Controlling the amount of network bandwidth used

Symantec Ghost lets you control how much network bandwidth is used when GhostCasting. By using this functionality, you can avoid overloading the network with GhostCasting traffic.

You can enter a value for restoring an image, creating an image, or both. The values are saved and loaded the next time that you run the GhostCast Server. However, if you run a GhostCast session from the command-line, the limits that are set on the command-line are used for that session only.

GhostCast Server command-line options

Limiting network bandwidth is useful in some circumstances. Consider the following:

  • By limiting network bandwidth, you can increase performance on the network for users who are not the intended recipients of image files.
  • If your network hardware does not support multicasting, then limiting bandwidth is helpful in many situations.

Table 2-2 provides a guide to network hardware setups and when you may or may not want to limit network bandwidth.

Table 2-2 Limiting network bandwidth
Limit network bandwidth for
Hub only
Layer 2 switch
Layer 3 switch or multicasting compatible router and layer 2 switch
Unicast
Yes
No
No
Subnet targeted broadcast
Yes
Yes
Yes
Multicast
Yes
Yes
No

In situations where you would not limit network bandwidth, the hardware directs the traffic to intended recipients only, and all other users should be unaffected.



To set a limit for network bandwidth