Slow file transfer and program speeds over network

[Guest]

We have 4 machines on the network.(microsoft PTP)
We had a Win 98 (800 mhz with 512 Ram) machine as the file server with
1other win 98 machine and 2 XP Pro machines (1.8 ghz 512 Meg Ram) as work
stations. Everything was working OK but we thought that installing a new
machine as the file server XP Home (with 2.8 ghz and 512 meg ram) would
speed things up.
In reality, what we found was that everything slowed down!Where it was
taking 4 sec to load applicaiton from the file server, it now takes 7 or 8
seconds. Running reports, file transfers, ... everthing is taking longer. Is
there something we should be looking for to correct this?
Thanks

 

[Malke]

We have 4 machines on the network.(microsoft PTP)
We had a Win 98 (800 mhz with 512 Ram) machine as the file server with
1other win 98 machine and 2 XP Pro machines (1.8 ghz 512 Meg Ram) as
work stations. Everything was working OK but we thought that
installing a new machine as the file server XP Home (with 2.8 ghz and
512 meg ram) would speed things up.
In reality, what we found was that everything slowed down!Where it was
taking 4 sec to load applicaiton from the file server, it now takes 7
or 8 seconds. Running reports, file transfers, ... everthing is taking
longer. Is there something we should be looking for to correct this?
Thanks

XP Home only allows 5 concurrent inbound connections and that is why you
are having the problems. The 5 concurrent connections do not mean 5
*computers* - one computer can make more than one concurrent connection
to a server. Either put one of your XP Pro machines in its place - Pro
allows 10 concurrent connections - or buy a server os. Here is a link
to help:

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=314882 - Inbound connections limit in
XP

concurrent connections:

10 for XP Pro/Tablet/MCE
5 for XP Home
49 for SBS 2000
74 for SBS 2003
Unlimited for full Server O/Ses

Malke

 

[Dave Lowther]

XP Home only allows 5 concurrent inbound connections and that is why you
are having the problems. The 5 concurrent connections do not mean 5
*computers* - one computer can make more than one concurrent connection
to a server. Either put one of your XP Pro machines in its place - Pro
allows 10 concurrent connections - or buy a server os. Here is a link
to help:

<snip other info about connection limits>

The reply (about connection limits) appears to have nothing to do
with the original question (about transfer speeds).

Dave.

 

[Bob Willard]

XP Home only allows 5 concurrent inbound connections and that is why you
are having the problems. The 5 concurrent connections do not mean 5
*computers* - one computer can make more than one concurrent connection
to a server. Either put one of your XP Pro machines in its place - Pro
allows 10 concurrent connections - or buy a server os. Here is a link
to help:

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=314882 - Inbound connections limit in
XP

concurrent connections:

10 for XP Pro/Tablet/MCE
5 for XP Home
49 for SBS 2000
74 for SBS 2003
Unlimited for full Server O/Ses

Malke

XP PRO is a better choice than XP HE, but I don't think it will help with
the OP's problem. Three other things come to mind: (1) upgrade from 512MB
to 1GB, since XP needs more RAM than W9x; (2) upgrade all the W9x clients
to XP (HE or PRO), since network operations seem to be faster between
XP and XP than between XP and W9x; and, (3) check that you are getting the
best speed on your new file server's NIC -- probably should be 100 Mb/s
and FDX (I'm guessing), but could be slipping down to 10 Mb/s or HDX.

Also remember that fast file servers need fast HDs, so check that your
new file server's HDs are running at their best speed -- probably
100 MB/s (PATA) or 150 MB/s (SATA). Don't worry if your HD is a 133
MB/s PATA HD but your PC is only using 100 MB/s, since that minor
difference has no effect unless that HD shares its PATA (IDE) cable
with another widget.

And, if your network is not built around at least a 100 MB/s switch
(or switch/router combo), then I recommend that inexpensive upgrade.

 

[Malke]

XP PRO is a better choice than XP HE, but I don't think it will help
with
the OP's problem. Three other things come to mind: (1) upgrade from
512MB to 1GB, since XP needs more RAM than W9x; (2) upgrade all the
W9x clients to XP (HE or PRO), since network operations seem to be
faster between XP and XP than between XP and W9x; and, (3) check that
you are getting the best speed on your new file server's NIC --
probably should be 100 Mb/s and FDX (I'm guessing), but could be
slipping down to 10 Mb/s or HDX.

Also remember that fast file servers need fast HDs, so check that your
new file server's HDs are running at their best speed -- probably
100 MB/s (PATA) or 150 MB/s (SATA). Don't worry if your HD is a 133
MB/s PATA HD but your PC is only using 100 MB/s, since that minor
difference has no effect unless that HD shares its PATA (IDE) cable
with another widget.

And, if your network is not built around at least a 100 MB/s switch
(or switch/router combo), then I recommend that inexpensive upgrade.

Thanks, Bob for the excellent and detailed answer. My original thought
which led to my comment about inbound connections was that perhaps it
was more of an access problem where the connection was failing. I
wasn't sure if you would get an error message or the connection would
momentarily fail and then restart when a different connection would
drop. You observation about the hardware is a good one; so many small
businesses are trying to run on home user equipment which may
additionally be old.

Malke

 

[Brad Morris]

Thanks for all of the responses. They all helped. I had also ran into the 5
concurrent connections issue so all comments were appreciated.