---
title: "File Prerequisites"
slug: "file-prerequisites"
description: "Optimize your CNode VIPs, install the VAST-NFS driver, and validate performance with vperfcheck for efficient network and storage management."
updated: 2026-10-28T02:14:35Z
published: 2026-10-28T02:14:35Z
canonical: "docs.vastdata.com/file-prerequisites"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vastdata.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# File Prerequisites

## 1. CNode VIP Balancing

Please refer to our knowledge base for up-to-date instructions on how to configure your CNodes VIPs in an optimized manner. [7-vast-client-nfs-multipathing](/kb/docs/7-vast-client-nfs-multipathing)

## 2. VAST-NFSv3 Driver

Please refer to our knowledge base for up-to-date instructions on installing the VAST NFS driver, balancing your VIP pool configurations with the CNodes you have available, and setting up the mount on your host node.

- [Quickstart: Multipathing NFS Client - Download and Install](/kb/docs/quickstart-multipathing-nfs-client-download-and-install)
- [NFS Tuning](/kb/docs/nfs-tuning)
- [VAST NFS package](https://vastnfs.vastdata.com/docs/4.5/index.html)

## 3. Getting to know your machine’s network limitations

To use your host node properly, we need to inspect the hardware.

Example:

2x 400GbE Mellanox CX-7 Single-Port NICs

```plaintext
$ ibdev2netdev -v
0000:69:00.0 mlx5_0 (MT4129 - 30-100363-01) MCX715105AS-WEAT CX-7 1x400GbE QSFP112 PCIe Gen5 x16 VPI NIC                                                                                                                           fw 28.43.2026 port 1 (ACTIVE) ==> ens202np0 (Up)
0000:53:00.0 mlx5_4 (MT4129 - 30-100363-01) MCX715105AS-WEAT CX-7 1x400GbE QSFP112 PCIe Gen5 x16 VPI NIC                                                                                                                           fw 28.43.2026 port 1 (ACTIVE) ==> ens201np0 (Up)
```

```plaintext
$ rdma link show
link mlx5_0/1 state ACTIVE physical_state LINK_UP netdev ens202np0
link mlx5_4/1 state ACTIVE physical_state LINK_UP netdev ens201np0
```

## 4. vperfcheck to validate performance baseline / Max line rate

Even though 800GbE is our line-rate maximum, and we believe our mount is fully optimized, we should always define a clear baseline for what is possible through the network/storage stack before diving into the actual LLM. That’s where our handy `vperfcheck` (based on elbencho) comes in handy.

Please refer to our knowledge base for up-to-date instructions on how to use vperfcheck and gather those metrics.

[vperfcheck: Automated Performance Testing](/kb/docs/vperfcheck-automated-performance-testing)

## 5. Example

Assuming we had previously:

1. Set up a balanced vip pool with ranges `192.168.9.1 - 192.168.9.32` (Example range).
2. Installed the latest VAST-NFS driver on our host.
3. Our host supports RDMA traffic to our VAST cluster/cnodes.
4. Created the path `/mnt/kvcache-2ports.`
5. Know we have two NICs, each capable of 400GbE, and their names (`ens201np0` and `ens202np0`).

The following command will mount our view to `/mnt/kvcache-2ports` in an optimized manner:

```plaintext
mount -o rdma,vers=3,spread_writes,spread_reads,noidlexprt,localports_failover,localports=ens201np0~ens202np0,nconnect=32,remoteports=dns vast.example.com:/kvcache /mnt/kvcache-2ports
```

- You can read about the various settings in our VAST NFS mount params page here. [VAST NFS Mount Options](https://vastnfs.vastdata.com/docs/4.5/usage/mount-params.html)
- Explore our multipathing page for details on the key settings of multipath [7. VAST Client NFS Multipathing](/kb/docs/7-vast-client-nfs-multipathing)