Which method is better for use rsync with? SSH or rsync server?

Question

I'm new with rsync. I'm planing to use it to sync files bettween 3 servers. 2 of them are on Centos and one on Windows.

The question is what is the best way to use rsync? With SSH or with rsync server?

Answer 1

If you want public, anonymous access then use a rsync server. If you need auth, use it over SSH.

Answer 2

If you're doing 3-way sync, it's probably best to use SSH. Rsyncd is more for a central file server, similar to FTP.

Answer 3

They're for different things.

Running an rsync server will use less system resources, but requires setup and isn't secure. Generally, you'd use it for anonymous public distribution of static content.

Running rsync over ssh is secure, and usually doesn't require any particular configuration. Of course, you have to have user authentication in place already, so it's not a good choice for public distribution. You'd use that if the data isn't meant to be public, and if the resource usage savings isn't worth the hassle or don't apply to your data distribution pattern.

If you need security and need to re-serve static data multiple times and you are resource constrained, you can also use rsync in daemon mode over ssh — see the rsync man page.