If this feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Currently, our version control system struggles to efficiently manage and version large files, leading to inflated repository sizes, slow clone and fetch times, and difficulties in tracking changes to large assets. This impacts the productivity of our development team, especially when working with large datasets, multimedia files, and other binary assets that are essential to our projects.
Implementing Git Large File Storage (Git LFS) as a feature would address these issues by storing references to large files in the repository, while the files themselves are stored on a separate server. This would drastically reduce the repository size and improve performance, making it easier for the team to manage and share large assets without compromising on version control capabilities.
Related to story #38
Alternatives Considered If Applicable
Manual Large File Management: Instructing team members to manually manage large files outside of the version control system. This approach is error-prone and does not provide versioning for large files.
External Storage Solutions: Using third-party cloud storage solutions to host large files and sharing links within the repository. While this decouples large files from the repo, it introduces complexity and dependency on external services.
Both alternatives lack the integration and ease of use that Git LFS offers, making them less desirable for our needs.
Rationale
Git LFS integrates seamlessly with our existing Git workflows, allowing developers to continue using familiar Git commands. It supports versioning of large files, ensuring that every change is tracked and reversible, which is critical for maintaining the integrity of our projects. By reducing repository size and improving performance, Git LFS will also facilitate faster onboarding of new team members and enable more efficient collaboration among distributed teams. This feature aligns with our goals of maintaining a robust, scalable, and efficient development environment.
Implementation Ideas
Setup and Configuration: Begin by installing Git LFS on all development machines and configure it to track file types commonly used in our projects.
Migration: Identify and migrate existing large files in the repository to Git LFS, ensuring a smooth transition without disrupting ongoing development activities.
Documentation and Training: Update project documentation to include guidelines on working with Git LFS and organize a training session for the team.
CI/CD Integration: Modify our CI/CD pipelines to include checks that ensure large files are correctly managed with Git LFS, preventing accidental inclusion of large files directly into the repository.
Additional Context
The implementation of Git LFS would be a significant step towards optimizing our development workflows and ensuring that our version control system can scale with our needs. Given the increasing size and complexity of our projects, especially those involving machine learning models, multimedia content, and large datasets, Git LFS is becoming not just a beneficial, but a necessary addition to our toolset.
If this feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Currently, our version control system struggles to efficiently manage and version large files, leading to inflated repository sizes, slow clone and fetch times, and difficulties in tracking changes to large assets. This impacts the productivity of our development team, especially when working with large datasets, multimedia files, and other binary assets that are essential to our projects.
Implementing Git Large File Storage (Git LFS) as a feature would address these issues by storing references to large files in the repository, while the files themselves are stored on a separate server. This would drastically reduce the repository size and improve performance, making it easier for the team to manage and share large assets without compromising on version control capabilities.
Related to story #38
Alternatives Considered If Applicable
Both alternatives lack the integration and ease of use that Git LFS offers, making them less desirable for our needs.
Rationale
Git LFS integrates seamlessly with our existing Git workflows, allowing developers to continue using familiar Git commands. It supports versioning of large files, ensuring that every change is tracked and reversible, which is critical for maintaining the integrity of our projects. By reducing repository size and improving performance, Git LFS will also facilitate faster onboarding of new team members and enable more efficient collaboration among distributed teams. This feature aligns with our goals of maintaining a robust, scalable, and efficient development environment.
Implementation Ideas
Additional Context
The implementation of Git LFS would be a significant step towards optimizing our development workflows and ensuring that our version control system can scale with our needs. Given the increasing size and complexity of our projects, especially those involving machine learning models, multimedia content, and large datasets, Git LFS is becoming not just a beneficial, but a necessary addition to our toolset.