Machine - Tune File System

Sets file system performance tuning parameters for a Grooper server.

Remarks

This command sets a selected set of performance tuning registry keys which control control caching when accessing network file shares. Tuning these settings for servers accessing a a Grooper File Store can be important when processing small, single-document batches in parallel, with Activity Processing and/or Import Watcher services distributed across multiple servers. In such a configuration, nodes can move from step to step in a Batch Process very quickly, causing multiple servers to access the same node within milliseconds of each other.

Because Windows servers cache information when accessing a network file share, a situation can occur where Server A processes a node and writes a new file, but Server B can't see that file when it tries processing the node 1 second later. This forces Server B into a wait loop. When the cache updates and the file becomes visible, processing will continue. The settings adjusted by this command command control how long these wait times are.

When a cache miss occurs, a warning will appear in the Grooper log, which may be viewed from the Root - Events tab on the Design Page. These entries can be reviewed to see how often waits occur, and how long they are.

Properties

Name	Type		Description
Directory Cache Lifetime	Int32	►	Controls how long this machine will cache directory listings from the file server. Default10 During task processing, this determines how long this server may have to wait before it sees a file created from a different server. If processing small single-document batches, a setting of 4 seconds has demonstrated good results in testing. A value of 0 disables caching entirely.
File Info Cache Lifetime	Int32	►	Controls how long this machine will cache metadata and attributes for individual files. Default10 It is recommended that this property be set to the same value as the Directory Cache Lifetime. A value of 0 disables caching entirely.

See Also

Machine