The Advanced tab contains a few less often-used features that can help with compatibility with some software packages and devices.



Hostname in LAN

This allows you to set the hostname of the CacheDrive independent of the name shown in MCM.  This may be useful when a file is tied to a hostname but is being shared across multiple locations with their own CacheDrives (for example Revit central files).


Note that this hostname must be unique on the LAN or a VPN-connected multisite network.


In ADS mode, site DNS may be a better solution than setting the hostname manually.


Alias

This allows you to set an alias for the CacheDrive.  The alias will be added to the hosts file of the CacheDrive.


Some customers may want to access the CacheDrive with name that differs from the CacheDrive's hostname.  For example, a user may set a different name in his computer's hosts file for the CacheDrive, then access the CacheDrive with this name.  In this case, the CacheDrive cannot recognize this name and may raise error, which can affect the performance.


Setting an alias for the CacheDrive by setting this option to match the CacheDrive name in the user's computer's hosts file can prevent the error message and performance issue.


Example

You have a CacheDrive named "MorroCacheDrive" in your Morro account with IP address 192.168.168.100.  Instead of  "MorroCacheDrive",  you want to access it as "CloudNAS".  You add it to your PC's "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts" file, as shown below:



With this configuration, you can access the CacheDrive as "CloudNAS" from your PC. Accessing the CacheDrive as "CloudNAS" will generate errors in the CacheDrive when opening files with some applications, however, and may reduce performance because "CloudNAS" is not a registered name in the CacheDrive. To avoid this problem, set the "Alias" of the CacheDrive to "CloudNAS" from MCM, as shown below:



Note: The "Alias" option is necessary only under the following conditions:

  • You access your CacheDrive using the name in your PC's hosts file instead of the name or IP address of the CacheDrive.


and you see one of the following issues:

  • Your applications show slow performance.
  • You see errors when opening files.


Most applications do not require this setting.  Some applications that may benefit from this setting include:

  • Notepad++
  • AutoCAD


The differences between "Hostname in LAN" and "Alias"

"Hostname in LAN" replaces the name of the CacheDrive.  After setting "Hostname in LAN", the CacheDrive cannot be accessed by name over SMB.  "Alias" sets an alias for the CacheDrive and does not affect accessing the CacheDrive over SMB by name.


SMB Protocol Settings

The following settings affect which versions of the SMB protocol and NTLM authentication are accepted by the SMB service.  In general, these options do not need to be modified unless older versions of Windows or devices such as printers and scanners are being used with the CacheDrive shares.


Minimum SMB Protocol version

The minimum SMB protocol version that will be accepted for SMB connections.


Maximum SMB Protocol version

The maximum SMB protocol version that will be accepted for SMB connections.


NTLM Authentication

The NTLM version(s) supported for authentication.


Enable API to control

Enable/disable API availability. After the API has been generated, you can add commands "?cmd=power-off" or "?cmd=reboot" behind the API to shut down or reboot the device remotely. Or add the command "?cmd=firmware-update" behind the API to update the device firmware remotely.


Disk Maintenance

Use this option to configure disk maintenance options. 


Two types of disk maintenance are available:

  • Disk defragmentation
  • Disk trim, which is useful for solid state disk and thin provisioned virtual disk


You can set a day of the week and start time (UTC) for disk maintenance tasks. The maintenance task will run if there are no normal file operations at the specified start time.  If normal file operations are occurring, the maintenance task will check for file operations every 5 minutes for the next hour. After a successful defrag run, defrag will not run again for 30 days because disk fragmentation will still be minor after 30 days of operation.


You can also manage the Auto TRIM option.  Disks may queue these TRIM commands, so they may or may not be executed while the disk is busy.  If an SSD is full, it may perform an erase then write for write operations, which can reduce performance.




System maintenance

This option will update the firmware automatically when a new version is available. After enabling the "Update firmware if available" option, specify a start day and time. If a new firmware version is available, the firmware update will automatically occur at the start time and day.



Prefetch

To set the prefetch filter by CacheDrive, enable the "On/Off" checkbox, then click Edit. 



Only prefetch specific files by file type

Use this option to limit the file types to prefetch using a Posix ERE. To create a Posix ERE, use the Sync Exclusion List generator by clicking the "Edit" button.  This option affects both normal file sync operations as well as manual prefetch operations from MCM.



Only prefetch specific files by file size

Use this option to limit the file size to prefetch.  Set minimum and maximum sizes to specify the range of file sizes to prefetch.  This optionaffects both normal file sync operations as well as manual prefetch operations from MCM.



Note: For options "Only prefetch specific files by file type" and "Only prefetch specific files by file size", if these options are set in both Share -> Advanced -> Prefetch and CacheDrive ->Advanced ->Prefetch, the CacheDrive side prefetch filter settings take precedence. 


Cache Out

The Cache Out policy controls which filetypes will stay in cache when files need to be cached out.



Exclusion List

Use this option to create a list of filetypes that will be kept in cache when files need to be cached out.  To create an exclusion list, click the "Edit" button and use the Exclusion List generator. The exclusion list affects both automatic cache out and manual cache out operations from MCM.


Lifetime

Use this option to control how long files that match the exclusion list will be kept in cache when files need to be cached out.  The maximum lifetime is 9999 days.