[doc] add blobs sync docs

3 files changed, 51 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/docs/reference/blobs.rst b/docs/reference/blobs.rst
index dd76a2ce..9201203a 100644
--- a/docs/reference/blobs.rst
+++ b/docs/reference/blobs.rst
@@ -17,3 +17,4 @@ synchronization process.
 
    blobs/server
    blobs/client
+   blobs/sync
diff --git a/docs/reference/blobs/sync.rst b/docs/reference/blobs/sync.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..729bb0ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/reference/blobs/sync.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+Blobs Synchronization
+=====================
+
+Because blobs are immutable, synchronization is much simpler than the
+JSON-based :ref:`document-sync`. The synchronization process is as follows:
+
+1. The client asks the server for a list of Blobs and compares it with the local list.
+2. A local list is updated with pending blobs download and upload.
+3. Downloads and uploads are triggered.
+
+Immutability brings some characteristics to the blobs system:
+
+- There's no need for storage of versions or revisions.
+- Updating is not possible (you would need to delete and recreate a blob).
+
+Synchronization status
+----------------------
+
+In the client-side, each has an associated synchronization status, which can be
+one of:
+
+- `SYNCED`: The blob exists both in this client and in the server.
+- `PENDING_UPLOAD`: The blob was inserted locally, but has not yet been uploaded.
+- `PENDING_DOWNLOAD`: The blob exists in the server, but has not yet been downloaded.
+- `FAILED_DOWNLOAD`: A download attempt has been made but the content is corrupted for some reason.
+
+Concurrency limits
+------------------
+
+In order to increase the speed of synchronization on the client-size,
+concurrent database operations and transfers to the server are allowed. Despite
+that, to prevent indiscriminated use or client resources (cpu, memory,
+bandwith), concurrenty limits are set both for database operations and for data
+transfer.
+
+Transfer retries
+----------------
+
+When a blob is queded for download or upload, it will stay in that queue until
+the transfer has been successful or until there has been an unrecoverable
+transfer error. Currently, the only unrecoverable transfer error is a failed
+verification of the blob tag (i.e. a failed MAC verification).
+
+Successive transfer attempts have an increasing delay between them, to minimize
+competition for resources used by other concurrent transfer attempts. The delay
+starts with 10 seconds and increases to 20, 30, 40, 50, and finally 60 seconds
+on each new failed attempt. The delay for a new retry then stays at 60 seconds
+for new attempts.
diff --git a/docs/reference/document-sync.rst b/docs/reference/document-sync.rst
index 679e0a6f..51a02945 100644
--- a/docs/reference/document-sync.rst
+++ b/docs/reference/document-sync.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+.. _document-sync:
+
 Document synchronization
 ========================