8.2 Improving Disk Reads on Traditional Volumes

On a server that is read-intensive, the following procedures can improve the speed of disk reads on your NetWare Traditional volumes.

8.2.1 Change Concurrent Disk and Directory Writes for Faster Reads for Traditional Volumes

Use this procedure if your server is slow to respond to read requests.

NOTE:This procedure requires that you decrease the values of the Maximum Concurrent Disk Cache Writes parameter and the Maximum Concurrent Directory Cache Writes parameter. Although decreasing these values increases the speed of read requests, it might decrease the speed and efficiency of write requests.

Modify the following parameters by using SET as described in the NW 6.5 SP8: Utilities Reference.

  • Decrease the value of Maximum Concurrent Disk Cache Writes.

    If the parameter is currently set to the default value of 50, try setting the value to 10.

  • Decrease the value of Maximum Concurrent Directory Cache Writes.

    If the parameter is currently set to the default value of 10, try setting the value to 5.

  • Increase the value of Directory Cache Buffer Non Referenced Delay.

    This parameter specifies how long a directory entry must be cached before it can be overwritten. Increasing this value causes the system to allocate more directory cache buffers and thus speeds up directory access.

    If the parameter is currently set to the default value of 5.5 seconds, try setting the value to 60 seconds.

8.2.2 Change the Turbo FAT Wait Time for Faster Reads of Traditional Volumes

When a program randomly accesses a file that contains more than 64 file allocation table (FAT) entries, the file system builds a turbo FAT index for the file so that the information in the file can be accessed quickly.

The Turbo FAT Re-Use Wait Time parameter specifies how long a turbo FAT index remains in memory after the indexed file is closed. When the turbo FAT index is in memory, files can be opened and information accessed faster.

If network users frequently access files larger than 64 blocks, increase the value of FAT Re-Use Wait Time, using SET in the NW 6.5 SP8: Utilities Reference. You must specify the value in seconds.The new setting is persistent through a server reboot. If the parameter is currently set to the default value of 329.5 seconds (5 minutes 29.6 seconds), try setting the value to 600 seconds (10 minutes).