The Download element

Once the download has been matched to a <Type> element and assigned a value for the TypeID attribute, the next section of the XML is parsed to set the value for the StifleRPriority attribute. This can then be used to give a recognizable description to the download, allocate a priority to the job, and even to allocate specific bandwidth to a certain download type.

Assigning priority and name to a download

StifleRPriority= and Name= attributes

The value set for the StifleRPriority attribute is simply the priority given to a particular job in relation to other jobs. The lower the StifleRPriority value, the higher the priority.

<Download TypeID="209" StifleRPriority="1000" Name="CM Required TS"/>

Using our previous example, the download matched TypeID=”209” which, we can see above, is assigned StifleRPriority="1000". There is also the option to specify a value for the Name attribute for the job, which will be displayed in the StifleR Dashboard. In this case, the display name is "CM Required TS".

Looking further down the list we can see:

<Download TypeID="213" StifleRPriority="2000" Name="CM Required Application" />

As you can note from Name="CM Required Application" this is a Configuration Manager Required Application which, in the default StifleRulez.xml file, will be configured with StifleRPriority="2000". This means that it has a lower priority than the Name="CM Required TS" and will throttle down until the other download completes.

Assigning auxiliary bandwidth using the Bandwidth= attribute

StifleR can assign bandwidth to clients that are NOT Red Leader, based on the StifleR rules. This can be useful if you wish to allow certain download types to use more bandwidth than the default NonRedLeader amount.

Important: The Red Leader for a subnet will always use the target bandwidth amount for that subnet. The auxiliary bandwidth should be used carefully as it contributes to bandwidth use, over and above, the target bandwidth.

Use case:

Auxiliary bandwidth can be used to ‘boost’ certain types of download so that a particular download type does not become ‘stuck’ in a queue behind a Red Leader download. A prime candidate for this would be user-initiated downloads where the user expects to see progress in the UI. Setting a value for the Bandwidth attribute then allows the download to proceed alongside the Red Leader download bandwidth.

Usage:

A user-initiated download is matched as follows to TypeID="212"

<Type TypeID="212" Match="Equals" UserInitiated="1" CCMDTSType="8">CCMDTS Job</Type> <!--Application/Virtual in Full OS : User Initiated -->

This TypeID has been assigned a Priority, Name AND Bandwidth as follows

<Download TypeID="212" StifleRPriority="1000" Name="CM Available Application" Bandwidth="512" />

In this example a download type has been allocated 512 Kbps bandwidth – even if the system is not a Red Leader.

Tip: If you need to assign auxiliary bandwidth to several of these types of download, you may wish to reduce the target bandwidth for that location accordingly so that the cumulative auxiliary bandwidth does not negatively affect network performance.