English

Case Study: Performance Analysis of a Virtualized XRootD Frontend in Large-Scale WAN Transfers

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing 2026-03-24 v2

Abstract

This paper presents a detailed case study of the T2_BR_SPRACE storage frontend architecture and its observed performance in high-intensity data transfers. The architecture is composed of a heterogeneous cluster of XRootD [1] Virtual Machines (VMs) with 10 Gb/s and 40 Gb/s links, which aggregate data from a 77 Gb/s dCache [2] backend via pNFS to an external 100 Gb/s WAN link. We describe the system configuration, including the use of the BBR [3] congestion control algorithm and TCP extensions [4]. Under peak production conditions, we observed the system sustaining an aggregate throughput of 51.3 Gb/s. An analysis of a specific data flow to Fermilab (FNAL) showed peaks of 41.5 Gb/s, validated by external monitoring tools (CERN). This study documents the performance of a complex virtualized architecture under real load.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2603.09568,
  title  = {Case Study: Performance Analysis of a Virtualized XRootD Frontend in Large-Scale WAN Transfers},
  author = {J M da Silva and M A Costa and R L Iope},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.09568},
  year   = {2026}
}
R2 v1 2026-07-01T11:12:24.411Z