Control

This is the StifleR 2.14 (current) release documentation. For other versions, please select the Drop Down list at the Top Left and select the correct version.

Content accelerator

StifleR accelerates content transfers by utilizing the various Microsoft peer-to-peer (P2P) services, enabling caching, deduplication and peer-to-peer distribution of content on local networks. By utilizing and improving the Microsoft P2P functionality, StifleR has a profound effect on where users actually source their content from, the amount of network bandwidth consumed in retrieving that content, and the speed with which the content is delivered to consumers.

Bandwidth control

StifleR gives you control over content transfers to Windows client computers by enabling granular configuration of Microsoft's Background Intelligent Transfer (BITS) and/or Delivery Optimization (DO). StifleR provides services not natively available with BITS and DO on their own.

Bandwidth sharing

Red Leaders continuously communicate download details back to the StifleR Server, which monitors how many active subnets are transferring data at any moment in time. The bandwidth allocated between a remote location and the datacenter is dynamically apportioned between the number of active Red Leaders (subnets) at that location. This allows maximum bandwidth to be assigned to each at all times.

BranchCache V2-V1 auto detection

StifleR is able to detect a mixture of BranchCache V2 and V1 computers in your environment and automatically assign the V2 machines to become Red Leaders. V2 computers are able to generate hashed data for both V1 and V2 clients. Unlike V1 machines however, V2 machines are able to utilize deduplication on the download side which greatly speeds up the overall transfer time for the V1 clients. For more information on BranchCache version interoperation please visit the 2Pint Software website.

Inter VLAN peer-to-peer

At locations with multiple VLANs or subnets, StifleR Blue Leaders are assigned. These clients are able to act as BranchCache communication proxies and allow peer-to-peer traffic to cross network boundaries. In larger locations with limited WAN connectivity back to the data centre this, feature is invaluable for limiting WAN usage as far as possible.

Administrative control via the StifleR Dashboards

Server configuration

Server settings can be configured through the ‘Server Settings’ dashboard.

Granular network configuration

Subnet level settings can be set via the subnet dashboard, including TargetBandwidth/Well Connected/Address etc. Subnets can be grouped into networks which promotes sharing between subnets. As well as grouping subnets, and networks, you can also group networks into Locations. This allows you to set Delivery Optimization parameters such as GroupID and Download mode, LEDBAT Target Bandwidth and Well Connected Bandwidth limits.

Job management

Within the BITS and DO job dashboards, StifleR gives you the ability to Stop, Start, Pause or change the priority of individual job downloads with a simple click of the mouse. These controls take effect instantaneously and can be used to control traffic at all levels of the infrastructure.

Administrative security

Global Administrators have the ability to grant granular administrative control to Delegated Administrators over StifleR resources all through the Dashboard interface. A Deputy Administrator can be granted the ability to monitor and set controls for particular subnets only. They are granted security access to the WMI methods and controls for the subnet.