Better — Filecatalyst Datasheets

| Network Condition | FileCatalyst (1 stream) | FTP over TCP (1 stream) | |------------------------|-------------------------|--------------------------| | 100 Mbps, 0% loss, 100 ms | 95 Mbps | 92 Mbps | | 100 Mbps, 2% loss, 100 ms | 62 Mbps | 3 Mbps | | 10 Mbps, 5% loss, 500 ms | 8.5 Mbps | <0.1 Mbps (timeout) |

| Criterion | FileCatalyst Datasheet Checkpoint | |---------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------| | Highest loss tolerance | Look for “5% packet loss” row in throughput table. | | Lowest latency support | Check RTT range: some datasheets list 0–2000 ms. | | Disk speed requirement | Calculate: needed disk MB/s = (throughput Gbps × 1000) / 8. | | API integration | Look for “REST API”, “CLI”, “SDK (Java/Python/C#)”. | | Cloud storage targets | Datasheet “Object storage support” section (S3, Azure, GCS). | Scenario : Oil rig with 512 Kbps uplink, 600 ms RTT, 2% packet loss. TCP FTP : Fails after repeated SYN timeouts. FileCatalyst Workstation (from datasheet) : 410 Kbps sustained with 4 parallel streams, FEC 10%. filecatalyst datasheets

| Component | Minimum (100 Mbps) | Recommended (10 Gbps) | |-----------|--------------------|------------------------| | CPU | 2 cores @ 2.0 GHz | 8 cores @ 3.5 GHz (Xeon) | | RAM | 4 GB | 16 GB | | Disk I/O | SATA (80 MB/s) | NVMe RAID (2 GB/s) | | NIC | 1 GbE | 10 GbE with RSS | | Network Condition | FileCatalyst (1 stream) |

Abstract FileCatalyst is a proprietary UDP-based file transport protocol developed by IBM (formerly FileCatalyst Inc.) to overcome the throughput limitations of TCP over high-bandwidth, high-latency networks. Its datasheets provide critical engineering specifications for performance modeling, resource planning, and interoperability. This paper dissects the components of a typical FileCatalyst datasheet, explains the underlying protocol mechanics, interprets key performance metrics (throughput, latency tolerance, packet loss recovery), and analyzes hardware/software SKUs across the product line (Server, Workstation, Agent, HotFolder, Central). We conclude with a comparative analysis against TCP-based alternatives and guidance for datasheet-driven procurement. 1. Introduction File transfer acceleration tools are often evaluated via marketing claims. For rigorous engineering evaluation, datasheets remain the authoritative source of specifications. FileCatalyst’s datasheets are unique because they quantify performance under non-ideal network conditions—specifically, packet loss and variable latency. | | API integration | Look for “REST

| Network Path | Latency (ms RTT) | Packet Loss | Throughput (Mbps) – 1 stream | Throughput (Mbps) – 10 streams | |--------------|------------------|-------------|------------------------------|--------------------------------| | LAN | 1 | 0% | 940 | 940 (saturated) | | Transatlantic| 85 | 0% | 870 | 940 | | Transatlantic| 85 | 1% | 560 | 810 | | Satellite | 550 | 3% | 210 | 520 |