Binary repository manager: Difference between revisions

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A '''binary repository manager''' is a software tool designed to optimize the download and storage of [[binary files]] used and produced in software development. It centralizes the management of all the binary artifacts generated and used by the organization to overcome the complexity arising from the diversity of binary artifact types, their position in the overall workflow and the dependencies between them.

A binary repository is a [[software repository]] for [[package (package management system)|packages]], artifacts and their corresponding metadata. It can be used to store binary files produced by an organization itself, such as product releases and [[daily build|nightly product builds]], or for third -party binaries which must be treated differently for both technical and legal reasons.

== Introduction ==

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Key factors and features when considering the adoption of a package manager include:<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/cwdn/2015/11/how-to-find-real-devops-look-for-binary-artifact-repository-control.html |title= How to find real DevOps, look for binary artifact repository control |last=Bridgewater | first=Adrian | date= 1 November 2015 |website=ComputerWeekly.com}}</ref>

*'''Caching''' – Caching simply stores local copies of packages in a [[cache (computing)|cache]]. This increases performance for slow internet connections by allowing the user to pull from the local repository instead of externally. Caching locally allows frequently used packages to be available even during times of external repository outages.

*'''Retention policies''' - Repository managers can be used and configured to support organization purging policies to ensure reasonable disk space usage. Local repositories for third party artifacts may also be purged after not being used by any release for a specified time.

*'''License filtering''' - Third party artifacts may be subject to approval processes due to licensing and legal issues. Package managers allow for the restriction of only approved artifacts into deployment.

*'''High availability''' - Since a binary repository manager maintains all the development dependencies, it is vital to always maintain access to these artifacts. Any down-time of the binary repository manager can halt development with all the significant consequences to the organization. A [[high availability]] instance allows an enterprise to overcome the risk associated with downtime, through automatic failover. This is achieved by having a redundant set of repository managers work against the same database and file storage, maintaining enterprise-wide stability and performance at all times.

*'''User restrictions''' - Repository managers can be integrated with other organizational systems such as [[LDAP]] or Single[[single Signsign-Onon]] servers to simplify and centralize [[computer access control|user management]]. This gives an enterprise granular control over who has access to vital software components.

== See also ==