Specifications

Recommendation
•
For networks without wide area (WAN) segments, set the maximum packet
receive buffers to 300.
•
For networks that use WANs, set the maximum packet receive buffers to
1000. This should be adequate to handle the additional buffering needed for
WAN links.
5.3.2.4 New Packet Receive Buffer Wait Time
The new packet receive buffer wait time is the wait time taken before spawning a
new packet receive buffer.
This parameter must be set in the AUTOEXEC.NCF file to change the value. The
syntax is:
SET NEW PACKET RECEIVE BUFFER WAIT TIME=VALUE
For NetWare 3.12 and 4.1, the following is true:
•
Default value = 0.1 second
•
Range = 0.1-20 seconds
5.3.3 System Memory
The way in which NetWare manages system memory has a direct bearing on file
server performance. Because of this, it is important to have an understanding of
how the server allocates memory and the use of set parameters to control the
system memory.
5.3.3.1 NetWare 3.12 Memory Pools
NetWare V3.12 is implemented as 32-bit code which means that it uses 32-bit
addressing and the flat memory model. This gives it access to one flat segment
of RAM of up to 4 GB in size. It loads the operating system, LAN and disk
drivers and NLMs into one large flat memory space. When an application
requests memory, the RAM is scanned for the first available block of memory
large enough to accommodate the request.
NetWare V3.12 manages its RAM through the use of memory pools. These are
designed to be allocated and optimized based on how they are used, long term
or short term. Rather than pre-allocating a lot of memory at installation time,
most resources are allocated on an as-needed basis. Any pre-assignment of
memory is specified in the server′s STARTUP.NCF and AUTOEXEC.NCF files.
The table below shows the different NetWare memory pools and how they are
used.
Table 19. NetWare Memory Pools
Memory Pool Name Data Stored
Cache Buffers Pool Cache files, data and applications
Cache Movable Memory Pool (non-fragmented) NetWare inter FAT tables
Cache Non-movable Memory Pool (fragmented) CLIB and NLMs
Permanent Memory Pool Directory cache buffers, LSLs and Turbo FATs.
Alloc Memory Pool Menu screens, connection tables, print queues
Semi-Permanent Memory Pool LAN and disk controller drivers
Chapter 5. Performance Tuning 185