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Global File Cache: What are the system requirements for GFC?

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Applies to

  • Global File Cache (GFC) version 2.3
  • Core
  • Edge

Answer

  • Physical Hardware Requirements
    • Minimum 8 CPU Cores. Minimum
    • 32 GB RAM.
    • Dedicated Single or Redundant 1Gbps NIC.
    • 10k RPM SAS HDD or SSD (preferred).
    • RAID controller with write-back caching functionality enabled * IMPORTANT.
  • Virtual Deployment Requirements (i.e. Microsoft Hyper-V or VMware vSphere) 
          Note: Hypervisor platforms are known to be subject to performance degradation from a storage subsystem perspective (e.g. latency). For optimal performance using            GFC, a physical server instance with SSD is recommended
    • For best performance in virtual environments, in addition to the physical host requirements, the following requirements and resource reservations must be met:
    • Microsoft Hyper-V 2016 R2 onwards
    • Processor (CPU): CPUs must be set as Static: Minimum: 8vCPU Cores
    • Memory (RAM): Minimum: 32GB set as Static.
    • Hard Disk Provisioning: Hard Disks must be configured as “Fixed Disk”
    • VMware vSphere 6.x onwards
    • Processor (CPU) * IMPORTANT: Reservation of CPU Cycles must be set. Minimum: 8 vCPU Cores @ 10000MHz.
    • Memory (RAM) * IMPORTANT: Minimum: Reservation of 32GB.
    • Hard Disk Provisioning * IMPORTANT:
    • Disk Provisioning set as “Thick Provisioned Eager Zeroed”
    • Hard Disk Shares set to High
    • Set “devices.hotplug” to “false” using the vSphere Client to prevent Microsoft Windows from presenting GFC drives as “removable”.
    • Networking * IMPORTANT: Network Interface needs to be set to VMXNET3 (requires VMTools).

Note: GFC runs on Windows Server 2016 and 2019, hence the virtualization platform needs to support the operating system, as well as integration with utilities enhancing the performance of the virtual machine's guest operating system and management of the virtual machine, such as VMTools.

  • Cloud Deployments (such as Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform or Amazon AWS)

            Note: For best performance in public cloud environments, the following requirements must be met

 

 

 

 

 

Additional Information

For additonal information on system please consult the user guid. The latest user guide and GFC software can be found on the Global File Cache Onboarding page. 

 

 

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