eDir 8.8, Priority Sync

One of the things that grabbed by attention with 8.8 is 'priority sync'. The documentation has an overview of it:
6.0 Priority Sync

Priority Sync is a new feature in Novell® eDirectory 8.8™ that is complimentary to the current synchronization process in eDirectory. Through Priority Sync, you can synchronize the modified critical data, such as passwords, immediately.

You can sync your critical data through Priority Sync when you cannot wait for normal synchronization. The Priority Sync process is faster than the normal synchronization process. Priority Sync is supported only between two or more eDirectory 8.8 or later servers hosting the same partition.

6.1 Need for Priority Sync

Normal synchronization can take some time, during which the modified data would not be available on other servers. For example, suppose that in your setup you have different applications talking to the directory. You change your password on Server1. With normal synchronization, it is some time before this change is synchronized with Server2. Therefore, a user would still be able to authenticate to the directory through an application talking to Server2, using the old password.

In large deployments, when the critical data of an object is modified, changes need to be synchronized immediately. The Priority Sync process resolves this issue.
Which sounds spiffy. Instant sync of passwords? I'm all for that. Then I remembered, 'wasn't that happening already? That's right, that's the "SYNC_IMMEDIATE" flag in schema.' And that's what's described in this older CoolSolutions article.

Looking at iMonitor I see this:
Screencap of iMonitor screen
As 90-95% of our user objects are in either the root container or the students container, those are the statistics I'm interested in. The "maximum ring delta" number is very, very rarely over 30 seconds for these two partitions. With it being intersession right now, we're seeing some higher numbers than usual right now but it is still kept in close sync. As we have 24 hour computer labs, and a simple login causes several user-object attributes to update, we have a continual flow of directory changes. In our case, using Priority Sync would buy us a few seconds at most. We're not under any sort of regulatory mandate to do things 'instantly' so that isn't an issue, and our password-change process is well known to our end users for taking "up to 5 minutes".

Still, I like the idea even if it isn't a good fit for us.