Networks

I think bandwidth is part of the problem, but there are some things you can do to help you "get by" while you sort out your bandwidth needs and budget.

To help your contractor out, relocate the Citrix server to the building with the Internet connection, or move the Internet connection to the building with the Citrix server if the other servers and applications the contractor uses are located there. The idea is to place them closest to the services they need to function and not force them tocross network bottlenecks. This is a pretty standard design idea...put the services where the users are or where they enter your network. Sometimes there's a cost for duplication of servers, but you're already seeing the result of having too much traffic travel back and forth over a single link. Incidentally, a serial line is only good for about 70% of the rated bandwidth before you begin having problems.

Second, try to get a handle on what these large data transfers are, where they come from, and where they are going. If this is a specific application or batch transfer, can it be re-scheduled to take place after normal business hours, when demand for the 1/2 T is less? You will likely need some type of sniffing device/application for this.

Third, Cisco ios does support QOS (quality of service) parameters for traffic control, but you need to check out their website for the proper ios revision level and router model compatibility. It may be necessary to upgrade your ios code and possibly your router as well.
(more to come)

I neglected to mention that restructuring our network is not an option at this point. Our downtown office is a leased office, which will be abandoned in the next year once our new building is completed. The new building will be connected via redundant fiber, thanks to it's close proximity and the fact that we own it of course.

The internet T1 comes into our main building, and the decision to Not place the Citrix server here was due to the fact that it is running proprietary software that accesses an SQL database located downtown.

It's actually this proprietary software that gives my department the most headaches, with stability issues. The app itself also runs from a server share for approx 10 local users plus the 2 citrix users. Between running the application itself and accessing the SQL server across the T1, performance was below a usable state. Duplicating the share in order to place the server in this office was considered, but support from the software vendor has been minimal. We have yet to see them incorporate support to purge old instances from the database, leaving us with a database loaded with more inactive customers than active.

I figure this is something we'll have to live with for the next year, but It'd be great to find a method to optimize things a bit. The data transfers in question have been attempts to install software onto a system in one building off of a system in the other building. We of course try to avoid this whenever possible. It seems that copying the installation files over first works out between, generally only causing lag, rather than halts.

Thanks for your advice, we will have to take a look into a few of your ideas.

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