Slow performance due to excessive network traffic

[leetaylor2]

I've been having this problem for several weeks and wondered if anyone can shed any light on it.

The Domino server is running v6.5.2 on Windows Server 2003 and the Notes clients are running v5.0.8 and v5.0.13a with several versions in between on a mixture of Windows NT4, 2000 and XP.

When a client opens an email of say 1KB in size, the server transfers about 1MB of data. This can take quite a while on a slow LAN link, GPRS or dialup connection. It didn't used to do this, and indeed about 25% of our clients still function perfectly transfering only about 5 to 10KB for the same email. It also happens for most of our LAN users, but running at 100Mb they dont notice it.

It's not the database in question, as I can open the same database on both a working and non-working client and the problem follows the machine. I've replaced the design just to check, and it made no difference.

Tried deleting the cache.dsk from the client, but that doesn't help. Tried reinstalling the client, but again that doesn't help.

So, we captured the traffic sent to the client. The contents contained the text of the email first, then contained what seems to be all the design elements required to display the page in notes, ie variable definitions, javascript, lotusscript, etc. Capturing the same traffic from a workinging client, only shows the text of the email as you'd expect.

The only signifficant change that we can think of is that the server has had it's IP address changed when we renumbered our whole network. But, having said that, why do some clients work at all? Also, just copying a file from a share on the server (nothing to do with notes), transfers in the correct time with no extraneous traffic.

Occasionally a client with the problem will suddenly start working correctly for about half a day, then the problem returns.

It's very strange. If anyone can offer an explanation I'd be really grateful. Thanks in advance.

Lee

 

[Packet7]

Hello,

I would check a few things. First, I would check the Switch port the Domino server is plugged into for errors (excessive collisions, etc). Then I would make sure the clients in question can resolve the Domino name properly. I would also verify that these clients have a local TCP/IP connection to the Domino Server in the PNAB and that they can properly resolve via DNS and WINS.

I have had some clients in a mixed environment run into name resolution issues during a gradual migration to XP with AD. They forgot to handle WINS, DNS and Notes Client connections. Hope this helps.

Rgds,

John

 

[leetaylor2]

Thanks for replying John.

First, the switch port shows no errors. I've moved it to another switch previously, but this made no difference. Also, the problem still occurs when there is hardly any load on the server.

The clients can resolve the name. They all register to the same DNS/WINS. Accessing the servers file shares is no problem at all - it's just Notes.

The personal names.nsf contains no specific connection document for the server. This is the same for both working and non-working clients. If one is added, pointing to either the dns name or the IP address, it makes no difference to the problem. In the servers names.nsf, TCPIP is the only enabled protocol, and uses the FQDN for the net address.

The biggest clue to the problem, is the fact that all this extra notes traffic is being sent from the server, as evident from the packet capture.

If its of any consequence, IBM support havn't solved it yet either.

Regards

Lee

 

[Packet7]

What version of the Notes client is having this problem?

Rgds,

John

 

[leetaylor2]

The Domino server is running v6.5.2 on Windows Server 2003 and the Notes clients are running v5.0.8 and v5.0.13a with several versions in between on a mixture of Windows NT4, 2000 and XP.

There doesn't seem to be a pattern. Some clients are fine, but most are bad.

 

[Packet7]

I would then try to upgrade one of your clients having the issue to R6.5.3 and test.

Rgds,

John

 

[leetaylor2]

John,

I have 2 clients at the moment on 6.5.4 and one is OK, the other is not.

Just recently, I reinstalled one of the 5.0.8 clients. I'd done this before 'over the top' and it made no difference, but this time I uninstalled first and reinstalled. The problem has gone away. Tried the same on another client and again the problem went away.

That leaves me with the problem of finding out what is different between the 2 installations. It still doesn't explain what went wrong, and I'd like to know that, as I've got about 700 users to 'fix', of which about 200 are not local.

I've taken a copy of the Lotus directory, both before and after the install. Any pointers on what to look for?

Regards

Lee

 

[leetaylor2]

Some more info:-

Copying the mail file to a network share and accessing it directly, still gives the problem. This rules out the server causing the problem in real time, but does not rule out the fact that the server may have modified the client in some way, in the past.

Alternatively, there could be have been some time related issue with the clients that has caused the problem. If we can determine the cause, we might be able to avoid a massive reinstallation exercise.

 

[Packet7]

What mail template are you using with these clients?

Rgds,

John

 

[leetaylor2]

Mail50.ntf - unmodified

 

[Packet7]

Hey,

Since your Domino Server is on 6.5.2, then I would look to upgrade your Notes clients to 6.5.x and make sure to upgrade the design to the mail files.

Take one or two clients that you already moved to R6.5.x and upgrade their Templates. Then test again.

If you called Lotus for this, I have a feeling they would recommend that you upgrade all your clients to R6.5.x (along with mail file designs).

Hope this helps.

Rgds,

John

 

[leetaylor2]

John,

Thanks for the reply.

We've discussed this internally, but upgrading all 750 clients would cost a fortune in licenses. Also, we know that reinstalling the same old version from fresh will sort the problem. It's just the logistics of doing this that we want to avoid. Even if we did do it, it doesn't tell us what the problem was, and therefore we won't know if it will reappear, thus possibly making our efforts futile.

Our latest thoughts are that something is causing the caching not to work, even though the cache file itself has been deleted/recreated and does seem to fill up. We also tried copying a cache from a working machine, but that didn't work either.

Any other thoughts would be much appreciated.

Regards

Lee

 

[Packet7]

Well, I think it's related to the Client and Domino versions. I would give Domino a shot with this issue. If they recommend the upgrade, at least you can have an official answer and present it to your Finance Department in a proposal. Good luck.

Rgds,

John