Creating large test file on Windows

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Creating large test file on Windows

gsndev 21

I'm planning to monitor the network with a large file transfer and need to create a dummy test file on Windows. Please can I get a confirmation if creating a test file using fsutil is recommended for this task?
fsutil file createnew pathfilename size

Viorel 126.9K Reputation points

2021-07-28T20:42:43.67+00:00

The file will contain zeroes only. Is this suitable for your tests?
gsndev 21 Reputation points

2021-07-28T21:08:57.6+00:00

The ask is to monitor the network performance during peak and off peak hours when transferring large data ~500GB.
. Initial thought is to create large file using fsutil, I'm aware that this will create sparse file, would appreciate if there are any recommendations

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Viorel 126.9K Reputation points

2021-07-28T20:42:43.67+00:00

The file will contain zeroes only. Is this suitable for your tests?
gsndev 21 Reputation points

2021-07-28T21:08:57.6+00:00

The ask is to monitor the network performance during peak and off peak hours when transferring large data ~500GB.
. Initial thought is to create large file using fsutil, I'm aware that this will create sparse file, would appreciate if there are any recommendations

Answer 1

Hi @gsnarendran-4128 ,

fsutil is a good option to create a large file.

I am using the following script for the same task:

$file = new-object System.IO.FileStream c:\temp\testfile.bin, Create, ReadWrite
$file.SetLength(4GB)
$file.Close()

if you prefer a file with random content you can this this:

$file = "c:\temp\testfile3.bin"
$sizeInMB = 8
$out = new-object byte[] ($sizeInMB*1048576); (new-object Random).NextBytes($out); [IO.File]::WriteAllBytes($file, $out)

(If the reply was helpful please don't forget to upvote and/or accept as answer, thank you)

Regards
Andreas Baumgarten

Answer 2

NetoMeter 6

I like Andreas' solution as nowadays, using PS is the preferred approach. There is nothing wrong with using fsutil - you will have to specify the size in bytes though:

fsutil file createNew C:\Temp\testfile.bin 4294967296

gsndev 21 Reputation points

2021-07-28T21:42:34.24+00:00

Thank you @NetoMeter for your suggestion.

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Creating large test file on Windows

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