transport
The Background Adaptive Transport protocol is going to ensure that we can get our content across quickly without impacting other business traffic. This protocol is going to be used every time we are transferring over a WAN link between Locations, both on-premises as well as over the internet. Below are the features that are included with this protocol.
Predictive Bandwidth Harvesting
The Predictive Bandwidth Harvesting feature, predicts future network conditions to optimize software delivery without throttling the bandwidth. This speed up or slows down the content delivery where appropriate to not interfere with normal business traffic.
NetBoost
NetBoost helps us guarantee network responsiveness when the cause for slowdowns is not related to bandwidth.
Flow Equalizer
This feature protects the WAN by proactively leveling out traffic when multiple downloads occur at once.
Foreground Adaptive Transport
The Foreground Adaptive Transport protocol is used whenever we're communicating within a Location of one or more subnets. It effectively transports data across the network in the fastest and most effective manner possible.
Memory pipeline architecture
This feature delivers data quickly to peer systems on the LAN without impacting the end users.
Summary
A well-designed network topology in the OneSite Platform ensures efficient, reliable, and LAN-optimized content delivery. By defining accurate Locations, establishing clear parent–child hierarchies, and relying on RVP-driven content flow supported by Adaptiva’s Adaptive Transport protocols, these components work together to significantly reduce WAN utilization and streamline high-performance, LAN-based peer-to-peer content delivery.
Key takeaways
Build accurate Locations that reflect real network boundaries and consolidate unnecessary Auto-Locations
Define a logical parent–child hierarchy so content flows from the Central Office downward efficiently
RVPs coordinate peer discovery and content searches across subnet, Location, parent, and Central Office layers
Background and Foreground Adaptive Transport protocols optimize performance while protecting WAN and LAN traffic
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