StorNext File System Tuning

File Size Mix and Application I/O Characteristics

 

Command Options on page 16). So, it is typically most important to

 

optimize the RAID cache configuration settings described earlier in this

 

document.

 

It is usually best to configure the RAID stripe size no greater than 256K

 

for optimal small file buffer cache performance.

 

For more buffer cache configuration settings, see Mount Command

 

Options on page 16.

 

It is best to isolate NFS and/or CIFS traffic off of the metadata network to

NFS / CIFS

eliminate contention that will impact performance. For optimal

 

 

performance it is necessary to use 1000BaseT instead of 100BaseT. When

 

possible, it is also best to utilize TCP Offload capabilities as well as jumbo

 

frames.

 

It is best practice to have clients directly attached to the same network

 

switch as the NFS or CIFS server. Any routing required for NFS or CIFS

 

traffic incurs additional latency that impacts performance.

 

It is critical to make sure the speed/duplex settings are correct, because

 

this severely impacts performance. Most of the time auto-detectis the

 

correct setting. Some managed switches allow setting speed/duplex (for

 

example 1000Mb/full,) which disables auto-detectand requires the host to

 

be set exactly the same. However, if the settings do not match between

 

switch and host, it severely impacts performance. For example, if the

 

switch is set to auto-detect but the host is set to 1000Mb/full, you will

 

observe a high error rate along with extremely poor performance. On

 

Linux, the mii-diagtool can be very useful to investigate and adjust speed/

 

duplex settings.

 

A higher performance alternative to NFS and CIFS is ISCSI. If

 

performance requirements cannot be achieved with NFS or CIFS, SCSI

 

should be considered.

 

It can be useful to use a tool such as netperf to help verify network

 

performance characteristics.

StorNext File System Tuning Guide

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Quantum 6-01376-05 manual NFS / Cifs