NetTune boosts NetWare delivery

*NetTune boosts NetWare delivery. (HawkNet Inc NetTune Pro NLM network management software) (PCWeek Netweek) (Lab Notes)
PC Week Nov 21, 1994 v11 n46 pN12(1)
PC Week Nov 21, 1994 v11 n46 pN12(1)

NetTune boosts NetWare delivery. (HawkNet Inc NetTune Pro
NLM network management software) (PCWeek Netweek) (Lab
Notes)

by Blakeley, Michael

Abstract
HawkNet Inc's $895 NetTune Pro NLM network management software
offers performance improvements as high as 28% for NetWare users.
NetTune Pro includes a new feature called SmartTune which enables the
user to automatically tune the NetWare server depending on fluctuations
in the server load. This feature does not help so much at low client loads
but substantially improves network performance at high loads when
cache hits start to decrease. Users can also manually tune NetWare
servers using the GUI. These changes can also be scheduled in order to
back up servers at low usage times and retune servers before heavy
usage time begins. NetTune Pro offers very simple installation and
configuration with a setup program and a step-by-step Quickstart
screen. NetTune Pro is for NetWare 3.1x users and company officials say
that a NetWare 4.x version is in development.

Full Text
For years, most NetWare administrators have relied on the network
operating system's robust out-of-the-box performance. Some have gone
so far as to boost performance with tuning parameters gleaned from
Certified NetWare Engineer courses or Novell manuals, or with such
utilities as Novell Inc.'s own Monitor and Stat Netware Loadable Modules.
For that matter, NetWare even tunes itself.

HawkNet Inc., however, claims to do better. NetTune Pro, which the
company touts as the first artificial intelligence-based NetWare NLM, is
a NetWare 3.1x performance-tuning utility. Priced at $895, NetTune Pro
began shipping in early October.

In PC Week Labs tests, NetTune Pro boosted the performance of our
NetWare 3.12 LAN by as much as 28 percent.

Server tuning during load shifts

NetTune Pro introduces a feature called SmartTune, which automatically
attempts to tune NetWare performance as the load on the server
changes. If desired, the administrator can designate the server for
specific application tuning, such as database or backup environments.

PC Week Labs tested SmartTune's benefits by first testing a stock
NetWare 3.12 configuration with ZD NetBench 3.0. Our file server was a
Compaq Computer Corp. ProLiant equipped with four NetFlex-2 NICs,
160M bytes of RAM, and a single 1G-byte SCSI drive.

We installed NetWare using Compaq's SmartStart CD, and ran a baseline
performance test with NetBench 3.0. We then installed NetTune Pro on
the server, and turned on the SmartTune feature. After rebooting the
server to implement some boot-time changes, we ran another NetBench
test.

As the performance chart shows, SmartTune made little difference at
low client loads. However, once the client load had increased and cache
hits began to fall, SmartTune boosted LAN performance by as much as 28
percent.

These benefits were seen with some optional tuning parameters also
enabled, including SET IMMEDIATE PURGE OF DELETED FILES ON, which
disables NetWare's SALVAGE command. Immediate purge is not
automatically turned on by SmartTune, but is recommended by NetTune
Pro's Quick Analysis function.

Aside from enabling SmartTune, administrators can also manually tune
servers through NetTune Pro's GUI. Such tuning changes can even be
scheduled, so that backup servers will tune themselves for backup at
midnight every night, and then re-tune at dawn to optimize
client/server performance.

PC Week Labs was impressed with the installation process for NetTune
Pro. After running its setup program on a Windows machine, we
double-clicked on the NetTune icon and were greeted by a step-by-step
Quickstart screen.

This program guided us through the process of installing the NetTune Pro
NLM on each server, and loading them via RCONSOLE. When we were
finished, each of our servers was represented by an icon on the NetTune
desktop.

Although HawkNet is not yet shipping a version of NetTune for NetWare
4.x, the company assured us that 4.x support is in development.

PC Week Labs experienced a NetWare ABEND during our testing of
NetTune Pro. HawkNet officials said this crash was caused by a bug in
the process used by NetTune Pro to handle multiple simultaneous
packets. A patch should be available by the time this review is published.

HawkNet, of Carlsbad, Calif., can be reached at (619) 929-9966.

Type: Software Review
Evaluation

Company: HawkNet, Inc.

Product: NetTune Pro NLM (Network management software)

Topic: Network management software
Evaluation
NetWare Loadable Module

Record# 16 265 483