# Overview Welcome to Nitrosphere! ![](/files/npgrxJE3KG0RfrZFyjCU) The [**Nitrosphere**](https://nitrosphere.com) team creates **easy-to-deploy** and **low maintenance** end-point based software that **significantly optimizes the flow of secure network traffic**. ## Getting Started The **NitroAccelerator** software solution improves end-user experience, overall productivity and competitive information advantage by reducing latency and bandwidth utilization while improving throughput. NitroAccelerator is used by: **All types of organizations:** From data-driven startups, to multinational enterprises, to governments and agencies. **All types of users:** From IT administrators, software engineers, data scientists, to technicians, operators, and application users. Get started by learning about [Nitrosphere's introductory concepts](/introductory-concepts). If you are already familiar with NitroAccelerator, you may want to dive directly into our [Quick Setup & Evaluation guide](/getting-started/quick-setup-evaluation-guide). # Introductory Concepts ## NitroAccelerator capabilities: * Default deployment optimizes and accelerates Tabular Data Stream (TDS) & Server Message Block (SMB) protocol communication without the need for complex configuration or server reboots. * Additional TCP-based protocols can be accelerated by manually adding the protocol to both sides of the connection within NitroAccelerator settings. {% hint style="success" %} Example: To accelerate .NET Remoting, open up the .config file of the service and locate the port number. Next, add that port number to NitroAccelerator by navigating to: \ Tools > Configure Additional Protocols... {% endhint %} * One-click encryption can be enabled within the NitroAccelerator console. {% hint style="info" %} If SQL Server Force Encryption or .Net Remoting Encrypt is enabled, NitroAccelerator automatically supports encrypted TLS 1.2 **or** TLS 1.3 acceleration. Due to stringent security requirements, NitroAccelerator cannot mix TLS 1.2 and 1.3 within a single accelerated connection. To resolve, simply set systems to match TLS versions on both sides. This recommendation to phase out older TLS versions stands with, or without, the implementation of NitroAccelerator. {% endhint %} ### Nitrosphere customers most commonly utilize NitroAccelerator to: * Improve SQL Server Replication performance over distance. * Accelerate and Optimize Thick Clients / Client-Server / N-Tiered Application user experiences. * Improve the speed and efficiency of Daily Data Movement & SMB Windows File Transfers. For more examples, visit [**Use Cases**](/resources/use-cases). {% content-ref url="/pages/-MGtPhAzsfVxVCY\_GqVh" %} [Use Cases](/resources/use-cases) {% endcontent-ref %} {% content-ref url="/pages/-MLP3Y8guMd5IYjq3amz" %} [Proof of Concept (POC)](/getting-started/proving-nitroaccelerator) {% endcontent-ref %} ## How does it work? **NitroAccelerator** installs as a device driver on your desired servers, app servers, file servers, and clients to accelerate the network traffic between endpoints. ![](/files/-MIKz5eo28cqPZVIDW-0) ### Requirements **Do you manage your own instance(s)?** \ To utilize NitroAccelerator, it is required that you have access to install on both sides of a connection in order to accelerate the connections between. IaaS and Cloud solutions that grant you access to manage your own instances are supported by NitroAccelerator. If you do not have access to the OS in order to install directly, it is possible to set up [Nitro as a proxy](https://nitrosphere.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Proxy-Setup-for-Use-with-NitroAccelerator.pdf). **Are you experiencing latency or congestion issues?**\ The more latency or congestion, the more NitroAccelerator will benefit. The majority of Nitrosphere customers have a ping latency of 10ms or more. However, if timely data transmission and performance is essential to meet Proof of Concept goals, a zero-risk test of Nitro is recommended. When measuring performance, keep in mind that NitroAccelerator improves the performance of network monitoring solutions themselves. ### Benefits **Affordability:** Traditional WAN acceleration solutions can be very expensive with initial costs between two locations often coming in at around $15-30K, for cost-of-hardware alone. Companies often spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on traditional WAN accelerators, whereas Nitrosphere customers can deploy a selective or complete solution for a fraction of the cost. NitroAccelerator can allow a client in an airport connecting over VPN the ability to attain near-LAN performance. **Reliability:** Leverage the distance of existing connections with dynamic compression during transmission. Reduce packet loss and re-transmissions. Reduce Server I/O wait times, server backlogs, application lag, and overall congestion. **Security:** Accelerate without increasing your attack surface while maintaining full control of your endpoints and data. Visit [security benefits](/getting-started/security) for more info. {% hint style="info" %} NitroAccelerator can also install headless via CLI for seamless deployment, operation, and updates. It is recommended to trial with the default install while reviewing features and settings with the Nitrosphere team to best meet your goals. {% endhint %} {% content-ref url="/pages/-MQrnfVcgxk43k6UuzjI" %} [Quick Setup Evaluation Guide](/getting-started/quick-setup-evaluation-guide) {% endcontent-ref %} {% content-ref url="/pages/-MGth0ZwzL4dKwY7mwQf" %} [Pricing & Purchase Information](/resources/pricing) {% endcontent-ref %} # Quick Setup Evaluation Guide NitroAccelerator exists to reduce latency caused by distance and congestion. If you would like to discuss the process, [reach out to us for a call.](https://calendly.com/josh-nitrosphere/30min) {% hint style="info" %} To reduce the amount of connection restarts, we recommend running a baseline test before installation. [Test query example ->](#test-query) {% endhint %} ## System Requirements **Servers**\ Windows Server 2016 or later **Clients/ Workstations**\ Windows OS 10 or later **Client-server Applications**\ With default install settings, SQL Server (TDS) & SMB connections are supported and accelerated. \ Additional TCP-based protocols can be added within NitroAccelerator settings. **Linux**\ It is possible to reduce latency by using a Linux system as an endpoint with NitroAccelerator installed to a Windows system as a proxy. The physically closer the proxy is the the Linux endpoint, the better. Instructions below: {% file src="/files/RnAOo7lPq65gCf1PbMZH" %} {% hint style="success" %} NitroAccelerator improves performance between the endpoints on which it is installed while allowing for mixed connections. If an endpoint equipped with NitroAccelerator connects with a non-Nitro endpoint, the connection and data transmission will function as intended, but without the added benefits of NitroAccelerator's optimization or acceleration. {% endhint %} {% embed url="" %} {% tabs %} {% tab title="Replication Acceleration" %} ![](/files/pSRZwtafgWJee3VvT9BJ) {% endtab %} {% tab title="2-Tier Application Acceleration" %} ![](/files/0Hvjh4b8TiuuYCpMbDAl) {% endtab %} {% tab title="3-Tier Application Acceleration" %} ![](/files/lhjoMp4YGMpy0UHzF6T5) {% endtab %} {% endtabs %} ## **1. Prepare to Test** Below are recommendations to improve network performance, with or without NitroAccelerator. Each tip is optional, however, implementing them will add a noticeable boost to Nitro's ability to best accelerate and optimize performance: * (Optional, but recommended) Increase your network packet size to 32k. If SQL Server Force Encryption is enabled, set the max packet size to 16k. {% hint style="info" %} Microsoft documentation [provides instructions to configure packet sizes](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/database-engine/configure-windows/configure-the-network-packet-size-server-configuration-option?view=sql-server-ver16#SSMSProcedure) and states that the configuration change should only be made by an 'experienced database administrator or certified SQL Server professional', but it does not dive deep enough into the pros and cons of making those changes.\ \ This configuration change is considered a no-regret action. The packet size negotiation process involves the max size set on both ends of the connection. Opting for a larger packet size won't occur if the other side is incapable of accommodating it. {% endhint %} * **Disable MARS** (Optional, but highly recommended) - If your developers are utilizing Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS), we recommend that you have them disable by removing it from the connection string. [For more information, see Tip #4 on our blog post.](https://nitrosphere.com/blog/5-tips-optimize-sql-server-application-performance/) {% hint style="success" %} NitroAccelerator automatically accelerates TDS & SMB connections, regardless of port. If a connection cannot be established with NitroAccelerator enabled, the issue will most likely be related to uncommon application connection or encryption settings that can easily be resolved by our team. Click Stop within the NitroAccelerator console on both sides, restart relevant services and applications, and reach out to us to discuss. {% endhint %} * **Update .NET** (Optional, but recommended) If you have a .NET SQL Server Application that processes large blocks of data, ensure that you are using the newest available version with asynchronous processing.
* **Testing Time-frame**: (Optional, but recommended) If your goal is to improve application performance, we recommend longer test windows on as many geographically separated endpoints as possible. Impact expands dramatically during peak hours of business operation and when networks experience larger amounts of concurrent traffic. The connections with the highest latency will experience to most immediate benefit. {% hint style="info" %} It is common for those testing to ask application users running NitroAccelerator if they notice an improvement. Qualitative data is helpful, but quantitative data allows the ability to gauge and predict long-term and real-world impacts. \ \ Improving query execution time or a few minutes of application usage is less impressive to decision makers than proving the underlying benefits to overall output and productivity. Each use-case has a separate series of goals and the Nitrosphere team is available to share common variables. [Check the PoC page](#proof-of-concept) for more info. {% endhint %} ## **2. Install** NitroAccelerator does not need to operate on all endpoints in order to function. Only connections that have NitroAccelerator running on both ends will experience network performance improvements. The positive impact will further increase as more interconnected systems are accelerated. When accelerating old or custom applications, we recommend proving the ability to connect and accelerate between two endpoints before expanding the test to all relevant endpoints. If you are accelerating Replication that utilizes clustering, NitroAccelerator must be installed to every node within the cluster.\ \ Your free trial countdown will not begin until the time of installation. If the trial window does not fit within your approved testing window, please let us know and we will provide an extension. {% hint style="warning" %} NitroAccelerator must be installed while logged into the operating system as Administrator. {% endhint %} * As Admin, run the NitroAccelerator install file on the Servers, Application Servers, and/or Clients of your choosing. (If you do not have the install file, [head over to our website to request a copy](https://nitrosphere.com/request-download/).) * If presented with Windows UAC prompts during installation, click yes - allow. If you accidentally click no, you will need to complete the install process, uninstall, and reboot before retrying. **You can also install directly from the command line by pointing to the .msi installer file on your system. This method is recommended for wide deployments after preferred settings identified:** ```powershell msiexec /i NitroTurbo.msi /qn ``` ## **3. Activate Acceleration** Once NitroAccelerator is installed and running on both sides of a connection, it will begin to accelerate and optimize new connections. NitroAccelerator does not allow on-the-fly acceleration of existing connections in order to ensure reliability and security. Your inbound and outbound connections will display within the NitroAccelerator Console: \ **Tools > Connections** {% hint style="info" %} Accelerated connections will show as blue {% endhint %} {% hint style="danger" %} Non-accelerated connections will show as red {% endhint %} ### **Enabling SQL Server Acceleration** {% hint style="success" %} A full Server reboot is not required to restart connections. {% endhint %} * To accelerate **SQL Server Replication,** restart your SQL agent(s). * To accelerate **Client/Server applications,** restart correlated services and/or relaunch your applications. ### **Test Query Example** A quick and convenient way to test and benchmark the performance impact of acceleration is to run the following test query in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) with Nitro disabled on both sides and again with Nitro enabled on both sides. Be sure to restart SSMS after enabling or disabling acceleration within NitroAccelerator to fully activate or deactivate acceleration. ```sql SET STATISTICS TIME ON SET STATISTICS IO ON GO USE master; GO SELECT * FROM sysobjects,sysprocesses; ``` ### **Enabling SMB Acceleration** **Clients experience up to 20x speed improvements in SMB File Transfers and improved SMB Application Performance.** * This feature is on by default and can be disabled within compression settings: **Tools > Compression Settings > Named Pipe Acceleration** {% hint style="info" %} Keep in mind that **Named Pipe Acceleration** must be enabled to accelerate all types of SQL Server TDS traffic. Leaving this setting as default is recommended. {% endhint %} * To enabled SMB acceleration, existing client connections need to be re-established. NitroAccelerator will not interrupt existing connections, but will accelerate newly formed connections. The easiest way to re-establish all SMB connections is a file server reboot. If you are only testing on one server and one client, then rebooting the client only will be sufficient. ### **Enabling .NET Remoting Acceleration** Applications that leverage .NET Remoting benefit greatly from NitroAccelerator's acceleration. Since developers get to choose the port that their .NET Remoting applications operate on, it is required that you enter that port within NitroAccelerator settings. * Matching .NET Remoting ports must be added within NitroAccelerator on both sides of the connection in order to locate and accelerate:\ **Tools > Configure Additional Protocols > Enter Ports > Check 'Enable Acceleration'** ### **Enabling Custom Protocol Acceleration** If the protocol that you want to accelerate is not mentioned above, but is running on Windows (Oracle, DB2, or other databases), you can add it by port. NitroAccelerator can accelerate any TCP-based protocol, but alterations or special builds may be needed to fit your environment. Please reach out to the Nitrosphere team to discuss. * Matching ports must be added to both ends of the connection: \ **Tools > Configure Additional Protocols > Enter Ports > Check 'Enable Acceleration'** {% hint style="info" %} Review our [**troubleshooting guide**](https://documentation.nitrosphere.com/resources/troubleshooting) or [**click here to schedule a quick meeting**](https://calendly.com/josh-nitrosphere/30min)**.** {% endhint %} ## 4. Tuning & Additional Features The main NitroAccelerator Console shows average compression statistics for Nitro-enabled connections. The two graphs display outbound and inbound traffic. The blue lines represent compressed traffic, while the red lines illustrate the amount of bandwidth that would be transmitted if the traffic were not compressed. While you may experience immediate improvements in performance, settings can be adjusted to fit your specific environment and goals. Information is below, but if you would like to save time, we can identify and provide suggestions during [a 5-10 minute call](https://calendly.com/josh-nitrosphere/30min). ![](/files/-MIKzgCyACuWV0KLOsNg) {% hint style="info" %} Once your preferred settings have been identified, a member of Nitrosphere can provide direction on bulk deployment options with settings per-configured via CLI or Regedit. {% endhint %} ### **Compression Settings** Compression levels allow for modifying compression algorithms and can be configured to tune performance to match your environment, previous latency, or data types. The default setting is recommended 90% of the time as it dynamically adjusts the compression level to maximize performance. We do not recommend altering compression settings unless you are working with extremely low connection speeds, extremely high latency, or combat edge burst transmissions. {% hint style="info" %} While testing compression levels, click Reset Stats from the NitroAccelerator console between tests to properly log results. {% endhint %} * If the console is reporting a compression rate below 80% for your highest traffic direction, please contact support. The issue could be installation, setup, activation, or data type. Regardless, we can provide benefiting insight. ### **Zero Latency Data Channel (ZLDC)** {% hint style="warning" %} The ZLDC feature is recommended only for high speed connections that also have high latency. The server must be able to communicate to the client to use the ZLDC. (For example, the server can ping the client.) Before enabling, we recommend reviewing the [ZLDC Whitepaper](https://nitrosphere.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/NitroAccelerator-ZLDC-Whitepaper.pdf) or setting up a [quick call](https://calendly.com/josh-nitrosphere/30min) with our team. {% endhint %} ZLDC eliminates latency from the TCP protocol to substantially improve throughput. * Firewalls between the client and SQL Server need to be open for UDP traffic (default is UDP 6161) for both inbound and outbound traffic. * NitroAccelerator must be running as admin on both sides. If you see the Windows UAC shield next to the Stop button of the console, click Stop > Yes > Agree to UAC prompt. This will restart the Nitro console as admin and the driver will continue running. * Enable ZLDC Acceleration: **Tools > Zero Latency Data Channel** * Enable ZLDC on all nodes. * New connections will now benefit from the standard acceleration, as well as the ZLDC acceleration. * The identifier 'DC' will display next to ZLDC connections within: **Tools > Connections** #### **Tuning ZLDC** * Depending on the number of connections and the compressibility of the data, you may need to make tuning adjustments within: **Tools > ZLDC** * If you are hitting the cache size on the High Water Mark, resolve by making small adjusted increases to the Packet Cache Size. #### **Instructions for VPN/VPC use with ZLDC** * The VPN server must be configured to allow both sides of the VPN to initiate communication. * If the VPN client is a router (i.e., the clients don't connect to the VPN because the router has the connection to the VPN server), there needs to be a route between the 2 subnets. ### **HyperCache** The **HyperCache** is a client-side caching technology that can further improve performance for chatty applications. It works by monitoring each query to determine how stable the results are. When a given query is determined to have stable results, the client will be given results from the cache instead of waiting for the server’s response. The query is still sent on to the server so the cache can be refreshed, and if the results of a query ever change, the query entry is invalidated until the result set is again shown to be stable. Only result sets of 64k or less will be cached, so **HyperCache** will have the biggest impact in environments with smaller repetitive queries. The Cache Size setting in the console determines the total number of queries that can be cached, so this can be adjusted as needed for your environment. * For small repetitive queries and chatty Applications, we recommend activating this feature. \ Client side only: \ **Tools > HyperCache Settings**
* Some applications require that certain queries be executed regardless of the result set and should not be cached. If needed, the Nitrosphere team can block or allow certain queries from being cached. ### **Encryption** * If you have SQL Server Force Encryption enabled, then no additional setup action needs to be taken. NitroAccelerator honors the encryption negotiated by SQL Server. * NitroAccelerator’s optional one-click Encryption secures network traffic between endpoints: **Tools > Encryption Settings** * You have the option to select from our default encryption key or to generate your own. ### **MARS Acceleration** Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS) is an older protocol feature used by SQL Server to reduce the number of connections required. This feature is not recommended as it often causes large performance bottlenecks. {% hint style="warning" %} If possible, it is recommended that developers disable MARS, especially if clients will be accessing their applications beyond the LAN. For more information, [see Tip #4](https://nitrosphere.com/blog/5-tips-optimize-sql-server-application-performance/). {% endhint %} * MARS Acceleration is disabled by default. However, connections that use MARS are indicated within the connection dialogue of the console: **Tools > Connections**
* If you see MARS connections indicated within the connection dialogue, we recommend enabling this feature: **Tools > Compression Settings**
* NitroAccelerator's MARS Acceleration is beneficial, but the positive impact is often far less than the positive impact of simply disabling MARS. ## **5. Proving NitroAccelerator** While the statistics on the NitroAccelerator console are helpful in determining operating and statistics for additional tuning, you will want to track other Network Performance measurements and Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) in order to gauge and prove the wide benefits of running NitroAccelerator within and across your environment. Network monitoring solutions give more insight into impact, but it is important to note that these solutions degrade overall network performance when leveraged too heavily. It is a common advantage for customers to use NitroAccelerator specifically to improve the performance of network monitoring solutions themselves. ### **Proof of Concept** During your trial, we recommend activating NitroAccelerator on as many relevant endpoints as possible to measure real-world quantitative results over time. Network performance measurements include a series of overlapping variables that vary based on goals and architecture. It is important to note improvements in KPI's and PoC variables across your network. ### **SQL Server Traffic PoC** For quick testing and advanced tuning, we run a simple `SELECT` statement from within SQL Server Management Studio both with and without NitroAccelerator enabled. ### **SMB Traffic PoC** To maintain PoC integrity, we recommend running before and after tests of identical file transfers to log the max transmit speed and the time to complete. Keep in mind that when turning acceleration on or off, the connections must be fully closed and re-established to enable or disable NitroAccelerator's SMB acceleration. * To reduce the number of required connection restarts, we recommend running a baseline file transfer before installing and activating acceleration. * Next, activate NitroAccelerator and reboot your file server or the client you are testing from to fully re-establish the SMB connection while avoiding any possible connection pooling. * Open NitroAccelerator and check: **Tools > Connections** to ensure that your connections are showing as blue text, indicating that they are accelerating. * To maintain testing integrity, be sure to remove the baseline copied file(s) from the destination before running the accelerated test. * Log and compare results. ### **Common PoC Variables** * Query Execution Time * Transactions Per Second (TPS) * Throughput (MB/sec) * Replication latency * Page load time * Application start time & performance * File Transfer time * High-priority IT Support Ticket counts * Bandwidth usage and cloud fees {% hint style="info" %} We have an expanding collection of PoC processes and KPI's provided by customers spanning all industries. They vary wildly based on goals and industry. Reach out to discuss. {% endhint %} ## **Pricing** Nitrosphere provides **perpetual licenses** with the first year of support and maintenance included. After the first year, we offer continued support and updates for 20% of the original payment amount. Customers can cancel at any time and if operating systems are being kept up-to-date, yearly renewals are highly recommended. For a quick quote, send your Server, Backup Server, Application Server, and/or Client count to your person of contact or to: . If you would like to discuss your goals, budget, and receive access to our partner or bundle packages, [schedule a quick call](https://calendly.com/josh-nitrosphere/30min).
{% hint style="success" %} Nitrosphere offers special pricing to Municipalities, Public Utility Companies, *501(c)(3*)'s and Organizations working with Defense, disaster mitigation, or response. {% endhint %} ## **Purchasing Information** Invoices are sent via email. We accept Card, ACH, and Check. Online payments are processed by a certified PCI Service Provider Level 1 (the most stringent level of certification) payment gateway.\ \ Reach out to us\ **Email:** \ **Schedule a meeting:** # Proof of Concept (POC) During your POC, we recommend activating NitroAccelerator on as many relevant endpoints as possible for a period long enough to measure quantitative impact. ## Proof of Concept After requesting a trial, you will receive everything you needed to get started and the Nitrosphere team will send you an email to assist and ensure that accelerated connections form. Next, tuning recommendations will be offered to match your specific architecture and goals. The trial length can be extended upon request and the countdown does not start until the time of install: [https://nitrosphere.com/request-download/](https://nitrosphere.com/request-download/?ref=poc) ### Data-driven Performance Indicators * High-priority IT Support Ticket counts :arrow\_down: * Bandwidth usage and cloud fees :arrow\_down: * Hardware & bandwidth upgrade time horizon :arrow\_right: * Queries Per Second (QPS) :arrow\_up: * Transactions Per Second (TPS) :arrow\_up: * Throughput (MB/sec) :arrow\_up: * Server I/O wait-time :arrow\_down: * Replication Backlog :arrow\_down: * Page load time :arrow\_down: * Application performance :arrow\_up: * File Transfer and data transmission speed :arrow\_up: ### Query Test {% hint style="info" %} The NitroAccelerator Speed Test pings one of our test servers to run a few test queries. The purpose is to give you an estimate of the acceleration benefits that the software will have on your environment with default settings. We chose a simple Cartesian join because it mirrors the most accurate estimate of acceleration that our customers typically experience. {% endhint %} When your speed test completes, you will be asked if you want to share the results with the Nitrosphere team to assist with tuning and feature recommendations. ```log Customer Name: {name} Company Name: {company} Email: {email} Server: nitrotest Small Transactions: 105.24 seconds at 9.50 commands/second Nitro Small Transactions: 1.70 seconds at 588.06 commands/second Small Improvement: 61.89x Mixed Transactions: 107.19 seconds at 9.33 commands/second Nitro Mixed Transactions: 30.82 seconds at 32.45 commands/second Mixed Improvement: 3.48x Large Transaction: 50.36 seconds at 1,985.56 rows/second Nitro Large Transaction: 6.02 seconds at 16,603.46 rows/second Large Improvement: 8.36x ``` ### Client-server Application Performance Testing * Use SSMS to run a representative query from your application both with and without Nitro. * Measure application load time and common processes/queries. * Longer term testing is often recommended for the majority of use cases. The HyperCache feature learns and improves over time and helps dramatically accelerate chatty applications during traditional use. ### **Replication Testing** * Measure Replication backlog decrease over time. * Monitor for decrease in server I/O wait times and congestion. {% hint style="success" %} The Nitro team recommends collecting quantitative test data and is here to help with your proving process. Below is an example result. {% endhint %} ![](/files/-MLP5IlzgZE1KL0b4ysf) # Security Maintain control of your servers and endpoints. ## NitroAccelerator Does Not Increase Attack Surface > NitroAccelerator version 7.x is certified in according with (IAW) AFI 17-101 for use on standard desktop and server systems connected to the AF Network (AFNET) and AF SIPRNet and place on the AF Evaluated Products List. Nitrosphere enables you to implement applications with modern architectures while enabling you to make decisions based on what your end users need without the limitation of worrying about performance or security changes at the endpoint. ![](/files/-MHHQYSWH1VGW4W5UDp0) Traditional WAN accelerators can encrypt traffic between locations, but in order to implement encryption, they require that you provide the encryption keys for applications you want to accelerate. This means that the appliance first decrypts the data, then operates on it, then re-encrypts it. This is not real end-to-end encryption. Hardware accelerators also increase the attack surface for hackers by caching sensitive data to disks on the device, meaning that if the appliance is breached, so is your enterprise. **Nitrosphere offers secure and scalable network acceleration.**\ \ **NitroAccelerator is EPL Approved safe to run on DoD Networks.** [**Read more >**](https://nitrosphere.com/press-release/nitrosphere-announces-approved-product-certification-by-usaf-cyberspace-capabilities-center/) # Troubleshooting {% hint style="success" %} The Nitrosphere team is available to assist. [Visit Support](https://nitrosphere.com/support/). {% endhint %} If you are not seeing compression statistics in the NitroAccelerator Console, please ensure the following: * [ ] NitroAccelerator is running as administrator. * [ ] The desired connection ports in use are whitelisted within your firewall settings. * [ ] That all connected systems are using the same version of NitroAccelerator. * [ ] All client applications that send traffic to SQL Server have been re-launched. * [ ] Correlated services and agents have been restarted. {% hint style="success" %} Please note that any time NitroAccelerator has been started or stopped (via the NitroAccelerator Control Console or by starting/stopping the NitroAccelerator Watch service), your client applications, agents, or relevant services must be reset to establish new connections. {% endhint %} {% hint style="success" %} TCP-based protocols are required in order to benefit from NitroAccelerator. If your system default is another protocol, you can create an alias that uses TCP/IP, and connect to the SQL Server using this alias. {% endhint %} ## We are seeing <10% compression? Your default compression ratio should be 37-96%. A quick tuning call with our team will increase impact. If the compression rate is 5-10%, the data is being compressed before reaching NitroAccelerator. If the compression rate is 1-2% or negative, the data is being unexpectedly encrypted before reaching NitroAccelerator. If you are unable to deactivate your application's compression or non-standard encryption, please reach out to Nitrosphere support to discuss. ## If I have NitroAccelerator installed on a client or server, will I still be able to connect to a client/server that does not have NitroAccelerator installed? Yes. NitroAccelerator does not affect any connections with non-NitroAccelerator clients or servers. However, you will only get the acceleration benefits on connections that have NitroAccelerator installed on both ends. ## What is the CPU overhead when using NitroAccelerator? This will depend on the compressibility of your data, but we typically see overhead in the range of 1-3%. ## Will NitroAccelerator run on a virtual server? Yes, NitroAccelerator can be run on virtual machines. ## Does NitroAccelerator work with protocol encryption enabled within SQL Server? NitroAccelerator does not work with SQL Server protocol encryption enabled. Encrypted data does not compress well, so NitroAccelerator will just bypass and not compress any encrypted packets it encounters. Because of this you will not see any benefit with NitroAccelerator until the protocol encryption is turned off. However, **NitroAccelerator includes optional one-click protocol encryption**, which is done after the data is already compressed. This maintains the performance benefit while securing the connection. ## Is encryption required? Encryption is required if your connection is going over the internet. Otherwise, it is optional. NitroAccelerator includes encryption tuning settings within the console and all caching operates within existing ports and local kernels. Visit [Security Overview](/getting-started/security) for more info. ## Is NitroAccelerator cluster aware? Yes. To run NitroAccelerator on a cluster, simply install the product on each node. On fail-over, your clients will continue to benefit from a compressed connection. ## Why does the Diagnostics dialog show a warning for my clients using MARS? Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS) is a separate protocol on top of the Tabular Data Stream that is extremely chatty and tends to perform very poorly over slow networks. To maximize performance, we recommend that our customers not use MARS, but instead use a different connection for each query. NitroAccelerator will provide a much greater performance benefit on connections that do not have MARS enabled. # Pricing & Purchase Information ## Licensing Info We provide **perpetual licenses** with the first year of support and maintenance included. After the first year, we offer continued support and updates for 20% of the original payment. We stand behind our product and stay ahead of all Microsoft security patches. To maintain optimum performance and security, we recommend staying up-to-date on both. {% hint style="success" %} NitroAccelerator will improve the performance between the endpoints on which it is installed. It will not interfere with other connections made. TLDR: If you have an endpoint without Nitro connecting to an endpoint with Nitro, no connection issues will occur. Said connection will simply pass-through without acceleration. {% endhint %} ## Pricing Contact us to receive pricing and/or purchase info. (quick-paste email template below) ``` josh@nitrosphere.com Requesting a quote on behalf of [Organization Name] for the counts below. Number of Servers (Running Server OS) [#] Number of Application Servers (Running Client OS) [#] Number of Clients (Workstations, Desktops, Laptops) [#] ``` **If you are uncertain of counts for a quote, we are on standby to assist. NitroAccelerator can install where you need it most without interrupting or impacting non-target endpoints or connections.** [**Click here to schedule a 15-30 minute Q\&A.**](https://calendly.com/josh-nitrosphere/30min) \ [**Click to view use cases and letters of support.**](/resources/use-cases) ## Payment Options Invoices are sent via email. We accept Card, ACH, and Check. Credit Card payments are processed by a certified PCI Service Provider Level 1 (the most stringent level of certification) payment gateway. We value security and do not collect or store billing information. ## 100% Customer Satisfaction We strive to provide proven and substantial ROI from improved network performance. We work personally with those testing and proving NitroAccelerator in their environment to ensure that they do not pay a dime before the moment of agreed purchase. If you will benefit from extra trial time for your Proof of Concept, please [contact support](https://nitrosphere.com/support/) via email. # Use Cases > **“Let’s say on average, Nitro gives back about 25% of the time of a person’s entire day who interacts with SQL directly or indirectly in some way. Not waiting for things keeps the mental juices flowing. I was joking with a colleague a few weeks ago about the worst and then the best software we use. He “forgot” about Nitro because it’s always there, it always works, and it does an amazing job. It is so reliable, what used to be magic has become invisible. That’s the overall impact on the company.”** \- Jason, Communicus ![](/files/-MKmEc1wi17Ng-MZEJOz) ## Masonite > **"I need this tool. The image below pretty much sums it up."** \- Ken, Masonite ![](/files/-MHwOtjUeVQ4LQd7pkII) ## Banco Bci > **"We were able to improve the communication between a SQL server and our on-premises systems by a factor of 3x."** *- Alvaro, Banco Bci* ## Acacia Communications > **“… 541,092 commands in about 2 hours. That is insane… I’d be waiting DAYS for it to catch up with a backlog that large.”** *- Jamie, Acacia Communications, Cisco* ## Canon > **“NitroAccelerator is a no-brainer when it comes to improving our cloud application performance.”** *- Peter, Canon* ## Dynatrace > **“Replication for 175 servers around the world was taking 26 hours each to complete. You reduced that to 2 hours.”** *- Paul, Dynatrace* ## Medium Feature {% embed url="" %} ## Qualcomm > **“The compression rate is over 85% ... Our Distribution Agent actually had to wait for the Log Reader.”** *- Tai, Qualcomm* ## Booker {% embed url="" %} ## New Feature: SMB File Transfer Acceleration {% embed url="" %} {% file src="/files/-MHwRmbSSBqs-WwFHCni" %} Download the NitroAccelerator Whitepaper {% endfile %} # Release Notes ## NitroAccelerator 7.0.95.0 * Connection and TLS enhancements for cross 2016, 2019, 2022 acceleration. * 32-bit is no longer supported. checksum SHA256: a4f0a209c613272f8ee25d2deff35554181c707731e2b00d9a3519a2e4fa376c {% hint style="warning" %} NitroAccelerator 7.0.95.0 is not backwards compatible with previous versions. {% endhint %} ## NitroAccelerator 7.0.86.0 ### Added * Connection issues for your custom application with NitroAccelerator enabled? We've added the ability to enable logging directly from NitroAccelerator Console. Sharing these log files with the Nitrosphere Trial Team makes troubleshooting faster and more effective. * Added support for TLS & SQL Server Force Encryption & encrypted .NET Remoting connections. * You now have the option to block non-Nitro clients from connecting to a SQL Server. * To reduce headaches for many-client customers, support has been added for connecting from an earlier version of 7.0 Nitro client to this version on the server. ## NitroAccelerator 7.0.43.0 ### Added * Improved support for protocols other than TDS. ## NitroAccelerator 7.0.42.0 ### Added * Uninstaller improvements. ## NitroAccelerator 7.0.37.0 ### Added * Support for monthly licensing plans. ## NitroAccelerator 7.0.33.0 ### Added * Gigabit compressor dynamic algorithm improvements and removal of older algorithms. ## NitroAccelerator **7.0.26.0** ### Added * Gigabit compressor: a high-speed compression algorithm designed for modern processors. * Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS) Acceleration: Demultiplexes the MARS protocol to achieve higher throughput. * Zero Latency Data Channel (Beta): a new acceleration technology that eliminates TCP latency. * .NET Remoting acceleration support * SMB 3.0 acceleration support * Encryption and decryption improvements. {% hint style="warning" %} NitroAccelerator 7.0+ is not backwards compatible with previous versions. {% endhint %} ## NitroAccelerator 6.7.10.0 ### Added * Improvements to better compress SMB Windows File Transfers. * Removed “partially optimized” status from Connections dialog. ## NitroAccelerator 6.7.6.0 ### Added * Installer now accepts LICENSE\_USER and LICENSE\_PASSWORD command line arguments to retrieve a license during installation. * Added support for Windows File Transfer and SQL Server Named Pipes protocol. * The Connections dialog now displays MARS and Named Pipe connections. * Improvements to the Database Mirroring Dialogue. ## NitroAccelerator 6.6.14.0 ### Added * New compression levels and algorithms, allowing NitroAccelerator to be optimized for more connection speeds. * NitroAccelerator Console startup improvements. * Updates to TCP optimization algorithms. ## NitroAccelerator 6.5.10.0 ### Added * Added support for mixed SSAS connections. ## NitroAccelerator 6.5.9.0 ### Added * Inbound/Outbound Connections dialog has replaced the Diagnostic View, to give more insight into the connections being monitored and accelerated. Accelerated connections show as blue text. * Speed Test updated to run queries that don’t require any specific privileges on the SQL Server. * Speed Test updated to run the Nitro tests first, followed by the non-Nitro tests. * Console is now launched at the end of install. * HyperCache improvements. ## NitroAccelerator 6.0.32.0 ### Added * HyperCache Blacklist Feature - Added ability to specify SQL objects or whole queries that will not be considered for caching. * Added support for mixed non-TDS connections (such as non-SQL Server linked servers). ## NitroAccelerator 6.0.28.0 ### Added * Registry setting to specify packet size under which NitroAccelerator will not attempt to compress the data. * Support for linked server connections to OLE DB data sources other than SQL Server. * Updates to MARS Acceleration support. * Speed Test now connects to new hosted SQL Server. ## NitroAccelerator 6.0.18.0 ### Added * HyperCache support for importing data into SQL Server from a file using the Import/Export Wizard in SSMS. ## NitroAccelerator 6.0.12.0 ### Added * MARS Acceleration significantly improves the performance of connections that use the Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS) connection option. {% hint style="info" %} This feature is not compatible with older versions of NitroAccelerator. If your application is using MARS, you must upgrade all servers and clients to this release. {% endhint %} * Additional HyperCache settings and statistics have been added, allowing the user to optimize the cache for each environment. * When NitroAccelerator is stopped, existing connections will no longer be compressed. These connections will still be going through Nitro, but without compression, so we still recommend an application restart after you start or stop NitroAccelerator to establish new connections. * Support added for High Availability. NitroAccelerator must be installed to all nodes. {% hint style="warning" %} NitroAccelerator 6.0+ is not backwards compatible with previous versions. {% endhint %} ## NitroAccelerator 5.0.87.0 ### Added * HyperCache code performance optimizations. ## NitroAccelerator 5.0.83.0 ### Added * Console title bar now shows trial status for all users. * HyperCache improvements. ## NitroAccelerator 5.0.80.0 ### Added * NitroAccelerator Console no longer requires administrative privileges to run. Instead, admin privileges are only required to Start or Stop NitroAccelerator, or change encryption settings. * Added support for legacy Windows systems sending uncompressible data. * HyperCache support for high pressure. * Encryption now supports linked server and MARS connections. {% hint style="info" %} This update will affect backwards compatibility in some cases. If you have encryption enabled, we recommend that you upgrade all systems to this build. {% endhint %} ## NitroAccelerator 5.0.75.0 ### Added * Demo Application added to provide a baseline for the impact NitroAccelerator can achieve in a specific environment. * SSIS package execution support improvements. * Optimized uninstall process. * Increased default HyperCache warmup period. ## NitroAccelerator 5.0.70.0 ### Added * Support for Windows 2008 and Vista. ## NitroAccelerator 5.0.64.0 ### Added * Automatic licensing added to console, so licenses can now be retrieved or released from the Tools > Licensing dialog. * Improvements to Console auto-start during Windows login. ## NitroAccelerator 5.0.60.0 ### Added * High performance Windows Filter Platform driver has replaced legacy TDI driver. * Adaptive packet compression dynamically adjusts TCP packet size based on the data. * HyperCache technology provides substantial performance benefits by minimizing the transfer of data between endpoints. * Intelligent protocol detection enables compression of non-native TDS implementations including Java applications. * Client dll has been removed and client traffic is now monitored by the driver. * Redesigned console. * Support for Windows 2003, XP, 2008, and Vista has been dropped. NitroAccelerator 3.0 should be used instead on those systems. * NitroAccelerator driver improvements. * MARS improvements. * Support added for Windows 8 and 10 systems with Secure Boot enabled. ## NitroAccelerator 5.5.39.0 ### Added * Support for linked server connection to OLE DB data source other than SQL Server. ## NitroAccelerator 5.5.36.0 ### Added * Support for high pressure data retrieval from SSAS. * Ability to disable SSAS acceleration feature. ## NitroAccelerator 5.5.35.0 ### Added * Support for SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) * HyperCache Settings dialog now shows caching statistics. * A new Professional license type has been added for SSAS support. * Demo Application has been renamed to Speed Test, and can now be launched directly from the console. * Cleaner column headers in the stats log file. * Speed test now has the option to connect to a hosted Nitrosphere server * Speed test now supports SSL encryption enabled for SQL Server. * Install now possible if Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable is not already installed on the system. * Diagnostics dialogue can now operate for non-admin. * Improvements to license retrieve/release console feature for non-admin. * NitroAccelerator Watch service now auto restarts during license key changes. # Post Purchase Deployment {% hint style="success" %} **Once your preferred client configuration is identified, it can be deployed automatically to your other clients. Contact support for more information.** {% endhint %} ## Installing from the Command Line ### Trial Install of NitroAccelerator from .msi from download file: ```csharp msiexec /i NitroTurbo.msi /qn ``` {% hint style="info" %} To update the trial systems with a purchased license applied, simply issue the command to uninstall and then run the full install command with your account information. {% endhint %} ### Uninstall ```coffeescript msiexec.exe /uninstall "c:\nitroturbo.msi" /qn ``` ### Licensed Server Install of NitroAccelerator .msi from download file: ```coffeescript msiexec /i NitroTurbo.msi /qn LICENSE_USER= LICENSE_PASSWORD= ``` ### Licensed Client Install of NitroAccelerator .msi from download file: ```coffeescript msiexec /i NitroTurbo.msi /qn LICENSE_USER= LICENSE_ClIENT_PASSWORD= ``` {% hint style="success" %} NitroAccelerator can be installed from the command line with specific settings enabled.\ \ For example: Headless deployment: HIDE\_ICON=1\ \ [Contact us](https://nitrosphere.com/support/) for more info {% endhint %}