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1991-02-15
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FILEVIEW: LANalyzer Applications for NetWare File Service Diagnostics on a
Locally Attached Network Segment
Ron Lee
Senior Consultant
Systems Engineering Division
Abstract:
The LANalyzer applications described herein allow the network
administrator to characterize the workload of both servers and
workstations in a local area network. Four network management
applications are included.
Disclaimer
Novell, Inc. makes no representations or warranties with respect to
the contents or use of these Application Notes (AppNotes) or of any of
the third-party products discussed in the AppNotes. Novell reserves
the right to revise these AppNotes and to make changes in their
content at any time, without obligation to notify any person or entity
of such revisions or changes. These AppNotes do not constitute an
endorsement of the third-party product or products that were tested.
Configuration(s) tested or described may or may not be the only
available solution. Any test is not a determination of product quality
or correctness, nor does it ensure compliance with any federal, state
or local requirements. Novell does not warranty products except as
stated in applicable Novell product warranties or license agreements.
Copyright { 1991 by Novell, Inc., Provo, Utah. All rights reserved.
As a means of promoting NetWare AppNotes, Novell grants you without
charge the right to reproduce, distribute and use copies of the
AppNotes, provided you do not receive any payment, commercial benefit
or other consideration for the reproduction or distribution, or change
any copyright notices appearing on or in the document.
Introduction
The FILEVIEW filters collect eight different kinds of NetWare Core
Protocol (NCP) file service requests on the locally attached network
segment.
Information gathered during this test provides interesting insight,
into the file level use of the network. Although the test's default
filter settings are configured to capture all file service requests,
the test can easily be altered to capture requests addressed to a
specific server, or those requests transmitted by a specific
workstation.
Data gathered by FILEVIEW provides an accurate assessment of the
various levels of file access on the network or target node. With the
gathered information, the network manager can keep a use history for
each subnetwork, server, and workstation, and identify the number and
volume of read and write operations being serviced by a NetWare file
server.
FILEVIEW is a Novell LANalyzer application, included with LANalyzer
v3.0 that began shipping in 1990. The applications described in this
AppNote are derivatives of the default FILEVIEW application.
How It Works
Novell's NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) is the remote procedure call
language that NetWare workstation shells use to communicate with
NetWare file servers. Some other tightly integrated products such as
NetWare Loadable Modules (NLMs) also use NCP when communicating with
NetWare servers.
With the exception of peer-to-peer traffic, routing traffic (RIP), and
broadcast messages, the majority of NetWare traffic is made up of
request and or response messages coded in NCP primitives and
encapsulated within IPX frames.
When an application residing at a workstation initiates a DOS Open
File operation (3Dh), for example, the NetWare shell intercepts the
request and translates it into an NCP request. The new NCP request is
built from information in the DOS request and forwarded to the file
server. The server processes the request and sends a response back to
the workstation. The workstation shell receives the response and
passes all completion codes and data back to the application.
FILEVIEW captures selected NCP requests as they travel from the source
workstation to the destination server. The default FILEVIEW test is
configured with a source and destination addresses set to "don't care"
to capture all file-related traffic. However, by setting the source or
destination address to known workstations or servers, the file-
related traffic originating from or destined to a specific set of
nodes may be examined.
Operating Instructions
Before using the FILEVIEW default application or derivatives,
determine whether the target network is configured for Ethernet II
(the ECONFIG configuration) or 802.3 (the standard NetWare
configuration). If you don't know how the network is configured, use
the LANalyzer application NETVIEW to determine the kind of packets
being broadcast on the wire and the packet type configuration.
: NETVIEW Run Rate Screen
If NETVIEW captures ECONFIG packets (as in ), then select the ECONFIG
LANalyzer application suite for NetWare. If NETVIEW captures only
802.3 packets, then select the 802.3 LANalyzer application suite for
NetWare.
Select FILEVIEW to run or edit the FILEVIEW application.
Receive Channels
: FILEVIEW Receive Channels, Triggers and Controls Edit Screen
Receive Channel 1: Read
: Receive Channel 1 - Read Setup Pattern Screen
Read Filter: All NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) Read From A File
(template = NetWare)
Request Type = 2222
Function Code = 72
This NCP request reads a block of byes from a file starting at a
specified file offset.
Receive Channel 2: Write
: Receive Channel 2 - Write Setup Pattern Screen
Write Filter: NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) Write to a file
(template = NetWare)
Reply Type = 3333
Function Code = 73
This NCP request writes a block of data to a file.
Receive Channel 3: Search
: Receive Channel 3 - Search Setup Pattern Screen
Search Filter: NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) Search For A File
(template = NetWare)
Request Type = 2222
Function Code = 64
This NCP request allows a client to search the specified server's
directory.
Receive Channel 4: Open
: Receive Channel 4 - Open Setup Pattern Screen
OpenOld Filter: NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) Open File (old)
(template = NetWare)
Reply Type = 2222
Function Code = 65
This NCP request is the pre-NetWare v2.0a form of Open File.
OpenNew Filter: NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) Open File
(template = NetWare)
Reply Type = 2222
Function Code = 76
This NCP request allows a client to open an existing file for future
access.
Receive Channel 5: Close
: Receive Channel 5 - Close Setup Pattern Screen
Close Filter: All NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) Close File
(template = NetWare)
Request Type = 2222
Function Code = 66
This NCP closes a file.
Receive Channel 6: Create
: Receive Channel 6 - Create Setup Pattern Screen
Create Filter: All NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) Create File
(template = NetWare)
Request Type = 2222
Function Code = 67
This NCP request creates a new file for the calling client in the
indicated directory.
Create New Filter: All NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) Create New File
(template = NetWare)
Request Type = 2222
Function Code = 77
This NCP request is exactly like the Create File request, but will
always fail if the specified file already exists.
Receive Channel 7: Erase
: Receive Channel 7 - Erase Setup Pattern Screen
Erase Filter: All NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) Erase File
(template = NetWare)
Request Type = 2222
Function Code = 68
This NCP request allows a client to delete files from the target
directory.
Receive Channel 8: Dir
: Receive Channel 8 - Dir Setup Pattern Screen
Dir Filter: NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) Directory Requests
(template = NetWare)
Request Type = 2222
Function Code = 22
This filter captures all of the NCP directory requests, except the
Purge a File and Erase a File NCP requests. Both exceptions are
filtered out by the filters below.
Purge Filter: NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) Purge File
(template = NetWare)
Request Type = 2222
Function Code = 76
Erase Filter: NetWare Core Protocol (NCP) Erase File
(template = NetWare)
Request Type = 2222
Function Code = 76
Transmit Channels
No transmit channels are defined or active during this application.
Applications
Application 1: Segment Characterization
This application characterizes network file service (default).
1. Load and run the default FILEVIEW application.
2. At the Run Rate Screen, the channel packet counters provide the
total number of NCP file requests, broken down by request type.
3. If the test is run for a specified amount of time and started at
the same time each day, using the LANalyzer's start and stop
triggers, then the gathered data can be compared and contrasted
over time.
Application 2: Single Server Characterization
This application characterizes network file service by server.
1. Load the default FILEVIEW.
2. At the Receive Channel "dest" pattern, set the Ethernet
Destination address to the desired target Ethernet address of a
known NetWare file server. For example, to capture file requests
addressed to NetWare server NCS with the Ethernet address
00001B02127A, set the filter as follows:
Dst Station 00 00 AB 02 12 7A <---- XX XX XX XX XX XX
3. Run the FILEVIEW application.
4. The test results will reflect all filtered file-related requests
addressed to the destination server.
Application 3: Single Workstation Characterization
This application characterizes network file service by workstation.
1. Load the default FILEVIEW application.
2. At the Receive Channel "src" pattern, set the Ethernet source
address to the desired Ethernet address of a known NetWare
workstation. For example, to capture file requests transmitted by
a workstation with the Ethernet address 00001B02127A, set the
filter as follows:
Src Station 00 00 AB 02 12 7A ----> XX XX XX XX XX XX
3. Run the FILEVIEW application.
4. The test results will reflect all filtered file-related requests
transmitted by the source node.
Application 4: Write Activity Analysis
This application determines the number of file writes occurring during
a given period of time.
1. Load the default FILEVIEW application.
2. At the Receive Channel "dest" pattern, set the Ethernet
Destination address to the desired target Ethernet address of a
known NetWare file server (see Application 2.)
3. Run the FILEVIEW application.
4. At the Run Rate Screen, the write channel packet counter provides
the total number of NCP write requests.
5. If the test is run for a specified amount of time and started at
the same time each day, using the LANalyzer's start and stop
triggers, then the gathered data can be used to estimate the
total volume of written data for a day, week, or month. This
information can be used in long-term planning, especially in the
estimation of disk storage requirements for transaction tracking
or audit trail services.
Editor's Note: The author accepts written feedback at FAX (801) 429-5511.