How To: Split large file (i.e. for upload to ScaleArc Support)

Release	Classification	Level	DB Platform	Categories
Any Release	How To		ALL	OS Admin

Large files and slow bandwidth can result in aborted file uploads. While the ScaleArc Upload server is capable fo supporting multiple connections and good upload speeds, ScaleArc has no control over the other compnents of the Internet. There are ways of improving the overall upload time and decreasing the impact of a failed upload.

The following precedure is intended to familiarize you with the "split" linux command.

This procedure may/will required one of more of the following skills and access:

1. Admin access to ScaleArc UI
2. SSH access to ScaleArc enabled
3. Familiarity with the linux command line

The Linux Manual (Man) page for the "split" command is located here:

http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/split.1.html

The split comamnd is run from the Linux command line. For a ScaleArc server, access to the command line is achieved by enabling SSH in the ScaleArc User Interface (UI), and then using a terminal session (from Mac or other linux-based OS) or tool such as "Putty" (on a Windows PC).

 Steps:

1. Log in to ScaleArc UI as an administrator
2. Enable SSH
1. IMPORTANT: If SSH is already enabled and you do not know the SSH password, DO NOT DISABLE SSH. this specific SSH KEY may already be in use by automation or user API commands.
3. There are a variety of SSH tools available. Example include "Terminal" on a Linux-based system such as a Mac; and, "Putty" is available for Windows PC systems. Install or select your tool of choice.
4. Access the ScaleArc server command lin over SSH by configuring the tool to "idb@<your-scalearc-server>", then entering the SSH password.
5. At the command line prompt, change directory to the location of the large file to be "split".
6. Check your file system partitions in the ScaleArc server for space avaialble (i.e. using the "df -kha" command).
1. IMPORTANT: The "split" command will create additional files in the course of splitting the original file. The original file remains unmodified. This effectively doubles the space used by the file whenthe adidtional split files are created. The "split" command can put the resulting split files into another disk that has adequate space.
7. Syntax for the "split" command can be fairly simple for a 5.8GB file, it can be split into 5 smaller [roughly] 1GB fiels and a remaining 0.8GB file using the following command:
1. # split  -b1000000000  -a2  largefile.tgz  SA-SPLIT-large.tgz-
8. This particular command and parameters do the following:
1. "split" is the split command
2. "-b" is the number of bytes for each file (no space following the parameter)
3. "-a" is the number of characters to append to the new file name
4. "largefile.tgz" is replaced with the actual name of your large file to be split
5. "SA-SPLIT-largefile.tgz-" is the prefix for each of the newly split smaller files (customize to your needs)
9. In this example of a 5.8GB largefile.tgx, the resulting files will be created
• SA-SPLIT-largefile.tgz-aa ~1.0GB
• SA-SPLIT-largefile.tgz-ab ~1.0GB
• SA-SPLIT-largefile.tgz-ac ~1.0GB
• SA-SPLIT-largefile.tgz-ad ~1.0GB
• SA-SPLIT-largefile.tgz-ae ~1.0GB
• SA-SPLIT-largefile.tgz-af  ~0.8GB
10. Upload all of those files using your favorite multi-thread sFTP tool. ScaleArc Support can re-combine these files to recreate the original large file.
1. One such tool is "FileZilla" which can be configured with or without a upload limit on speed (bits/second), and can be configured to upload multiple files simultaneously to make best use of your own bandwith.

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If you are experiencing issues with ScaleArc or with any of it's features, please contact ScaleArc Support. We are available 24x7 by phone at 855 800 7225 or +1 408 412 7315. For general support inquiries, you can also e-mail us at support@scalearc.com.