Copying files through Deployment Server is slower than Direct via UNC

Products

• Deployment Solution

Issue/Introduction

 

Resolution

Problem

Copying files through Deployment Server is slower than Direct via UNC.

Environment
Deployment Server 6.x

Cause
Copying files through Deployment Server is naturally slower than Direct via UNC because Deployment Server copies report information such as % Complete, and supports Resuming Failed File Transfers.

Resolution

Deployment Server copies will never be as fast as Direct UNC copies. However, you can fine-tune the number of File Transfer Threads your Deployment Server uses to optimize the file transfer rate.

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Add a DWORD Value named "FileTransferThreads" to HKLM\Software\Altiris\Altiris eXpress\Options and set the value data for FileTransferThreads to 3 (the default value).
2. Restart the Altiris eXpress Server service.
3. Start a Deployment Server Copy file job on your computers.
4. Take note of the CPU Usage in the Performance tab and of the Network Utilization in the Networking tab.
5. Increase the number of FileTransferThreads. Repeat steps 2 through 5 until you find the number of FileTransferThreads that gets the best Network Utilization without overworking the CPU. If two FileTransferThreads values give you the same Network Utilization, use the lesser of the two.