Administrator Guide

Steps
1. In the Storage view, select a FluidFS cluster.
2. Click the File System tab.
3. In the File System view, select SMB Shares.
4. In the SMB Shares panel, select an SMB share and click Edit Settings.
The Edit SMB Share Settings dialog box opens.
5. Click Content.
6. Enable or disable showing files with names starting with a dot:
● To enable showing files with names starting with a dot, select the Show files with name starting with a dot
checkbox.
● To disable showing files with names starting with a dot, clear the Show files with name starting with a dot checkbox.
7. Click Apply, then click OK.
Branch Cache
Branch cache, when properly configured in both the client computers and the FluidFS cluster, significantly improves
performance for consecutive reads from different clients on the same network communicating with FluidFS cluster over WAN.
To optimize WAN bandwidth when users access content on remote servers, branch cache reads content from the main office
and caches the content at branch office locations, allowing client computers at branch offices to retrieve the data locally.
When branch cache is configured, Windows branch cache clients first retrieve content from the storage system and then cache
the content on a computer within the branch office. If another branch-cache-enabled client in the branch office requests the
same content, the storage system first authenticates and authorizes the requesting user. The storage system then determines
whether the cached content is still up to date and, if it is, sends the client metadata about the cached content. The client then
uses the metadata to retrieve content directly from the local host of the cache, if such data exists locally. The client then uses
the metadata to retrieve content directly from the cache of the local host.
Branch cache has the following limitations:
● FluidFs will not calculate hash for files smaller than 64 KB or larger than 256 MB.
● The hash calculation will not be performed on read-only, full, or replication destination volumes.
Configuring Branch Cache
Branch cache must be properly configured on each client that supports branch cache on the branch office site.
About this task
On Windows 7 or 8, set the appropriate group policies: Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates >
Network > Turn on BranchCache > Enabled.
On Windows 8.1, you can also configure branch cache using PowerShell cmdlets such as Enable-BCHostedClient -
ServerNames hosted_cache_server_name.
Branch cache is disabled by default. This procedure enables (or disables) branch cache.
Steps
1. In the Storage view, select a FluidFS cluster.
2. Click the File System tab.
3. In the File System view, select SMB Shares.
4. In the SMB Shares panel, select an SMB share and click Edit Settings.
The Edit SMB Share Settings dialog box opens.
5. Click Advanced.
6. Select or clear the Enable branch cache checkbox.
7. Click Apply > OK.
For more information about branch cache configuration, refer to the technet article located at http://
technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh848392.aspx.
FluidFS Administration
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