samba - Mar 2011 - Is it possible to use Samba as a proxy and cache for a slow CIFS drive ?

Hi all,

we have special scenario with a slow file share where Samba (maybe combined with
other tools) could help by acting like as a CIFS proxy and caching system:

We're testing an Alfresco ECM System which has a CIFS subsystem (based on
jLAN) that is simply to slow for our needs. In this setup the appserver Alfresco
(SUSE on vmwars ESXi) and the clients are on a local LAN with Gb Ethernet (some
clients on WLAN) connectivity and the clients (Windows and Mac) access Alfresco
via the CIFS share provided by ALfresco.

The Alfresco server is (due to it overhead (talking to the DB, indexing, etc.))
about six times slower when storing or reading files than a Samba mount on the
same machine or a NAS on the same network.

Now my idea is to put a caching layer in the middle between Alfresco and the
client that ...
* ... transparently sits in the middle between ALfresco and the clients
* ... caches read files and (on subsequent access) serves them directly instead
of from the repository
* ... caches write operations in a store-and-forward manner like a write back
cache (ie. signals OK to the client when the file is received locally and than
writes back to Alfresco asynronously)

So far, I've been discussing this with some WAFS vendors, but the ones I
came to know don't have anything in their toolbox to acheive this. Now
I'm completely stuck in finding a way to speed this up :-/

Maybe anybody can think of a way that Samba - maybe in combination with some
other tools - can create a solution for this problem ?

thx and kind regards, 

martin.

On 25 March 2011 15:11, Martin Gilly <mg at metamagix.net>
wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> we have special scenario with a slow file share where Samba (maybe combined
with other tools) could help by acting like as a CIFS proxy and caching system:
>
> We're testing an Alfresco ECM System which has a CIFS subsystem (based
on jLAN) that is simply to slow for our needs. In this setup the appserver
Alfresco (SUSE on vmwars ESXi) and the clients are on a local LAN with Gb
Ethernet (some clients on WLAN) connectivity and the clients (Windows and Mac)
access Alfresco via the CIFS share provided by ALfresco.
>
> The Alfresco server is (due to it overhead (talking to the DB, indexing,
etc.)) about six times slower when storing or reading files than a Samba mount
on the same machine or a NAS on the same network.
>
> Now my idea is to put a caching layer in the middle between Alfresco and
the client that ...
> * ... transparently sits in the middle between ALfresco and the clients
> * ... caches read files and (on subsequent access) serves them directly
instead of from the repository
> * ... caches write operations in a store-and-forward manner like a write
back cache (ie. signals OK to the client when the file is received locally and
than writes back to Alfresco asynronously)
>
> So far, I've been discussing this with some WAFS vendors, but the ones
I came to know don't have anything in their toolbox to acheive this. Now
I'm completely stuck in finding a way to speed this up :-/
>
> Maybe anybody can think of a way that Samba - maybe in combination with
some other tools - can create a solution for this problem ?
>
> thx and kind regards,
>
> martin.
Maybe you could do this with a custom VFS module.

-- 
Michael Wood <esiotrot at gmail.com>

From: Michael Wood <esiotrot at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2011 01:20:06 +0200
> On 25 March 2011 15:11, Martin Gilly <mg at metamagix.net> wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > we have special scenario with a slow file share where Samba (maybe
combined with other tools) could help by acting like as a CIFS proxy and caching
system:
(snip)
> > Maybe anybody can think of a way that Samba - maybe in combination
with some other tools - can create a solution for this problem ?
> Maybe you could do this with a custom VFS module.
To set "msdfs proxy" parameter, Samba can act as a simple CIFS proxy
(with no cache function).

---
TAKAHASHI Motonobu <monyo at samba.gr.jp>

Hi guys,

what will the proxy be able to do without a caching function ? Can I 
mitigate the slow performance of the share with Samba as a proxy or is 
there a way to "attach" a cache to it ?

How could a custom VFS module be setup ? Do you know someone who could 
do this for me ?

thx & kind regards,

martin.


-------- Original-Nachricht --------
Betreff: Re: [Samba] Is it possible to use Samba as a proxy and cache 
for a slow CIFS drive ?
Datum: Sat, 26 Mar 2011 13:19:51 +0900 (JST)
Von: TAKAHASHI Motonobu <monyo at monyo.com>
An: esiotrot at gmail.com, mg at metamagix.net
CC: samba at lists.samba.org, monyo at monyo.com

From: Michael Wood <esiotrot at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2011 01:20:06 +0200
> On 25 March 2011 15:11, Martin Gilly <mg at metamagix.net> wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > we have special scenario with a slow file share where Samba (maybe
combined with other tools) could help by acting like as a CIFS proxy and caching
system:
(snip)
> > Maybe anybody can think of a way that Samba - maybe in combination
with some other tools - can create a solution for this problem ?
> Maybe you could do this with a custom VFS module.
To set "msdfs proxy" parameter, Samba can act as a simple CIFS proxy
(with no cache function).

---
TAKAHASHI Motonobu <monyo at samba.gr.jp>