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Re: NFS vs. SFTP which one faster?

 
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Gary L
Super Advisor

NFS vs. SFTP which one faster?

Hi

My boss asked me a question about data transfer from one HP-UX server to another HP-UX server, which way (speed/rate)is faster? Using NFS remote mount point "local" copy or SFTP from one to another? How about FTP?

Thanks a lot. Any answers will be very appreciate.

-G
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Mark McDonald_2
Trusted Contributor
Solution

Re: NFS vs. SFTP which one faster?

Hi G

Would they be over the same network interface? Here I can sneak a few sftp's over the gigabit backup network in the day time, but they would never allow an NFS mount over it.

What size files?
How many files?
How often?

FTP is generally frowned up on as being less secure. However if you are inside of your firewalls, and the data is not too sensitive then its an option.

Mark
Gary L
Super Advisor

Re: NFS vs. SFTP which one faster?

Hi Mark

Thanks a lot for your faster reply, through NFS or SFTP? Just a kidding.

The total size around 100-150GB. It's a daily job. How many files? not sure, just know it's some oracle data files.

NIC are all std 100MB mode, they are all located inside firewall internal environment.

Which one is faster?

-G
Mark McDonald_2
Trusted Contributor

Re: NFS vs. SFTP which one faster?

100 - 150 Gb is quite large!!!

sftp will have lower overhead and therefor be quicker. Also the fact that it is a daily job, means there is no need for a permanent NFS connection.

One other idea for large files is tar to std out and remsh to the remote host:

tar cvf - filename | remsh hostname "cd /dir ; tar xvf -"

Good luck, other users might be able to make other suggestions.

Mark
Gary L
Super Advisor

Re: NFS vs. SFTP which one faster?

Thanks Mark.

Have a good day.

-Gary
Dave Olker
HPE Pro

Re: NFS vs. SFTP which one faster?

If the bulk of your 100-150GB of data is not changing every day you might also want to look into rsync. That allows you to push only the changes between the source and target. If not much changed that day, you may be able to save yourself a lot of network traffic, which can be very important over a 100MB link.

Dave
I work for HPE

[Any personal opinions expressed are mine, and not official statements on behalf of Hewlett Packard Enterprise]
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rick jones
Honored Contributor

Re: NFS vs. SFTP which one faster?

Unless you are running NFS over IPSEC, I would think the proper comparison would be NFS vs plain FTP as SFTP/scp will have encryption overhead not present in NFS/TCP/IP.

The answer is, of course "it depends" :)

Ignoring disc performance on the premis it affects both equally (assuming NFS read rather than write)...

NFS performance will depend on the size of the effective TCP windows and the number of outstanding NFS requests per mount and the number of TCP connections per mount. How those are changed will have to come from the likes of Dave Olker or another NFS guru.

FTP of a single file will depend on the size of the effective TCP window. FTP will otherwise shove as much into the socket at one time as it can. Socket buffer settings are controlled in ftp on ux via (iirc) a -B option - and IIRC FTP will always make explicit setsockopt() calls and not rely on the the system defaults so you need to check the ftp/ftpd manpage(s).

Attached is some TCP performance boilerplate which is a work-in-progress. It might have a slight Linux bias presently but the broad brush strokes should transfer pretty well.
there is no rest for the wicked yet the virtuous have no pillows
Gary L
Super Advisor

Re: NFS vs. SFTP which one faster?

Hi Dave and Rick

Thanks a lot for your good suggestions.

Have a good day.

-Gary
OldSchool
Honored Contributor

Re: NFS vs. SFTP which one faster?

100BT will only get you, at absolute best, 42GB/hour, and probably less, so you're looking at a 2-5 hour transfer window. I doubt you want to have ftp up and logged in that long.

NFS would probably be a better choice I would think.
rick jones
Honored Contributor

Re: NFS vs. SFTP which one faster?

NFS won't be any more secure than the FTP really. It will be a 2-5 hour TCP connection as well. Perhaps the nature of NFS traffic makes it more likely to notice a connection hijack, but if that is really a concern then Gary should be using IPSEC or the like.
there is no rest for the wicked yet the virtuous have no pillows