How to optimize delivery to storage

Customize Network and Storage settings in the MASV Desktop App to maximize delivery speeds

Not all systems handle file transfers the same way. Factors that affect the speed and efficiency of file transfers with MASV include:

• Network bandwidth: The size of the “pipe” that you use to upload to MASV and download from MASV.
• Type of storage and how it is configured.
• System memory (RAM) available for caching.

The MASV Desktop (and MASV Agent) uses default settings that work well with many environments, but if you’re not hitting the delivery performance you expect, you can fine-tune the settings.

Network and Storage settings

The following settings are available in the MASV Desktop App:

• Network presets: Presets are a great place to start. Read the descriptions carefully to choose one that best matches your system and network capacity (available RAM, network bandwidth…).
• Max download connections and Max upload connections: Specifies the number of workers feeding data into your network (upload) and receiving data (download). Setting the optimal number of workers maximizes speed by saturating the available bandwidth without causing congestion or exceeding memory requirements (too many workers).
• Storage presets: We recommend that you start by reviewing the preset descriptions carefully. Choose one that best matches your storage.
• Max storage readers and Max storage writers: You might need to experiment to determine the optimal number of storage readers and writers.  Readers are used for upload and download checksums. Writers are used to write data to storage.
• Priority: Determines the priority of read and write actions in the data transfer process and primarily affects download efficiency. The optimal setting will typically be Mixed reads and writes or Prioritize writes (i.e. the entire package is written before reading checksums).

For information about optimizing storage and network settings in the MASV Agent, see Disk Configuration and Network settings in the MASV Developer Documentation.

To optimize delivery to storage performance in the MASV Desktop App

1. In the MASV Desktop App, select the menu arrow in the upper right corner, and choose Settings.
2. In the Settings window, select Speed from the sidebar on the left.

3. In the Network area, do one of the following:

   1. From the Network presets drop-down menu, select a preset that best matches your network and cache capacities.
   2. Set custom values in the Max Download connections and Max upload connections boxes.
4. In the Storage area, do one of the following:
   1. From the Storage presets drop-down menu, select a preset that best describes the type of storage you use.
   2. Set custom values in the Max storage readers and Mac storage writers boxes. From the Priority drop-down menu, select the option you want.

Troubleshooting settings that affect delivery speeds

Please review the following list of tips and suggestions to help you optimize your Network and Storage settings.

• Avid Nexis: We recommend the Sequential reads and writes preset.
• Generic input/output errors: Try applying the Sequential reads and writes preset.
• Issue: Transfer speed randomly drops to 0 in the middle of the transfer
  • Check the Network preset and ensure the system has enough available RAM.
• Issue: Transfer speed drops to 0 towards the end of the transfer
  • This is normal when Priority is set to Prioritize writes.