One of the questions we often get at DuraCloud is: How can I know how long it will take for me to upload all of my content to DuraCloud? To help answer that question, we've developed a very simple command-line tool called SyncRate. Don't let the "command-line" nature of this tool scare you, we'll walk you through the steps you need to follow below. Keep in mind that there many variables which can affect transfer speeds to DuraCloud. Your internet upload rate (which can be tested very easily) is the obvious first place to look, but things like the size of files being transferred, the media they are stored on, the local network speed, the amount of other traffic on the network, the routing paths used, and many other things can affect the numbers you see.
The SyncRate tool is based on the DuraCloud SyncTool, but is simplified to just perform a transfer of a small number of files, and report the transfer rate. The SyncRate tool allows you to play with a few variables, most notably thread count, to help determine what settings might yield the best results for you when using the SyncTool.
To run the SyncRate tool, you need two files, both of which you will need to download:
The driver jar file is the executable that you will run to perform the test. The configuration file tells SyncRate how the test should be run.
Remember where you store these files when you download them (it is simplest if you place them together in their own directory), you'll need that information later.
To run this tool, you will also need access to a DuraCloud space. If you are not yet a DuraCloud subscriber, you can use a test account. If you are a subscriber with administrative access to an Enterprise account, you can create your own space to use for these tests. If you are using a Preservation or Preservation Plus account, you can either use one of your existing spaces (some test content will be stored there), or submit a support ticket to have a temporary space created for this purpose.
Open the syncrate-config.properites file in a text editor (Notepad, Wordpad, TextEdit, or whichever editor you prefer is fine.) You will see a set of configuration parameters which you will need to set for your test to run.
host=[host]
spaceId=[spaceId]
user=[user]
pass=[password]
numfiles=[numfiles]
filesize=[filesize-in-MB]
threads=[numthreads]
upload=false
To run the SyncRate test, following these steps will allow your test to run
That's it. Once the SyncRate tool completes, it will print out an upload rate.