1.3 Observations

1.3.1 More CPUs Help

After completing the initial test run and gathering results, testers then ran the testbed with 8 CPUs assigned to the Filr VA.

There was a dramatic difference in workload capacity when additional CPUs were assigned. It seems logical, therefore, that some organizations might want to consider adding more CPUs before deciding to add more Filr VAs.

A good rule of thumb might be to consume all of the CPUs available to a Filr VA before adding another VA.

1.3.2 SSL Termination

Deploying an L4 switch would offload some tasks from Filr and affect its workload-handling capacity to some degree.

1.3.3 Failure Is Not Catastrophic

Before completing the initial run, testers pushed the system well beyond the acceptable performance limit.

The only problem encountered was how long it took Filr to respond to requests. The user experience became unacceptable, but Filr did not fail.

1.3.4 Number of Files Impacts Sync Time

The exact number of files in the Filr system was not tracked because it grew constantly over the course of the test. However, as the number of files in the system increased, the time required to synchronize increased proportionately.

1.3.5 File Size Doesn’t Impact Sync Time

Changes in Filr 1.1 have eliminated previous differences in the time it takes to synchronize files of different sizes.

NOTE:This test did not measure the time required to index file content if that feature is enabled. There is a definite correlation between file size and the time required to index file content.

1.3.6 Filr scaling Is Linear

Increasing the load capacity of the Filr deployment by adding Filr VAs is a linear process. As long as no outside system constraint is encountered, such as network or file server bandwidth limitations, each added Filr VA (up to 5) handles an additional load equal to the load of the other VAs.

1.3.7 Extrapolating the Test Results

Every organization is unique. Novell cannot provide a formula to yield the Filr requirements for your organization.

However, after you have estimated the activity workload in your environment, you can then extrapolate based on the data presented in this white paper.

For example,

Considering the test bed that Novell Testing created and the results obtained, it seems reasonable that

  • If your organization has 1,000 users whose activities match the percentages shown for the test user profiles

  • And if 20% (200) of your users are doing a listed activity every minute

  • And if your environment matches the test bed used for this white paper, it should handle your activity workload.

By the same token,

  • If your organization has 2,000 users whose activities match the percentages shown for the profiles

  • And if 10% (200) of them (including those who are Filr-idle) are doing a listed activity every minute

  • And if your environment matches the test bed, it should handle the activity workload.