---
schema_version: "1"
id: 1d407bc45060365c4f4821314a45b19880f1ffdf95da7c631bb0222bbba296bb
title: Repeatable vs. Non-Repeatable Streaming
collection: mulesoft
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/mulesoft/current/en-us/mule-runtime/4.4/tuning-repeatable-nonrepeatable.md
canonical_url: https://docs.mulesoft.com/mule-runtime/4.4/tuning-repeatable-nonrepeatable
source_site: docs.mulesoft.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 317797550011c8e041f74fb4a93a466f5dda602051a3b2073b1411ba126768d1
description: MuleSoft Documentation Site
release: "4.4"
latest: false
---
---
product: Mule Runtime
version: 4.4
---

# Repeatable vs. Non-Repeatable Streaming

> For the full documentation index, see: https://docs.mulesoft.com/llms.txt

Understanding streaming strategies and choosing the one that best suits your use case is key to
maximizing flow performance:

- A non-repeatable stream (read payload only once) or

- A repeatable stream (read payload more than once)

## Non-Repeatable Streaming

The non-repeatable strategy disables repeatable streams. If your use case requires reading the
payload only once, use the `non-repeatable-stream` parameter in the connector. See the following
example:

```xml
<file:read path="exampleFile.json">
  <non-repeatable-stream />
</file:read>
```

## Repeatable Streaming

Alternatively, if your use case requires reading the payload multiple times or concurrently, you can
choose between the following strategies:

- File-store streaming

- In-memory streaming

### File-Store Repeatable Stream

When using the file-store repeatable stream strategy, customize the buffer size `inMemorySize` to
your use case to optimize performance:

- Configure a larger buffer size to avoid the number of times Mule needs to write the buffer on
  disk. This increases performance, but it also limits the number of concurrent requests your
  application can process because it requires additional memory.

- Configure a smaller buffer size to decrease memory load at the expense of response time.

The following example sets a specific buffer size for a file-store repeatable stream for a file that
is approximately 1 MB:

```xml
<file:read path="bigFile.json">
  <repeatable-file-store-stream
    inMemorySize="1"
    bufferUnit="MB"/>
</file:read>
```

Always run performance tests to find the optimal buffer size for your specific use case.

### In-Memory Repeatable Stream

When using the in-memory repeatable stream strategy, to manage larger or smaller files, customize
the buffer by setting:

- `initialBufferSize`  
  The initial size

- `bufferSizeIncrement`  
  The rate at which the buffer increases.

- `maxInMemorySize`  
  The maximum buffer size.

- `bufferUnit`  
  The unit of measurement for the buffer size value.

Adjusting the in-memory buffer size (defaults to 512KB) based on your payload size and the expected
concurrency.

The following example configures an in-memory repeatable stream with an initial size of 512 KB,
which grows at a rate of 256 KB and allows up to 2000 KB (2 MB) of content in memory:

```xml
<file:read path="exampleFile.json">
  <repeatable-in-memory-stream
    initialBufferSize="512"
    bufferSizeIncrement="256"
    maxInMemorySize="2000"
    bufferUnit="KB"/>
</file:read>
```

Always run performance tests to find the optimal buffer size for your specific use case.

## See Also

- [Streaming in Mule Apps](https://docs.mulesoft.com/mule-runtime/4.4/streaming-about)