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SSD Cache


beefjerky

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So, I have a question about the SSD Optimizer and a very specific use case. On my drivepool, I have a duplicated 1.5TB Veracrypt container. This container contains personal data that I don't want to leave open to just anyone. I regularly update the contents of this container via Beyond Compare running on my laptop. So, here are my questions:

1) From reading the description of the SSD Optimizer, it only applies to newly written files or overwritten files. If my understanding is correct, this will do nothing for optimizing writes inside of that Veracrypt container. Is my understanding of this correct?

2) I see some here mentioning PrimoCache, which is a more low-level caching software. However, I've seen a post or two here that says it doesn't work over the network, but need some clarification. It seems that it will do nothing if running on a client computer accessing a network drive on the server; this makes sense. However, if running on the server, will PrimoCache accelerate writes to the server from a client connected via a network share? Can anyone confirm that it would and works for all writes, including something like my use case?

Thanks in advance!

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On 11/20/2022 at 8:57 PM, beefjerky said:

1) From reading the description of the SSD Optimizer, it only applies to newly written files or overwritten files. If my understanding is correct, this will do nothing for optimizing writes inside of that Veracrypt container. Is my understanding of this correct?

I think if you modify a file, and then save it, it will save it first on the SDD cache and then flush it to Archive drives later depending on your settings.

 

On 11/20/2022 at 8:57 PM, beefjerky said:

2) I see some here mentioning PrimoCache, which is a more low-level caching software. However, I've seen a post or two here that says it doesn't work over the network, but need some clarification. It seems that it will do nothing if running on a client computer accessing a network drive on the server; this makes sense. However, if running on the server, will PrimoCache accelerate writes to the server from a client connected via a network share? Can anyone confirm that it would and works for all writes, including something like my use case?

That's exactly what I wanted to do with PrimoCache on my system. Either running on the server or the client computer. But, alas, it does not work. I contacted PrimoCache support and they verified to me that transferring files over any network, in any direction, is not supported by PrimoCache. They said the transfer protocol over a network is different and PrimoCache does not (yet) support that functionality. Too bad. I would have gladly bought a copy if it did.

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On 11/29/2022 at 10:19 PM, gtaus said:

I think if you modify a file, and then save it, it will save it first on the SDD cache and then flush it to Archive drives later depending on your settings.

 

That's exactly what I wanted to do with PrimoCache on my system. Either running on the server or the client computer. But, alas, it does not work. I contacted PrimoCache support and they verified to me that transferring files over any network, in any direction, is not supported by PrimoCache. They said the transfer protocol over a network is different and PrimoCache does not (yet) support that functionality. Too bad. I would have gladly bought a copy if it did.

Hmm, I ended up contacting support for Primocache, and they gave me a different answer. They said it would work to accelerate transfers on client computers if run on the server. That said, they did tell me that regardless of whether using an SSD or RAM as cache, there was no protection at all from crashes or power outages. So, if the server suddenly loses power or crashes, that data is permanently gone. I was not comfortable with that.

The SSD cache option for DrivePool makes it clear that no data would be lost in those scenarios. However, since no one from the development team has responded, I'm still not sure if it would work to do what I want. And, I can't really think of an easy way to test it either...

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On 12/3/2022 at 8:35 PM, beefjerky said:

Hmm, I ended up contacting support for Primocache, and they gave me a different answer. They said it would work to accelerate transfers on client computers if run on the server.

Well, that's not what the people at PrimoCache told me. They made it clear to me that PrimoCache will not cache any network transfers because it uses a different protocol for network file transfers. 

I also don't see what caching benefit you would achieve using PrimoCache on the server. The bottleneck for speed on network transfers is usually the limited bandwidth speed of the network itself. My home network, for sure. Are there home networks that have data transfer rates higher than a write speed of a SSD? That's the only case where I could see a speed advantage to using RAM as cache with PrimoCache. Otherwise, you might as well write directly to a SSD/HDD over the network.

It has been about a year since I last looked at PrimoCache for network transfers, and at that time it was not possible. Maybe they have made some progress on their end because I bet a lot of people would love to speed up the network file transfers, if possible.

Caching to an SSD seems like a safer option. File writes would be verified before completing, and would be permanent on the SSD, as opposed to using RAM as cache and the possibility of a power loss with data in volatile RAM being lost forever.

Windows 10 will cache some file transfer data in RAM natively. If you had lots of RAM on your computer, then your Windows 10 data file cache would be higher. PrimoCache just allows you to use more RAM as primary cache, and an SSD as secondary cache, to speed up your transfers within your computer. If you find that PrimoCache works to speed up your transfers, either on the server or client end, then that would be great. I can't even test it out anymore because my trial period ended about a year ago and PrimoCache doesn't forget your 30 day trial period. I'm not going to buy a license to try out software again that did not work for me in the past.

Anyways, I hope you find a solution to your needs.

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I use standard spinning hard drives for my drivepool. They can certainly saturate my network while moving larger files, as they're very fast for sequential transfers. However, for syncing and moving a bunch of small files, hard drives suck and they can slow to a crawl. An SSD would greatly help with those transfers, however, it doesn't look like it's really an option.

I did hear back from support via a help ticket I put in, and they confirmed that the SSD optimizer would be of no help for my situation with transfers to/from a Veracrypt drive. Also, the size of the Veracrypt container precludes affordable SSD storage. This is especially the case since I really need that file to be duplicated. Having the container on a single SSD and duplicated to a HDD also wouldn't help since DrivePool handles the duplication in real time, so it would still be limited to HDD speeds. So, I'd need two very expensive SSDs.

Regardless of whether Primocache can handle network transfers on a server, I'll avoid it. The data in the container is too important to risk corruption from a power outage or crash. So, for now, I'll just live with it. When 3+TB SSDs inevitably become cheaper, I'll reassess.

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