Novell NETWARE 6-DOCUMENTATION Manual page 2936

Tuning Directory Cache for the Traditional File System
Three Directory Cache Tuning Strategies
24
Server Memory Administration Guide
The information for tuning directory cache applies only to NetWare servers
using the traditional NetWare file system. Directory cache is not used by the
Novell Storage Services
As directory entries are read and operated upon by a user, NetWare caches the
entries to make repeated use of an entry more efficient. In a default
configuration, NetWare allocates 20 cache buffers of 4 KB each. Each block
read into a cache buffer contains 32 entries.
The default number of buffers is appropriate for only a small number of users.
The tuning strategies in this section can help you tune the directory cache to
meet your network's requirements.
Sizing the directory cache depends largely on the characteristics of the
workload the server supports. The key is the frequency and breadth of
directory searches, file opens, closes, and creations.
A low-use scenario involves any number of users in which a small
number of directories are shared or in which each user's activity is limited
to a small region of the directory, such as a home directory.
A high-use scenario involves any number of users, but user activity spans
a very large number of directories and files. An extreme case might be a
document-based system in which document searches routinely traverse
large portions of a very large directory.
Strategy 1: Tuning for Low Use
To handle low memory use, you probably won't need to allocate any more
cache than the NetWare default. By default, NetWare allocates 20 buffers
immediately upon request, followed by a maximum allocation of up to 500
buffers (about 2 MB). This is sufficient for the majority of low-use scenarios.
Strategy 2: Tuning for High Use
To tune for very high use, change the following SET parameters to the values
shown using NetWare Remote Manager, MONITOR, or SET commands at the
System Console prompt.
MINIMUM DIRECTORY CACHE BUFFERS = 2000
MAXIMUM DIRECTORY CACHE BUFFERS = 4000
(NSS) file system.
TM