Warning Message in FM Server 5 Log

[avntech]

Currently we are using FM Server 5 and FM Pro 5.5. (Both in classic OS) I have approx 75 files on the server, and between 15 - 18 users logged in at any one time. Sporadically users will get disconnected from the server with the message that they have lost communication with the host, or it just freezes. A couple of times this has affected most users, but never all, and for the most part it happens to 1 or 2 users at a time, with some experiencing this almost daily, others randomly. It is not an overall network issue, because they still have connectivity to the internet and our Apple Share server. In the Server logs the message is always the same "FileMaker Server Warning; User "XXX" [65344.4] no longer responding, connection closed. (17)". I have done a clean install of the OS and reinstalled FM server Software 2x, with no success. It is the only active program on the computer (a Mac G4 tower) and even that flips back and forth in the open apps window with Finder, again randomly. We are going to be upgrading to FM 7 within the next month or so, but want to know if anyone out there has had the same issue and if it will follow in 7? It would be most appreciated feedback. Thanks

[Ender]

Welcome avntech!

Can you say more about your network? Also, you said this is running in classic OS, do you mean running natively in OS 9, or in Classic on OS X? Is the protocol Appletalk or TCP/IP?

From my experience, this error is usually caused by congestion on a slow network. FileMaker likes to have a constant line of communication between the host and the client. If this gets interrupted by a slow network, lost packets, or the client going to sleep, the connection can be broken.

>>...and even that flips back and forth in the open apps window with Finder, again randomly.

I would be concerned about this. For Server running in OS 9, the FileMaker Server app should remain in the foreground. Perhaps there's some other extension running?

[avntech]

Thanks for your reply Ender, Our network is ethernet connecting via 2 hubs (1 HP procurve and 1 Linksys) and a patch panel port. The ports that the Filemaker Server are attached to on the patch panel are Gigaports, and have cat 6 cabling as does the actual connection from the wall to the FM Server. The reset of the work stations are not generally on gigaports on the patch panel, and are connected at the wall via Cat 5 cable. Think this could be the problem? I can rearrange so that the FM Server is not on a gigaport and has cat 5 cabling all around. All workstations have energy saver set for the computer NOT to go to sleep, only the monitor. As to the extension running, how would you troubleshoot that? Like I said the only app running is always FM Server. Thanks again.

[avntech]

Sorry I didn't answer all of the questions. The server is set to network via AppleTalk and is running on OS 9.2.2. Most of my users are at OS 9.2.2, but some are are at OS 9.1 Hope that's helpful.

[Ender]

Your network is fast enough so that that should not be the issue, though it's possible that packets are being lost in collisions somewhere. 100 Mb connections are plenty fast (even 10Mb is okay.) You can probably check for packet collisions by logging in to your switch and checking one of the logging screens (I don't have either of those brands, but collision logging is common in managed switches.) If you locate a port that is having collisions, replace the network cable, try a different port, or replace the network card on the computer.

If your G4 does not have gigabit ethernet, you should either connect it to a port that just has 10/100 speeds, or set the port speed to 100Mb in the switch's management screens (sometimes the auto-negotiation fails, causing network problems.)

I would strongly recommend switching FileMaker to TCP/IP only, as this is less chatty than Appletalk.

I don't have a guess about why your server app gets moved to the background, this could be a suspect. If the other steps don't help, then I would recommend troubleshooting this further.

[avntech]

I will look into the switch if I can. If I change the server to TCP/IP would that affect how users connect to the server? Currently they simply choose their opening script from the apple menu. I will definitely look into changing this 1st, and seeing if this solves the probem.

Thanks again.

[Barbecue]

I'll second Ender's recommendation to switching to TCP/IP networking. Having used IPX, Appletalk and IP, I definitely find IP to be the least trouble-prone.

You will need to change how users connect. You may need to identify the IP address of the server and set each workstation to connect to it. I find it's convenient to create a stand-alone "opener" file that automatically opens the correct networked files, and just give copies of this file to the users.

I really doubt CAT5 cable itself is your problem, unless it's wired badly. I run gigabit over CAT5 all the time with no issues.

I suspect the FM Server application is starved for CPU, either because it's being pushed into the background, or due to the limitations of OS 9, or even the machine itself.

For what it's worth, I have FM Server 5 running on Windows NT over TCP/IP, with mix of Mac and Windows workstations, and I once had the exact same symptoms with a similar setup (~70 hosted files, max of 15 users).

I tried all of FileMaker Support's recommendations with no luck. I finally solved the problem by using NT's performance monitor to watch CPU usage and network traffic. I found that the server was unable to keep up with the volume of traffic it had to process, basically, drowning in its own traffic. To test this, I tried throttling the speed back down by running through a router, and the problem disappeared, at the expense of slower performance. I solved the problem by upgrading to a faster server, and I'm now able to serve several 100mbit and three gigabit connections with no disconnects.