HOWTO: How to optimize file-based transfers for WAN connections

  • 7005632
  • 05-Apr-2010
  • 27-Apr-2012

Environment

PowerConvert v7.0 and PlateSpin Migrate / PlateSpin Protect 8.0 and higher

Situation

This article outlines how to optimize the file-based transfer engine for conversions with source and target servers across a Wide Area Network connection. These settings are global and will affect all jobs. File-based jobs include Live File-Based, VSS, and Take Control.

Resolution

You can fine-tune over-the-network file-level data transfers for optimum performance in your specific environment. You do this by modifying the product’s productinternal.config (powerconvert.config for PowerConvert Server 7.0) configuration file, located on your Portability Suite Server host, in the following directory:

\Program Files\PlateSpin Portability Suite Server\Web

Please note, these settings are Global to the PowerConvert/Portability Suite server. Local gigabit LAN conversion speeds may be negatively affected if these values are modified.

Below is a list of the configuration parameters with two sets of values: the defaults and the values recommended for optimum operation in a high-latency WAN environment.

 Parameter

Default Value

For High-Latency WANs

 

fileTransferThreadcount


Controls the number of TCP connections opened for file-based data transfer.

 

24 to 6

 

fileTransferMinCompressionLimit

Specifies the packet-level compression threshold in bytes.

 

0 (disabled)max 65536 (64 KB)

 

fileTransferCompressionThreadsCount

Controls the number of threads used for packet-level data compression. Ignored if compression is disabled.

Because the compression is CPU-bound, this setting might have a performance impact during Live Transfer.

 

2N/A

 

fileTransferSendReceiveBufferSize

TCP/IP window size setting for file transfer connections; controls the number of bytes sent without TCP acknowledgement, in bytes.

When the value is set to 0, the default TCP window size is being used (8 KB). For custom sizes, specify the size in bytes. Use the following formula to determine the proper value:

((LINK_SPEED(Mbps)/8)*DELAY(sec))*1024*1024

For example, for a 100 Mbps link with 10 ms latency, the proper buffer size would be:

(100/8)*0.01 * 1024 * 1024 = 131072 bytes


 

0 (8192 bytes) max 5242880 (5 MB)

 
If you have any questions regarding this article, please contact:  support@platespin.com