high utilization

[bopritchard]

the utilization on my 5.1 box has times where it sits in the high 80's and 90's...i'm pretty positive one of my client machines is doing something funky because if i have everything log out the utilization drops...

question:
is there a way to isolate the offending client connection without one by one disconnecting people?

 

[marvhuffaker]

You should locate the service that is causing the utilization to peak.... Go to MONITOR ==> KERNEL ==> BUSIEST THREADS... The one on the top is most likely a good place to start troubleshooting.

Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[bopritchard]

how do i make sense of the threads when most of them just say "Server " followed by a couple numbers

 

[marvhuffaker]

If it says something like "SERVER 09", that is generally a client connection (Read that somewhere). But make sure you're looking in there when the Utilization is at 90%.. it won't do any good if the server is at 2%.

It's difficult to isolate a bad client connection, but you might look and also see if you're getting any LAN errors on your NICS. You might also have to run a packet analyzer to find the culprit.

Or if you can get a general idea of what users are on when it happens and what files are open, that would be a big help.




Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[spi200]

Hi

I have had this problem Intermittently after a user has a crash. I have not been able to find a fix or an exact cause to the problem. I just wait till its convient to reboot the box, because we work 24*7 most weeks then Sometimes I wait a month, but a reboot always brings the Utilization back to normal. I have had this happen about three times in the last year and its always been a different user which has caused the problem. I have found the users connection in Monitor can not be deleted once this has occured, its as if its in a loop.
We run about 6 * 5.1sp6 Servers.
Sorry I could not be more help, but your not alone.

Regards

David CNE

 

[terry712]

wwhe n you try to delete the connection does it just go blue on the user and stay there

as far as i know - this is normally related to a filesys issue

 

[bopritchard]

what exactly is a packet analyzer...and where do i get one

 

[marvhuffaker]

http://www.ethereal.com

It analyzes traffic on your ethernet network. you can use it to try and see what is happening and why.

There is also one you can download from Novell.

http://support.novell.com/cgi-bin/search/searchtid.cgi?/2967287.htm

They say to use it to capture stuff to send directly to Novell, but you might be able to read the reports yourself and see what is going on.

Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[LawnBoy]

Ethereal is excellent, and free. Capture filters can be a little tricky 'till you get the hang of it.

 

[bopritchard]

i've discovered that just like clockwork at 4:00 pm is when the utilization spikes...the thread that is the culprit is a "Server xx" thread...which means it's a client connection right?...this bears out because i can go through my connection list and start killing connections...and eventually i'll get the right one...but it's different all the time...never the same user...

 

[marvhuffaker]

How long does the utilization stay at that number, and does it affect other users ability to access resources? I mean, high utilization isn't always bad.

Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[bopritchard]

i'm not certain how long it stays high...but all users ability to work is rendered almost useless...during that time it will take 3 to 4 minutes just to open a 100k word file from the server...not even to mention print jobs

 

[TheLad]

Have you got file caching switched on or off? To check, type SET CLIENT FILE CACHING ENABLED at the server console. If it is on, try setting it to off.

-----------------------------------------------------
"It's true, its damn true!"
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[bopritchard]

already was off

 

[beaudryc]

We had similar problems with Novell 5.1 servers in the past year where 2 situations were at cause:

1. Some "Long SCSI" commands were issued by our backup software toward the SCSI SuperDLT drive which would stop the server from addressing any request and utilization would go to the Max for a few minutes or more.

2. Another situation dealt with the file compression, where we had to disable it to prevent High Utilization situations on the servers.

You may want to look into those situations to at least eliminate potential troublesome situations.

Claude, CNE

 

[perseusc]

Hi,
i also have the same problem with a novell 5.1 server, matter of fact i've had it for more than two months...it usually happens at the same time of day, my utlization reches 30% affecting all users conected to the server, i checked the busiest threads as marvhuffaker suggested, and i also see server XX....would those also be problems related to client connections?

regars

 

[marvhuffaker]

I read somewhere that suggested a SERVER xx thread was a client connection. However I have never seen this officially documented.

A really good thing to do would be to install Novell's packet capture utility on the server, run it during the problem times, and then see if you can determine what is going on at the given time.

Also a good thing to do would be to follow Novell's guidelines for tuning and optimizing your server. Paying special attention to Packet Recieve Buffers and Directory Cache Buffers and their respective settings. See if you can find any indicators that can be tuned to improve performance. You might just be having peak traffic and the server is not configured to handle it all.

http://support.novell.com/cgi-bin/search/searchtid.cgi?/10012765.htm

Marvin Huffaker MCNE, CNE
Marvin Huffaker Consulting

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[perseusc]

hi marvhuffaker,
i checked once again on the threads section and the ones on top while the server's ulitization is high are Worker Thread Manager and Server 00:00, i am downloading the packet caputre application you suggested also.
My server is a Dell Power Edge 1400SC pentium III 933 MHz dual CPU with 1GB Ram, while this is happening i have 180 connections to the server, its a decent box, i also tried to unbind all network card drivers once, to see if i could isolate the problem and see if it was a network problem or an internal problem....

regards

 

[macfoxx]

Hi folks!
I read all messages and I can say :
All problems with freezing connections that cannot be deleted, high utilization , and one solution to restart server. I spent couple of weeks to resolved it and the answare is version of novell client. Never use version 4.90 only use version 4.83sp2e with windows XP.
regards
Mac