samba - Nov 2003 - Optimizations for Speed on Gigabit Network

Can anyone tell me if the default installation of samba 2.2.8a (on Mandrake 
9.2) will give me the optimum throughput over my Gigabit Network? 

I realize that there are many things that affect throughput on a network 
(like the TCP/IP Receive Window, for instance -- or using a standard MTU of 1500
versus jumbo frames). But I also want to know if there is anything I can set in 
the smb.conf file that will help me get the best throughput possible. 

My scenario is as follows. I have 6 users on Windows XP machines all running 
a video editing program. All users need to access the same video files on my 
Linux Machine (the files are stored on a fast raid array). 

All users are connected to the Linux machine via Gigabit over copper network 
adapters. I have a gigabit switch that DOES NOT support jumbo frames, so I 
have the use the standard MTU of 1500. 

Most of the time, users are accessing very large files (200 MB to 2 GB in 
size) and opening hundreds of these files at a time to play bits and pieces of 
the video and audio from each file. 

Are there any buffer settings or other settings for SAMBA that will help me 
get the best throughput from the Linux box to the client side, as well as the 
reverse? 

Thanks in advance for the advice. 

Andy Liebman

> Can anyone tell me if the default installation of samba 2.2.8a (on Mandrake
> 9.2) will give me the optimum throughput over my Gigabit Network? 
> I realize that there are many things that affect throughput on a network 
> (like the TCP/IP Receive Window, for instance -- or using a standard MTU of
1500
> versus jumbo frames). But I also want to know if there is anything I can
set in
> the smb.conf file that will help me get the best throughput possible. 
Tweak settings and test with smbtorture.
ftp://ftp.kalamazoolinux.org/pub/pdf/PerfTune2001.pdf
> My scenario is as follows. I have 6 users on Windows XP machines all
running
> a video editing program. All users need to access the same video files on
my
> Linux Machine (the files are stored on a fast raid array). 
I think the underlying filesystem could make a big difference.  Most
modern filesystems have a fair amount of tweakability themselves.   If
the files are large use a big block size.