IMPORTANT NOTE:SQLIO has been deprecated, as shown at http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sql_server_team/archive/2015/12/11/sqlio-disk-subsystem-benchmark-tool-is-being-retired.aspx DiskSpd is the suitable replacement for SQLIO. You can find details on that at http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2014/10/13/diskspd-powershell-and-storage-performance-measuring-iops-throughput-and-latency-for-both-local-disks-and-smb-file-shares.aspx ---------------- Overview My last TechEd demo showed some interesting performance data for SMB3 over RDMA (SMB Direct), including the latest small IO improvements in Windows Server 2012 R2. Since I … Continue reading SMB Direct and RDMA performance demo from TechEd (includes summary, PowerShell scripts and links)
Tag: Networking
Troubleshooting File Server Networking Issues in Windows Server 2012 R2
In this blog post, I’m sharing a few troubleshooting tips related to File Server Networking in Windows Server 2012 R2. For each one, I first describe the issue that is commonly reported, followed by a quick explanation of the root cause of the issue and finally a way to solve it. Let me know if … Continue reading Troubleshooting File Server Networking Issues in Windows Server 2012 R2
Selecting the number of nodes for your Scale-Out File Server Cluster
I recently got a stream of e-mails and questions about the maximum number of cluster nodes you can have in a Scale-Out File Server cluster. For the record, we test and support up to 8 nodes per file server cluster. This is the case for both Windows Server 2012 (which introduced the Scale-Out File Server … Continue reading Selecting the number of nodes for your Scale-Out File Server Cluster
Iron Networks shows a complete private cloud pod at MMS 2013 with Windows Server 2012 (Storage Spaces, SMB3, Hyper-V) and System Center 2012 SP1
I was visiting the expo area at MMS 2013 earlier today and saw that Iron Networks was showing a private cloud pod there, complete with a set of well-matched layers of compute, storage and networking. They were demonstrating several of the latest capabilities in Windows Server 2012 and System Center 2012 SP1, including: Shared SAS … Continue reading Iron Networks shows a complete private cloud pod at MMS 2013 with Windows Server 2012 (Storage Spaces, SMB3, Hyper-V) and System Center 2012 SP1
Q and A: I only have two NICs on my Hyper-V host. Should I team them or not?
Question via e-mail: I am using blade servers for my Hyper-V cluster and I can only have two NICs per blade in this configuration. I am considering two options on how to configure the NICs: 1) Use one NIC for internal network and one NIC for external network, connected to the virtual switch2) Team the two NICs … Continue reading Q and A: I only have two NICs on my Hyper-V host. Should I team them or not?
How much traffic needs to pass between the SMB Client and Server before Multichannel actually starts?
One smart MVP was doing some testing and noticed that SMB Multichannel did not trigger immediately after an SMB session was established. So, he asked: How much traffic needs to pass between the SMB Client and Server before Multichannel actually starts? Well... SMB Multichannel works slightly different in that regard depending on whether the client is … Continue reading How much traffic needs to pass between the SMB Client and Server before Multichannel actually starts?
Is accessing files via a loopback share the same as using a local path?
Question from a user (paraphrased): When we access a local file via loopback UNC path, is this the same as accessing via the local path? I mean, is "C:myfoldera.txt" equal to "myservermysharea.txt" or I'll be using TCP/IP in any way?Answer from SMB developer: When accessing files over loopback, the initial connect and the metadata operations … Continue reading Is accessing files via a loopback share the same as using a local path?
How to use the new SMB 3.0 WMI classes in Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 (from PowerShell)
If you're an IT Administrator, you're likely to use the new SMB PowerShell cmdlets to manage your SMB 3.0 file shares. You can find details about those at http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2012/06/27/the-basics-of-smb-powershell-a-feature-of-windows-server-2012-and-smb-3-0.aspx However, if you're a developer, you might be interested in learning about the WMI v2 classes that are behind those PowerShell cmdlets. They are easy to … Continue reading How to use the new SMB 3.0 WMI classes in Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 (from PowerShell)
Windows Server 2012 File Server Tip: Use multiple subnets when deploying SMB Multichannel in a cluster
SMB Multichannel will let you use multiple network interfaces at once for added throughput and network fault tolerance. When using it with non-clustered file servers, you have the most flexible options, including using multiple NICs on the same subnet. In fact, you can have all the multiple NICs on the same server configured automatically via … Continue reading Windows Server 2012 File Server Tip: Use multiple subnets when deploying SMB Multichannel in a cluster
Windows Server 2012 File Server Tip: Make sure your network interfaces are RSS-capable
The new SMB Multichannel feature improves performance for network interfaces by using multiple TCP connections for a single network interface automatically. SMB will only do this if your network interface reports itself as RSS-capable, which means it can use Receive Side Scaling. You can check that with the Get-SmbServerNetworkInterface or the Get-SmbClientNetworkInterface PowerShell cmdlets. See … Continue reading Windows Server 2012 File Server Tip: Make sure your network interfaces are RSS-capable
Jose Barreto's Blog 