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Using IOzone to benchmark NFS

Question & Answer


Question

How do I use IOzone to benchmark NFS?

Answer

You can use IOzone for NFS file system analysis. The benchmark generates and measures a variety of file operations. Using this program you can determine optimal packet size in relation to file size.

First, download the tool from the IOzone website:

IOzone Source

NFS performance numbers are typically heavily dependent on its very aggressive caching techniques. The following examples show some tests you may want to execute to determine the best packet size vs. file size. (Results are written to the specified file.)

To run all tests on 1 stream:

    #iozone -R -l 1 -u 1 -r 4k -s 100m -F /export/home/nfstest/test1

To run all tests on 5 streams:
    #iozone -R -l 5 -u 5 -r 4k -s 100m -
    F /export/home/nfstest/test1 /export/home/nfstest/test2 /export/home/nfstest/test3 /export/home/nfstest/test4 /export/home/nfstest/test5

To run the read/write test on 5 streams:
    #iozone -R -l 5 -u 5 -r 4k -s 100m -i 0 -i 1 -
    F /export/home/nfstest/test1 /export/home/nfstest/test2 /export/home/nfstest/test3 /export/home/nfstest/test4 /export/home/nfstest/test5

To run an auto test:

Auto test runs a full range of packet size and record size and outputs the results to a spreadsheet.
    cd <nfs-shared-directory>
    #iozone -Rac -i 0 -i 1 -b output.wks

Online help is available from the IOzone command line:
    [root@cricket home]# iozone -h

For a full description, see the Iozone Filesystem Benchmark documentation.

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Historical Number

NZ223183

Document Information

Modified date:
17 October 2019

UID

swg21577115