Slow file transfers in Sterling B2B Integrator – Things to Consider

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Whenever we run into a slow file transfer in Sterling B2B Integrator(SBI), it can be daunting to try to figure out where to start. Sometimes, actually most times, slow file transfers show no errors because the file was eventually successfully transferred.

Sterling B2B Integrator has several communication adapters in which we could focus and troubleshoot this issue.

Here are a few items to consider when you experience slow file transfer in SBI:

1. Did this ever work at a better performance or in a lower environment? Or is this a brand new implementation?
    

2. Identify whether SBI is the client or the server for the slow transfer scenario. Most of the SBI client adapters are different than the server adapters.
    
3. Once we determined whether we are the server or client, is this happening when we receive a file(inbound) or when we send it(outbound) or both? Depending on the adapter, the inbound and outbound configurations may differ.
   For example, the inbound path for a file might go through a remote Perimeter Server or even a firewall and load balancer if communicating with external entities. Sometimes an outbound connection may go directly to the trading partner through the local Perimeter server and no load balancer comes into play.
   *None of the above scenarios are required settings in SBI, I’m just pointing out that there may be differences in the path a file takes when it’s inbound or outbound.
    
4. If this is related to a client adapter, please investigate which step is the one taking a while to process in the business process. For example, if this is related to ftp client, is the ftp client begin session the step that is taking a long time to complete or is it the ftp client put or get steps, or the ftp client cd step? 
    
5. Is it one particular protocol or is it affecting all your file transfers across various protocols? This is very relevant because  if all file transfers are slow, then we need to consider a holistic approach. Could it be a network issue, tuning settings, Database health?
    
6. Consider the file size. Are smaller files transferring at an acceptable rate and the problem lies with larger files? Or does the file size doesn’t matter? Are other partners transferring larger files with no issues? Are other protocols transferring files with no issues?
    
7. Consider the trading partner. Whether it’s an internal partner or external partner, is this occurring with one particular trading partner or is it with every trading partner?
    
8. Is it feasible to do a test of the same file transfer between 2 servers in house? For example, use your SBI test as the server and your SBI QA as the client and have the SBI QA send a file to the test server. This can help narrow down the issue.
    
9. If the slow file transfer is using a complex business process sequence using a client adapter or using Sterling File Gateway, consider reproducing the issue with a simple business process to rule out any other complexities. A simple business process which contains the client begin and whatever step is slow and the client end steps should suffice to reproduce the issue. You can use as a reference the blog entry I wrote on this topic. This will help in isolating the issue.
    

10. Consider your version of the application. Sterling b2B Integrator L3 team is constantly fixing issues in the latest versions of the product. It’s always a good idea to go over the fixes that have been released at the time. For reference, here is a fix list released in SBI version 5.2 http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27045070

When you have a slow file transfer, these steps will help you on how to approach your troubleshooting efforts.

If you need assistance from IBM SBI support, please have the information mentioned above readily available for support.