Response time slow from outside the network (memory?)

[donishere]

We have a .NET/SQL application that has been built for us that we would like to use on our web server running Windows 2003 Small Business Server.

When we did some tests inside the office, we had very good response times.

When we did some tests from outside the office network, the response time is rather large.

The only difference from testing inside the network versus outside the network is the fact that in-office traffic doesn't have to go through the 2 firewalls we have in place. Our server has 1GB of physical memory. Our internet connection is a full T-1 (1.5 up/down).

What could be the reason for the outside-the-office slowdown?

 

[ptheriault]

The firewall. Check your ping times with a trace rt. I bet you will notice that when you hit the firewall it bottle necks.

- Paul
- Database performance looks fine, it must be the Network!

 

[donishere]

http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/tracert.ch?ip=benny.osaa.org

If it is the firewall, what settings can I change to speed up the firewall?

We are using the firewall on a SonicWall router and also the Microsoft ISA Server firewall.

Could the fact that the server only has 1GB of ram be an issue as well?

 

[ptheriault]

Well the SQL Server would benfit from having more memory, but if your performance is acceptable in-side the the firewall and poor outside. This evidence is supported by your trace. I would suggest that you show this to your Network engineer. I'm not a firewall expert so I can't say what you could do to speed it up.


Your memory is not related to your current problem but I would upgrade it to at least 3GB. SQL 2000 STD will use 2Gb and that would leave 1 for your OS.

- Paul
- Database performance looks fine, it must be the Network!

 

[Catadmin]

You'll also want to check what sort of NICS/Modems your outside connections have. If you're using a laptop with a 56k modem, the T-1 line means diddly-squat. I've run into this problem myself. The outside connection will only go as fast as your slowest connection device. And if your end user is using a phone line with dial-up service, then it's going to be slow.

Unfortunately, having a T-1 doesn't necessarily mean a lot (unless I misunderstood what you said). You need to verify with your T-1 provider if the T-1 has been split up into smaller data flow "chunks". If so, then you're not getting the full speed effort of the T-1. I've also heard of T-1s being split between data and phone service.

It's such a shame that networks can't be plug-n-play like computers are supposed to be. @sigh.



Catadmin - MCDBA, MCSA
"No, no. Yes. No, I tried that. Yes, both ways. No, I don't know. No again. Are there any more questions?"
-- Xena, "Been There, Done That"

 

[donishere]

As far as the T-1 is concerned, it's fully provisioned for data service. We have a separate T-1 that is fully voice.

We've been testing response times with a standard high-speed cable connection (Comcast) and a standard DSL connection (Verizon).

What I need to do is find out how to reduce the traffic bottleneck with our ISA Server. The ISA Server is the same physical server as our IIS and SQL Server that has 1gb ram on it.

Anyone have any ideas on that?

 

[ptheriault]

I would check the utilization of your firewall. We just had a problem where we added a new VPN which pushed or old firewall to 100% utilization. We had to exchange it for a larger firewall.

- Paul
- Database performance looks fine, it must be the Network!

 

[ptheriault]

Also,
SQL Server is very I/O and memory intensive. If you only have 1 gb total on the server and you are not going to upgrade it you should set the max memory to 600MB leaving 400 MB for IIS, ISA and OS. That is really not very good. I would recommend 3GB. You could then set your page file to 6 gig. I bet your server is experience very high paging with only 1 gb of memory. excesive paging will also cause performance issues.


- Paul
- Database performance looks fine, it must be the Network!

 

[Catadmin]

If you can, try to move SQL Server off that machine and to another. IIS and SQL should never be on the same machine if you can absolutely help it. Not only because of performance issues but because of very real security problems in keeping SQL locked down.


For all three apps being one server, 1 GB is not nearly enough. Especially if SQL Server has CPU priority and has the memory allocated dynamically. Time to go for AWE.



Catadmin - MCDBA, MCSA
"No, no. Yes. No, I tried that. Yes, both ways. No, I don't know. No again. Are there any more questions?"
-- Xena, "Been There, Done That"

 

[ptheriault]

I agree with Catadmin. You would be best served to move your SQL Server. You should also get your SQL server behind the firewall. You never want your SQL server anywhere near the internet.

Also here are some links that might be helpful to determine the memory requirements of your server.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/isa/2004/productevaluation/system-requirements.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/editions/standard/sysreqs.mspx

You will notice the memory requirments for ISA and SQL add up to over 700 MB. you will still need OS and IIS.

- Paul
- Database performance looks fine, it must be the Network!