clients have to wait 10-15 seconds to can open a file in an aplication

[fowo]

Hi

In our company we have an Problem.
An User open an Application e.g. Excel 2000
after this he click the Open-Button to open a File
now you must wait 10-15 sec to get the File-List.

File Caching = OFF (Client)
Cluster ---> File Caching = OFF (both)

any ideas

fowo

 

[terry712]

what client?

 

[marvhuffaker]

I've seen that when trying to use IP as the preferred protocol from the client but you don't have SLP or other services running to allow the client to find the stuff it needs. It eventually exhausts all IP options and reverts to IPX. Going back to ipx is not the solution, but you probably need to implement SLP.

Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[fowo]

IP ist the preferred Protocol but slp is installed.

The problem is not to get the file, but rather to seen the
directory ( the volumes)
you see the sandglass for 10-15 sec and afterwards you can loacte you Path

thanks a lot
fowo

 

[terry712]

what client are you using?

 

[marvhuffaker]

You might want to check your SLP settings then, but also answer terry's question

Also, are you on traditional or NSS volumes?

Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[fowo]

Client 4.83 sp1

thanks a lot
fowo

 

[terry712]

sp1 requires the nwfs patch for excel - has this been applied
sp2 is a better option

 

[compuveg]

I'm having exactly the same problems here. I've seen some articles point to Microsoft as the culprit. Specifically I've read that this is how PCs will act when Microsoft (98,ME,2k,NT,2k3,XP,etc) is trying to resolve the UNC using LanMan and DFS, waiting for each to timeout first. However none of the articles I've read have helped me fix it.

We're running mixed clients, 4.83 on some, 4.83 SP3 on others, and my current WS is on 4.9 SP1a I believe.(I can't even remember what client is on our Win98 stragglers).

 

[tjg091]

I have found that version 4.90 SP1a of the client improves performance significantly when opening up Excel and Word documents.

 

[compuveg]

I'm running 4.9 SP1a here, and haven't noticed a change in access times.

 

[Drakujii]

Be sure that your Provider Order in your Network config., you have your Netware Service in first place, else it's going to use the Microsoft service and that is going to give you a delay.

Fred

You have only one life, enjoy it !!!

 

[compuveg]

We actually do have the Netware provider listed first. The articles I read on Microsoft's site make it sound like DFS is checked even if you're not using it.

Wish I'd kept the URL. When the tweaks suggested didn't work, I tossed it out.

 

[terry712]

can you put a port scanner on the client and also on the server

then on client do the tasks and analyse what it's doing
i imagine that it may be walking up and down the volume a lot

 

[compuveg]

I don't know how you would use a port scanner like you suggest. Did you mean a network sniffer? I'll take a look using mine. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[marvhuffaker]

One thing that could make a big difference is your Directory Cache buffers. The default is very low, so if you have a large number of files / directories on your server, this could negatively impact performance.

Look in the main Monitor screen and see what "Directory Cache Buffers" is reporting. Also, how much RAM is in this server?

Also from the console prompt, do the following and tell us what it reports:

SET MINIMUM DIRECTORY CACHE BUFFERS
SET MAXIMUM DIRECTORY CACHE BUFFERS
SET DIRECTORY CACHE ALLOCATION WAIT TIME

I am going to guess they're very low. Once you tell me the answers to those questions, I can make some recommendations for tweaking them.

Marv

Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[compuveg]

We've got 2 servers. Between the 2, everything was identical except the # of directory cache buffers on the groupwise server. I'll refer to them as the file server and mail server.

File server
1007 Directory Cache Buffers
1.8Gb RAM (76% cache)
500 = Min dir cache buffer
2000 = Max dir cache buffer
2.2 seconds = Dir cache allocation wait time

Mail server
757 Directory Cache Buffers
1.8Gb RAM (76% cache)
500 = Min dir cache buffer
2000 = Max dir cache buffer
2.2 seconds = Dir cache allocation wait time

From what I've read these are numbers that should give fine results, assuming I know how to read.

 

[marvhuffaker]

No, those aren't fine. you need to adjust. Each time your server needs a new buffer for directory caching, it has to wait 2.2 seconds. that can add a long delay when searching a directory or directories that aren't already in it's cache.

I recommend that you make these changes on both servers, see how things go, adjust if necessary: (The max numbers and wait time go into effect immediately, but the minimums won't go into effect until next time you do reboot) Do these in Montior ==> Settings => Traditional FIle system.. it should remember them for you.

SET MINIMUM DIRECTORY CACHE BUFFERS=2500
SET MAXIMUM DIRECTORY CACHE BUFFERS=5000
SET DIRECTORY CACHE ALLOCATION WAIT TIME=0.1

You say this is Netware 6? And you have mixed Traditional and NSS volumes? Where are the files at that have the problem when you try to open them? These settings will help traditional but not NSS. Also, when you mix NSS and Traditional, your resources are split between the two. One could argue that it's better to either have all Traditional or all NSS.

Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting

http://www.redjuju.com