Hi chaps,

[oliverm]

Hi chaps,

We have just had setup a new CRM package based around Filemaker Pro 9. However, the entire system runs like a dog. I mean slow, really slow.

A list of to-do items (coloured text) containing some 20 entries may take around 2 minutes to appear in full. Each entry showing after about 2 to 4 seconds.

We get lots of "not responding" when waiting for different screen within the CRM app to load, which again can take minutes. One user this morning timed how long it took to show a drop down menu list of around 10 items from a form on one of the pages, that took 19 seconds to fully show it's contents.

Now, we've been working with the CRM vendor who are miffed by the speed issues. The FM server is running on a Windows 2003 R2 32 bit server, 4GB of ram, Single Dual Core Xeon processor, lots of disk

space (250GB spare at the mo). The performance charts for the servers processor, memory and disk queues (read and write) are so low as to be non-existant (processor averages around 3%, memory averages around

900mb used and disk queues are averaging around 0.5) and it's fair to say it's idling for most of the time.

The workstations are XP and Vista. Various specs from single P4 up to multiple dual core processors, with 1GB minimum ram and up to 4GB.

We have setup a brand new workstation running nothing but XP Sp3 and the CRM app (FM Pro 9). No AV, no search, no office. That also runs like a hound.

We've updated all the drivers, firmware and bios on the server, and the event log shows nothing wrong at all. All the diags for the disk subsystem and network cards come back as fine, and we have also tried

all the three network cards that are on the server, in turn, and clustered. We have also swapped out the switch (the sharp end of £1000 of 3com gigabit voip hardware) for another one and replaced all the

cables.

Given that neither us or the vendor can find an issue with the infrastructure or hardware I think it has to be a server OS issue or a FM9 issue.

Is there anything anyone can suggest from an FM point of view that we could try ? The only thing I have found online so far is that we should up the database cache to its max on the FM server which we have done (its at 800mb and wont go higher).

If it's simple stuff to try I'll do it myself, but otherwise I'll make a list and thrust it in to the hand of the vendors support bods who dares come on site next.

HELP!?!

O.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

This is a server dedicated solely to FileMaker Server?

Also, be sure that a number of services are turned off, including Shadow Copy, Disk Indexing, DNS, virus scanning, Terminal Services, auto update of OS, etc.

Pretty strange.

Steven

[Genx]

Try set FMS up on a clean box and see if you get similar speed's when accessing?

[Vaughan]

We have also swapped out the switch (the sharp end of £1000 of 3com gigabit voip hardware) for another one and replaced all the cables.

I dunno much about viop, but could this be the "quality of service" thingy where the router/switch throttles other services to allow the voip to go through at a reasonable rate. The thinking is that people will notice choppy broken-up voice, but not a slower file transfer.

So the priority that the viop traffic is getting is killing the FMP traffic.

[oliverm]

Well, we've swapped out the server and installed FMS on a new workstation. Not a perfect test, but as there database is new and almost empty the strain shouldnt be too great.

Guess what? It was still really slow.

The VOIP switches do have QOS on them but unless FM/FMS uses some kind of special dedicated protocol and packet type then they should be fine. We can move files, ftp, load-test the FM server over the network till we are blue in the face and it's absolutely normal. Us FM pointed at it and it just crawls.

Are there any particular registry or firewall requirements that are needed for FMS 9 ?

Olly

[Genx]

Try installing a FileMaker Pro client on the test box, then in the client, open the solution remotely off the localhost (via File->Open Remote) - This should hopefully help narrow the possible cause down.

[oliverm]

Hi Genx,

Yep, we've tried that. Grabbed a new workstation from stock, with just XP SP3 on it and FMPro 9. File, Open -> Remote, chose the server and the database. That's how we open it anyway.

Olly

[Genx]

I meant on the same box as the actual FMS install. The 127/localhost loopback should immediately help you determine whether this is a network or FMS/OS/CRM Vendor problem.

Edited December 11, 2008 by Guest

[oliverm]

oh yeah, tried that too :)

[Genx]

Have you tried a different file - something more basic than your CRM Vendor's solution?

[IdealData]

Set up another network using an unmanaged switch. See what you get.

At the very worst run the CRM app as a single user in FMP to see if it still runs slow.

[Genx]

Set up another network using an unmanaged switch. See what you get.

The local fmpro client pretty much eliminates the network from being the cause.

[mr_vodka]

Also try running peer to peer for your testing purposes but you most likely will want to have both the host / client running SP2 not 3. SP3 has not been certified and in cases been an issue.

[Genx]

Oliver, did you try the P2P sharing suggestion?

[oliverm]

Trying a total reinstall and a look at our options this afternoon.

Olly

[oliverm]

Ok, opening the database on the server using FM9 and then enabling sharing->Filemaker Network, then opening the database on other FM clients using Open Remote....doesnt help.

It's still slow as a dog.

However, if we open the database directly on client machines (ie pointing FM9 to FM-serverfmdb-sharefm-db, the system runs perfectly. Of course then we can only have one user at a time working on the system.

Time for a re-install

[mr_vodka]

No. I think you may be misunderstanding us. Try it peer to peer.

That means, open it locally on one computer use Pro. (sharing turend on)

Then on another computer, Open Remote --> IP of the first computer.

Leave the server out of it entirely for now.

Make sure that you are using SP2 on BOTH computers.

[IdealData]

FM Server comes with a very simple test file to verify the server is set up correctly - did you try running that yet?

[Genx]

To clarify further on what Mr Vodka has suggested - FileMaker Pro itself is capable of acting as a mini server to host the files - known as p2p sharing (officially, or otherwise). Read up on the doco if you're not aware of this / aware of how to set it up.

[oliverm]

Yep, which we did, using FM Pro 9 installed on the server machine (after removing FMS9 from the box). Other users on the network had the same speed issues.

The server has been re-installed and if we can get hold of the software company to restore the DBs back then we should be able to test it this morning (not that i think re-installing the server will do much).

[oliverm]

Well, reinstalling the server didnt help. I tried p2p on a workstation with the database and got an error each time saying that the database was already being shared (despite copying the data from the network to a number of workstations and trying it on there).

I think I have officially given up :S

[Genx]

I tried p2p on a workstation with the database and got an error each time saying that the database was already being shared

So you opened the database file directly via filemaker pro, then you went to another FileMaker pro client, selected open remote and found the first (hosting) filemaker pro client that was hosting the file and opened the file that way?

[oliverm]

Tried to, but each time we open the DB on a workstation (before we share it) it says it's already open by another user on that machine and it can't be shared, even though we haven't opened it on that machine before. Even tried it on a new workstation, did the same thing. As a result we can't share it and subsequently can't view it in the Open Remote screen of other machines.

[Ted S]

In the past when we have had speed issues we found the cause to be mismatched settings between the switch and the server or between the switch and the workstation's network card. In your case I'd look at the settings on the server and switch.

[oliverm]

Ted,

We've checked all that. Replaced the switches, both NICs in the server, all the cables. We've also tried a new 'server' (was a high spec workstation but good enough for a test) which incidentally also had differnet network cards in it. Also, any form of network testing you do comes back fine. We can load the network cards, shovel data around without any issue. We can even run FMP against the DB on the network via a folder share and it runs fine. Turn on FM Server and it dies.

It has to be said that it's far far far far slower than any network speed issue can account for.

[Ted S]

Okay. Just grasping at straws here; you don't by chance already have a copy of FM Server -- using the same license key -- installed elsewhere on your network? I know that FMS does some sort of broadcast on the LAN looking for other installations of the same license in use.

Does the event viewer offer any hints?

[oliverm]

Interestingly (perhaps not), we installed a trial of FMS10 on teh server and it has shown a speed improvement over the DB running in FMS9.

It's still slow in my opinion, but faster than it was.

It's very weird. If you have the FMPro window open, and a popup appears in front of it (say a new message alert from MSN or Twitter or Outlook or something), when it disappears there will be a white box where the popup was which stays there until the app suddenly starts responding again.

Olly

[grumbachr]

I skimmed this thread so if this has been suggested my apologies.

Is the file you're hosting on the actual server? The only time I've seen FM behave as you describe is when the file itself is opened and shared from a mapped drive or some kind of shared volume?

[oliverm]

Its on the server, in the C:program filesfilemakerfm serverdatabases folder (more or less).

We've opened it in p2p mode and it does the same thing. v10 made it a bit quicker, but not a lot.

Olly