It is possible to reduce the load on CPU, hard disk activity and memory usage caused by the client. In rare cases, e.g. on systems managing huge amounts of files and folders, this might be necessary.

Choosing the appropriate transfer mode

The client regularly scans the local file system for changed, new or deleted files. During these scans the CPU load and hard disk activity is higher than usual. Choosing or customizing a transfer mode might help to run the client more smoothly.

The standard transfer mode Auto Sync is set to perform instant change detection, which is the best way to avoid this problem. If another transfer mode is used, it is possible to increase the Periodic Synchronization value or to set it to Daily Synchronization definining a certain time to perform the local change detection.

Folder database and statistics

Adding the entries below to the Client Configuration File helps to improve the performance on large scale system (500.000+ files).

# Stores file db every 5 minutes.
filedb.persist.seconds=300
# Calculates statistics every minute
filedb.stats.seconds=60

You may increase these values even more.

Other tips to optimize performance

Consider to switch to our PowerFolder Server product. It is optimized for high performance.
Exclude files from synchronization if possible.
Split up big folders into smaller ones and don't sync or create sub-directories that do not actually change.

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