Glossary (SMCC NFS Server Performance and Tuning Guide)

SMCC NFS Server Performance and Tuning Guide

Attribute-intensive: Referring to applications or environments where primarily small files (one- to two-hundred bytes) are accessed. Software development is an example of an attribute-intensive environment.
Bandwidth: The difference in frequency between the highest and lowest frequency in a band. This is the peak that cannot be exceeded.
Biod: Asynchronous-block I/O daemon.
Capacity planning: Planning for and configuring in such a way as to allow for future use of a server or system.
Client demand: The request for services generated by server clients. See also load.
Configuration: The number and relationships of internal and subsystem components (for instance, disk drives and network interfaces).
Configuration estimation: Estimating the server or system configuration that will produce the best performance for the current and anticipated tasks to be performed by the server.

Data-intensive: Referring to applications or environments, where primarily large files are accessed. A large file might be defined as a file that takes one or more seconds to transfer (roughly 512 Kbytes to 1 Mbyte). CAD or CAE are examples of data-intensive environments.
Fully-active client: An NFS client that is performing NFS operations, such as reading in a file.
IP: Internet protocol
Latency: See operation latency.
Load: The request for services generated by server clients.
Load estimation: A component task of configuration estimation. Calculation of the normal work load likely to occur on the server with current and near-term projection of frequency and types of (in this case) NFS tasks. These statistics are used in making decisions about server configuration.
Operation latency: The elapsed time between issuing a request and receiving the response.
Throughput: The number of NFS operations (for instance, write or getattr) performed in a time period, usually one second.
Tuning: A task or tasks executed with the purpose of improving performance.
UDP: User Datagram Protocol. A transport protocol in the Internet suite of protocols. UDP, like TCP, uses IP for delivery. However, unlike TCP, UDP provides for exchange of datagrams without acknowledgments or guaranteed delivery.