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NT Terminal Server Slowdown

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We are running Windows NT Terminal Server 4 service Pack 4 on a Ethernet cat5 Start Top Network.

The system it is running on is a Compaq 1600 Dual Pentium Rack mount. Mirrorded 9 gig drive. and is crossovered to a standard compaq HuB. The system is running Office 2000.
The serve also takes care of its own backup, but this is done in off hours.
The are 5 users connected through 3 through HP Vectra Thin clients and2 through Pentium 1xx systems. 2 printers are connected using XCD ponies ( Print servers)
They are running 2 Dos based programs that run flat database files. Because these programs were running on win311 based machines they now obviously run in cmd windows on the server

The problem is this. .
The server slows down throughout a working day where it is to the point that it has to be rebooted. Has anyone ever seen or experienced this problem.

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NT Terminal Server Slowdown

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Having a process lock and take up processor time is not uncommon especially with old 16bit apps. Have you ever viewed “Task Manager” to view what, if any, processes are taking up excess processor time or memory? Are all 16bit apps running in seperate memory space? what type of database program? is it mainly server based or does the “client” (your TS server) do a lot of the processing like in a btreive app? And finially, is the disk mirroring done by NT or by hardware device like a Compaq RAID controller? I am just trying to get more info. I’d start with watching Task Manager to monitor processes and memory used.

NT Terminal Server Slowdown

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NT Terminal Server Slowdown

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Also, there is a problem with DOS programs and keyboard polling in TS. there is a utility program named DOSKYBD.EXE The command is explained in the Terminal Server Administrator’s Guide on page 143.

Also, i think that mirroring in TS is a resource hog. a hardware solution may be a better and faster option. Also, did you run an Office 2000 compatibilty script? Make sure that the Microsoft Office Index service isn’t set to run automatically, this can eat up resources.

NT Terminal Server Slowdown

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NT Terminal Server Slowdown

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The number of users being less it cannot be a problem in slowing down. I cannot say that mirroring could slow down the whole thing so much. Print jobs also seems to be ruled out. My doubt is on the DOS based programs. Is this problem started occuring sudenly or was it a gradual turnover ? Has the workload to the programs increased suddenly ? There is a chance that the application may not really take the workloads you have there now. If they are fine then re-installing them seems to be an option to me. Database may need regular pruning off. Try Archiving the data. Keep only the most required data. Large volumes may also result in endless searches. My doubt also leans over to the cabling and the line-drivers. Are they widely separated(Server and Clients) ? Check that they are getting sufficient supplies and cables are well laid. Since the whole application processing load is on to the server try distributing it the client. Here again it will require thinking on your application’s design parameters.

NT Terminal Server Slowdown

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NT Terminal Server Slowdown

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Yes Phillip, I have seen this problem. The App being used was based on Powerflex a evolution of Dataflex. Same situation by 2 pm the system ground to a halt. By 3 pm it was so dead you couldn’t reboot it ! The problem was application based, a memoryleak. Though not proven as the application writer had gone out of business, Powerflex support suggested that the application was allocating memory and not cleaning up. This of course causes the memory to thrash in and out of pagefile until it so busy shuffling memory it has no time for processing.

My solution, out of despiration, I ran the app as a client server std NT affair. Some apps are never meant to work on TS.

BTW you did Download the Office 2000 toolkit and intall O2000 for NT TS … didn’t you ….

Robyn
Citrix Certified something or another…

NT Terminal Server Slowdown

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Besides what the others have posted, I have one more idea for you. Go to http://www.memturbo.com and download the memturbo program. You can set it up to refresh your RAM at either a critical level, such as 20MB free, or at timed intervals, such as every 30 minutes, or both. This may help your server to stay on the fast side. 🙂

NT Terminal Server Slowdown

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Are there no error messages or anything in the Event Viewer? I’ve seen this happen frequently with memory leaks. The server slows down until it hangs then must be rebooted. Usually, however, you do get a message on the server reporting Low Virtual Memory..

NT Terminal Server Slowdown

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