Unzip compressed files locally before copying to a gateway

If you try to unzip a compressed archive containing thousands of files while it is stored on your gateway, you might encounter significant performance-related delays. The process of unzipping an archive that contains large numbers of files on any type of network file share inherently involves a high volume of input/output operations, metadata cache manipulation, network overhead, and latency. Additionally, Storage Gateway is unable to determine when each file from the archive has finished unzipping, and can begin uploading files before the process is complete, which further impacts performance. These issues are compounded when the files inside the archive are numerous, but small in size.

As a best practice, we recommend transferring compressed archives from your gateway to your local machine first, before you unzip them. Then, if necessary, you can use a tool such as robocopy or rsync to transfer the unzipped files back to the gateway.