Top Banner
PERFORMANCE BRIEF UNIX File Sharing Riverbed Steelhead ® Appliances Accelerate the NFS Protocol NFS over the WAN The NFS protocol is the most widely-used distributed file system protocol in the UNIX ® world. UNIX users running Solaris, HP-UX, and many varieties of Linux use NFS to move files between systems. Applications in server environments rely on NFS to access large data stores on remote NAS devices. Though a robust protocol, NFS is subject to the same performance limitations as other protocols when used over a wide-area network (WAN). NFS operations should operate seamlessly between geographically disparate locations without the need for complex scripting and protocol-hopping. Whether a network mount is to a local data store or to one thousands of miles away, users should experience the same level of performance from their applications. Steelhead-Enhanced NFS Riverbed significantly optimizes the NFS protocol to deliver LAN-like performance for remote offices and between distant data centers by utilizing the Riverbed Optimization System (RiOS), which simultaneously addresses bandwidth constraints and the combined effects of latency and protocol inefficiencies. RiOS uses fine grain data reduction as well as compression to perform Data Streamlining, reducing bandwidth utilization by 60 to 99%. Transport Streamlining and Application Streamlining minimize protocol chattiness, eliminating 65 to 98% of packet round trips across the WAN. RiOS also utilizes specialized Application Streamlining for NFS, which enables dramatic performance improvements for UNIX-based environments. Performance Improvements Test results show that Riverbed Steelhead appliances dramatically accelerate common file operations using the NFS protocol, and significantly reduce WAN bandwidth utilization. A common NFS operation like ls (used to generate directory listings) can see acceleration up to 224 times. File copies (reads or writes) can be accelerated up to and beyond 53x and can see bandwidth reduction in excess of 99%. TEST SUMMARY More than 53 times faster NFS v3 » file operations More than 224 times faster NFS v3 » directory operations Up to 99% reduction in bandwidth » utilization TESTING SCENARIO These tests were performed using Linux Fedora Core 3 for both the client and server platforms. NFS version 3 was configured to run over TCP with 32K read and write buffers. Standard shell commands were used for directory enumeration and file copies to and from remote NFS share. The performance tests were run on a T1 WAN link with latency of 100ms. The variables tested included the size and number of files. A “First Operation” is defined as a data transfer that has never been seen by the Steelhead appliance before (completely new data). A “Subsequent Operation” is defined as a data transfer in which the Steelhead appliance has seen most or all of the data before (an incremental change or data that has been used by another application across the WAN). Directory Read: List 1000 files in a directory over T1 WAN – Time to Complete (in seconds) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 Without Steelhead First Steelhead Transfer Subsequent Steelhead Transfers More than 224x faster
4

UNIX File Sharing - Riverbed · PERFORMANCE BRIEF UNIX File Sharing Riverbed Steelhead® Appliances Accelerate the NFS Protocol NFS over the WAN The NFS protocol is the most widely-used

Sep 28, 2018

Download

Documents

phamliem
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Page 1: UNIX File Sharing - Riverbed · PERFORMANCE BRIEF UNIX File Sharing Riverbed Steelhead® Appliances Accelerate the NFS Protocol NFS over the WAN The NFS protocol is the most widely-used

PERFORMANCE BRIEF

UNIX File SharingRiverbed Steelhead® Appliances Accelerate the NFS Protocol

NFS over the WANThe NFS protocol is the most widely-used distributed file system protocol in the UNIX® world. UNIX users running Solaris, HP-UX, and many varieties of Linux use NFS to move files between systems. Applications in server environments rely on NFS to access large data stores on remote NAS devices. Though a robust protocol, NFS is subject to the same performance limitations as other protocols when used over a wide-area network (WAN). NFS operations should operate seamlessly between geographically disparate locations without the need for complex scripting and protocol-hopping. Whether a network mount is to a local data store or to one thousands of miles away, users should experience the same level of performance from their applications.

Steelhead-Enhanced NFSRiverbed significantly optimizes the NFS protocol to deliver LAN-like performance for remote offices and between distant data centers by utilizing the Riverbed Optimization System (RiOS), which simultaneously addresses bandwidth constraints and the combined effects of latency and protocol inefficiencies. RiOS uses fine grain data reduction as well as compression to perform Data Streamlining, reducing bandwidth utilization by 60 to 99%. Transport Streamlining and Application Streamlining minimize protocol chattiness, eliminating 65 to 98% of packet round trips across the WAN. RiOS also utilizes specialized Application Streamlining for NFS, which enables dramatic performance improvements for UNIX-based environments.

Performance ImprovementsTest results show that Riverbed Steelhead appliances dramatically accelerate common file operations using the NFS protocol, and significantly reduce WAN bandwidth utilization. A common NFS operation like ls (used to generate directory listings) can see acceleration up to 224 times. File copies (reads or writes) can be accelerated up to and beyond 53x and can see bandwidth reduction in excess of 99%.

TEST SummARy

More than 53 times faster NFS v3 »»file operations

More than 224 times faster NFS v3 »»directory operations

Up to 99% reduction in bandwidth »»utilization

TESTiNg ScENARio

These tests were performed using Linux Fedora Core 3 for both the client and server platforms. NFS version 3 was configured to run over TCP with 32K read and write buffers. Standard shell commands were used for directory enumeration and file copies to and from remote NFS share.

The performance tests were run on a T1 WAN link with latency of 100ms. The variables tested included the size and number of files.

A “First Operation” is defined as a data transfer that has never been seen by the Steelhead appliance before (completely new data).

A “Subsequent Operation” is defined as a data transfer in which the Steelhead appliance has seen most or all of the data before (an incremental change or data that has been used by another application across the WAN).

Directory Read: List 1000 files in a directory over T1 WAN – Time to Complete (in seconds)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110

WithoutSteelhead

FirstSteelhead Transfer

SubsequentSteelhead Transfers More than 224x faster

Page 2: UNIX File Sharing - Riverbed · PERFORMANCE BRIEF UNIX File Sharing Riverbed Steelhead® Appliances Accelerate the NFS Protocol NFS over the WAN The NFS protocol is the most widely-used

DEPloymENT BENEFiTS

Deploying Riverbed for the NFS protocol provides multiple benefits, including:

Improved productivity.• NFS file transfer and directory browsing operations over the WAN can now be significantly accelerated. By dramatically reducing the time needed to complete common operations, users can save hours each day.

Faster, more efficient collaboration.• By reducing the time for common NFS file operations by an order of magnitude or more, Steelhead appli-ances enable users in multiple offices to work collaboratively on shared data, as NFS file operations can be performed more efficiently.

Reduced bandwidth utilization.• Steelhead appliances significantly reduce bandwidth utilization for remote offices connecting to remote NFS shares, thus reducing IT costs.

Riverbed Optimization System (RiOS) Features

RiOS software combines patent-pending data reduction, TCP optimization, application-level latency optimizations, and remote office file and management functionality. Together, these technologies provide a comprehensive solution for enterprise wide-area data services, scaling across a range of applications and network topologies to accelerate applications up to 100x. RiOS consists of four key components:

Data Streamlining – RiOS Data Streamlining works across all applications to reduce bandwidth consumption by 60% to 95%. Data Streamlining works across Windows file sharing (including MS Office), NFS, Email (including MS Exchange and Lotus Notes), CAD, ERP, databases, and all other applications that use TCP, to ensure the same data is never sent more than once over the WAN. Data Streamlining also supports Quality-of-Service enforcement for all applications.

Transport Streamlining – RiOS Transport Streamlining reduces the number of TCP pack-ets required to transfer data by 65% to 98%. Transport Streamlining overcomes TCP limitations by adapting transmission characteristics such as window scale, loss handling, congestion notification, and more. RiOS Transport Streamlining also enables greater utilization of high bandwidth, high latency connections with High-Speed TCP capabilities.

Application Streamlining – RiOS Application Streamlining provides additional order-of-magnitude application performance improvements by reducing application protocol chattiness up to 98% and minimizing application overhead. By minimizing application demands on the network such as application protocol round trips and required network connections, RiOS can provide massive throughput increases to applications including Windows file sharing (CIFS), Exchange (MAPI), Web (HTTP), UNIX-based applications (NFS) and Database (MS-SQL). RiOS also includes important features for maximizing branch office productivity, such as file server capabilities and transparent pre-population of popular data.

PERFORMANCE BRIEF: uNiX File Sharing

Data Copy: Read 37.8MB file over T1 WAN – Bandwidth Utilization (in MB)

*These results are based on the testing scenario presented in this paper. Your results may vary based on the conditions of your own network and the specifics of your own use cases.

0 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48

WithoutSteelhead

FirstSteelhead Transfer

SubsequentSteelhead Transfers 99% less WAN traffic

Data Copy: Read 37.8MB file over T1 WAN – Time to Complete (in seconds)

0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225

WithoutSteelhead

FirstSteelhead Transfer

SubsequentSteelhead Transfers More than 53x faster

Page 3: UNIX File Sharing - Riverbed · PERFORMANCE BRIEF UNIX File Sharing Riverbed Steelhead® Appliances Accelerate the NFS Protocol NFS over the WAN The NFS protocol is the most widely-used

Management Streamlining – RiOS simplifies the deployment and management of appli-cation acceleration infrastructure by employing a transparent approach to communications. RiOS enables easy deployment through auto-discovery of peers and auto-interception of traffic, with no reconfiguration of clients, servers, or routers necessary. RiOS simplifies ongoing management by providing simple but powerful Web-based and command line interfaces and reporting, as well as the integrated, centralized management and configuration. RiOS also enables a host of additional management features including dozens of deployment configurations, capabilities for redundancy, optional IPsec encryption, RADIUS/TACACS+ authentication, and SNMP traps.

Typical Deployment Architecture

Steelhead Appliances Accelerate a Broad Range of Applications

BRANCH OFFICEDATA CENTER

Steelhead

Clients

WAN

Steelhead

NFS Filer

Tape Backup

25x 100x or more ->0 5x 10x 15x 20x

ERP - Web Client

ERP - Fat Client

Database - Oracle SQL

Database - MS-SQL

Software Distribution - SMS

Backup & Replication

FTP

Web - HTTP, Intranet, ERP

Mail - Notes

Mail - Exchange (MAPI)

File Sharing - Unix (NFS)

File Sharing - Windows (CIFS) 200

120

50

70

10

5

5

55

20

50

Document Management

50

60

Peak PerformanceMost Likely range

45

Page 4: UNIX File Sharing - Riverbed · PERFORMANCE BRIEF UNIX File Sharing Riverbed Steelhead® Appliances Accelerate the NFS Protocol NFS over the WAN The NFS protocol is the most widely-used

2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

About RiverbedRiverbed Technology is the IT performance company. The Riverbed family of wide area network (WAN) optimization solutions liberates businesses from common IT constraints by increasing application performance, enabling consolidation, and providing enterprise-wide network and application visibility – all while eliminating the need to increase bandwidth, storage or servers. Thousands of companies with distributed operations use Riverbed to make their IT infrastructure faster, less expensive and more responsive. Additional information about Riverbed (NASDAQ: RVBD) is available at www.riverbed.com.

Riverbed Technology199 Fremont StreetSan Francisco, CA 94105Tel: +1 415 247 8800Fax: +1 415 247 8801www.riverbed.com

Riverbed Technology Pte. Ltd.391A Orchard Road #22-06/10Ngee Ann City Tower ASingapore 238873Tel: +65 6508-7400

Riverbed Technology Ltd. Farley Hall, London RoadBinfieldBracknellBerks RG42 4EUTel: +44 (0) 1344 401900

Riverbed Technology K.K.Shiba-Koen Plaza Building 9F3-6-9, Shiba, Minato-kuTokyo, Japan 105-0014Tel: +81 3 5419 1990

© 2010 Riverbed Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Riverbed and any Riverbed product or service name or logo used herein are trademarks of Riverbed Technology, Inc. All other trademarks used herein belong to their respective owners.

PB-NFS022809