Speed problem NT - 2000

[Bjornis]

Hi!
I have problem with my network, the speed is ok one way but slow the other. Example:
I work with server A (2000 server) and copy a file to or from server B (NT 4), speed is ok.
I work with server B and copy a file to or from server A the speed is very slow.

It should be the same speed, I am doing the exact same thing, only thing that is different is from where i do the operation.
I cant find any reason for this, any ideas?
/Bjornis

 

[Mubashir]

Have you compared your NT 4 server with any identical NT 4 server or workstation. Your Win2K server is actually NT 5, a step ahead of NT 4, with presumably superior hardware. That can be one of the reasons for the read/write time difference you've noticed. But then, there can be other reasons too, like the NIC and its speed, IDE or SCSI harddisks, fault tolerance arrangement, configuration of the OS, and the effects of aging, to name a few. Mubashir
muhammad.mubashir@sbp.org.pk

Imagination is more important than knowledge. - Newton

 

[Bjornis]

I have tried from a workstation, same problem there. Its fast when i do it from the 2000 server and slow when i do the same thing from the client (or nt 4 server). The hardware is about the same on both servers. It uses IDE-disks.
/Bjornis

 

[Highland]

Have you tried to isolate the problem server...??? Try attaching only it and one workstation to a hub and perform the file copy......if it is still struggling then it must be something with the network card/setup...????

 

[Bjornis]

Tried that, used a direct connection with crossed cable. Also tried switching nic, checked setup and all seems ok. I have ran out of ideas....
Thanks for the tips tho.
/Bjornis

 

[mcconmw]

First, the obvious question, do you have all the latest service packs installed on client (particularly important) and the server? Second, is the actual file transfer slower or does there seem to be something going on before the file actually starts copying and the copy is about the same? Third, what speed are you connected at? If you are at 100 Mb have you tried forcing the connection slower to 10 Mb? I have seen issues with 4.0 that suggest it has a harder time utilizing 100 Mb connections correctly. Good luck.

 

[Highland]

Does the file size seem to matter....??? Is it still slow with "small" files...???? Does it only appear to be slow with file copying or are other functions (ie Directory listings) slow to be read across the network....???

It might be worth having at look at the processes which are running on the server...Task manager/Processes/order by CPU Utilisation...????

 

[Bjornis]

First mcconmw:
Yes, all servicepacks is installed. I'm connected att 10 Mb. It is the actuall file transfer that is slower, when i copy the file one way it takes about 10 sek and the other way 2 min (progressbar counting).
Higland:
Its only slow with file copying, all other functions seems to be fast. Havent noticed any difference in speed according to file size. Looked at processes and didnt see anything funny there.
Thanks for the tips (soon to give up...)
/Bjornis

 

[Highland]

Yeah, sounds quite strange...!!!! Is the server OK copying files internally....???? The only other thing I can think of is the page-file size....???? Is the speed the same copying to all the partitions on the server or is it just one that causes the problem....???? Try this utility.....PAGEDFRG from....

http://www.sysinternals.com

 

[mcconmw]

It sounds like it is a resource issue. Maybe RAM, processor, etc. I would run perfmon on both machines and try to analyze it from that angle. Good luck

 

[Highland]

Was thinking bout this again...??!!!!

Does the server have a lot of shares/printers/mappings configured....????

If so, it would be worth checking the following registry key...this controls the ammount of resources assignable to external "links".....we had major problems when first setting up NT...

The key is.....

HKLM\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\SERVICES\LANMANSERVERPARAMETERS
There are 2 keys that provide the control to shares etc...

Both are REG_DWORD...

MaxMpxCt and MaxWorkItems we have currently set these both to 4096 on the majority of our servers.....

If you have WIN98 or 95 Clients make sure these values are non-zero ending in Hex....or the clients wont connect...