The following sections outline the methodology that Novell Testing used to measure activity workload against Filr capacity.
To test Filr’s workload-handling capacity, Novell Testing did the following:
Created an expandable Large Filr Deployment, meaning that the /vashare mount point was on NFS, with a Windows 2012 file server on the back end.
No L4 switch was used. Instead, SSL termination was on Filr.
Defined three test user profiles:
Filr-Active Desktop
Filr-Active Mobile
Filr-Idle Desktop
Estimated the type and frequency of activities (tasks) that users in each profile would typically do.
Generated a workload by creating test scripts that leveraged the three test user profiles, their associated tasks, and the frequency of execution associated with them.
Ran the workload on the system for several hours to populate the test bed with files and folders so that the system reached a normal state.
After the system reached a normal state, began actively monitoring the CPU, RAM, and Network bandwidth utilizations for the Windows file server, the Filr VA, and the database server (MySQL).
Manually adjusted the task load frequency to discover the point at which CPU utilizations began to exceed an 85% average and system response times begin to lag behind the acceptable four-second-or-less
threshold.
Some assume that Filr’s load capacity is constrained by
The number of users that Filr serves
And/or
The number of directories and files on the system
This is not true.
The number of users and files affects the requirements for a Filr deployment only as the users and files generate a workload.
Organization A |
Organization B |
---|---|
Files: 100,000 |
Files: 10,000 |
Users: 5,000 |
Users: 500 |
Filr Role: Reference Library |
Filr Role: Primary Workspace |
Activities: Users access Net Folders only when they have policy or other questions. They only read the files, never modify them. |
Activities: Users regularly update files that are shared with other users.They occasionally rename, create, and delete files in their assigned Net Folders. |
Activity Workload Details: One Filr activity per user every 10 minutes |
Activity Workload Details: One Filr activity per user per minute |
Total Activity Workload: 500 Filr activities per minute |
Total Activity Workload: 500 Filr activities per minute |
Organization A has 10 times as many users and files as Organization B.
The workloads are identical.
The deployment requirements are the same for both organizations, except for disk space requirements.
The sole purpose for having 310 users in the test bed was to create an activity workload that could be easily manipulated and controlled.
From all other standpoints, the number of users in the test bed is irrelevant because, as stated in A False Assumption About the Number of Users and Files, the number of users does not directly affect Filr’s workload. Filr’s workload capacity is determined by its ability to handle the number of activities that users perform.
In order to produce workload capacity results that help administrators plan a Filr deployment, Novell Testing did the following:
Created 310 test users in Active Directory
Modeled three profile types to be randomly assigned to the test users
Identified the top ten activities that each profile type would typically perform
The three profiles are the Filr-Active Desktop, Filr-Idle Desktop, and Filr-Active Mobile profiles.
This represents users who are logged in to Filr and actively working in their assigned Net Folders and/or My Files (Home Folders).
Of the 310 total users, 80 are assigned to the Filr-Active Desktop Profile at any given point in time.
NOTE:In Table 1-1, My Files activities are separated from the same activities on Net Folders because My Files activities do not involve sharing.
By contrast, the two Net Folders in the test bed are shared by everyone. Therefore, when a change by one user requires a synchronization, the other 309 users will need to perform a Net Folder synchronization when they are assigned to the Filr-Active Desktop Profile and their 15-minute sync cycle comes around.
For this reason, the Filr-Active Desktop Profile activities workload is defined so that only 18% of the tasks affect other users. 82% of the tasks happen in My Files.
Table 1-1 Filr-Active Desktop Profile Activities
Task |
Frequency of Execution |
---|---|
Check for Net Folder synchronization flag |
Every 15 minutes |
Update a file in My Files (Home Folder) The update frequency was set 50% higher than the upload frequency because testers assumed that users edit and update files more frequently than they create and upload them. By the same token, testers assumed that it’s far more common for users to edit and do other work in their My Files/Home Directory areas than it is in Net Folders. |
45% |
Upload a file to My Files |
30% |
Delete Random File from My Files |
5% |
Comment on a file in My Files or a Net Folder Comments logged in a Net Folder flag the folder for synchronization, thus affecting all users assigned to the Net Folder. |
5% |
Rename a file in My Files or a Net Folder Renaming a file in a Net Folder, flags the folder for synchronization at the next sync interval, thus affecting all users assigned to the Net Folder. |
3% |
Update a file in a Net Folder Updating a file in a Net Folder, flags the folder for synchronization at the next sync interval, thus affecting all users assigned to the Net Folder. |
3% |
Upload a file to a NetFolder Uploading a file to a Net Folder, flags the folder for synchronization at the next sync interval, thus affecting all users assigned to the Net Folder. |
3% |
Delete a file from a Net Folder Deleting a file from a Net Folder, flags the folder for synchronization at the next sync interval, thus affecting all users assigned to the Net Folder. |
2% |
Share a file with a user Sharing a file in a Net Folder, flags the folder for synchronization at the next sync interval, thus affecting all users assigned to the Net Folder. |
2% |
Syncronize Now* This accounts for user-initiated manual syncs. |
2% |
This represents users who are logged in to Filr but are not actively working in their assigned folders. They might be doing other activities on their workstations, or they might be away from their desks.
Of the 310 total users, 150 are assigned to the Filr-Idle Desktop Profile at any given point in time.
Automatic Net Folder synchronizations by Filr-Idle connections amount to ~20 tasks per minute.
Table 1-2 Filr-Idle Desktop Profile Activities
Task |
Frequency of Execution |
---|---|
Check for Net Folder Synchronization flag |
Every 15 Minutes ~20 total per minute for all Filr-Idle users |
This represents users who are actively using a Filr App on a mobile device.
Of the 310 total users, 80 are assigned to the Filr-Active Mobile Profile at any given point in time.
Table 1-3 Filr-Active Mobile Profile Activities
Task |
Frequency of Execution |
---|---|
Get directory list This is set at a relatively high frequency because it happens each time the mobile device’s screen refreshes. |
25% |
Download a file |
25% |
Search for file |
20% |
View file info |
10% |
Share file |
5% |
View file comments |
5% |
Comment on a file |
4% |
Upload a file |
2% |
Rename file |
2% |
Delete file |
2% |
To ensure that the test bed was appropriate for testing Filr’s workload capacity, testers did the following things:
Set up two Net Folders and a Home directory for each user.
Started the system with zero files in Filr in order to match these best practice recommendations:
Deploy a separate Filr VA that is dedicated to Net Folder Synchronization.
Add users to the Filr system incrementally over time.
Established a robust flow of user activities against the Filr system.
Every 45 to 90 seconds (60-second average), the Filr-Active Desktop Profile checks whether it’s time to sync. If so, then it syncs. Otherwise, it picks another task according to its associated task frequency percentages.
All 310 users cycle through the three profiles, following the frequency percentages as they go.
Populated the Filr system with directories and files that approximate normal usage.
With a relatively high activity rate of total activities per minute, it didn’t take too long before the system contained a substantial number of files.
Let the system run for several hours to ensure that the system reached a test-ready state.
After the system had reached a test-ready state, testers did the following:
They logged in to the test bed Filr VA.
They performed tasks for the device type they were using, while also monitoring CPU usage and response times.
They balanced the test load on the system until CPU utilization averaged about 85% and response times were 4 seconds or less.
The optimal test load was determined to be about 160 activities per minute.