Server Slow

We have a 2 year old server running Microsoft Server 2003. The school has
approximately 60 client computers. Just in the last month, the server has
become painfully slow. Just to get logged in and into Active Directory
takes forever. Here's what is happening with the client computers:

When my classroom (20 or so kids) all get into Paint at the same time,
things come to a screeching halt - everyone seems to get "not responding"
and they end up losing their work. Now, the odd thing is that this happens
when they edit something created in Paint that is already saved on the
server. However, when a class starts a new Paint project, everything is
fine! Having the whole class get on the Web at the same time also stalls
things. On the other hand, having the whole class on PowerPoint or
Accelerated Reader works just fine.

Any ideas as to some possible causes? Why would it matter if the Paint
pictures are already stored on the server or not? BTW, the server has tons
and tons of free space and 1G of RAM. Thanks very much for any advice you
could give me!

Mommio2

 

"mommio2" <mommio2@notreallyinsightbb.com> wrote in message
news:um9vsdhTKHA.504@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> We have a 2 year old server running Microsoft Server 2003. The school has
> approximately 60 client computers. Just in the last month, the server has
> become painfully slow. Just to get logged in and into Active Directory
> takes forever. Here's what is happening with the client computers:
>
> When my classroom (20 or so kids) all get into Paint at the same time,
> things come to a screeching halt - everyone seems to get "not responding"
> and they end up losing their work. Now, the odd thing is that this
> happens when they edit something created in Paint that is already saved on
> the server. However, when a class starts a new Paint project, everything
> is fine! Having the whole class get on the Web at the same time also
> stalls things. On the other hand, having the whole class on PowerPoint or
> Accelerated Reader works just fine.
>
> Any ideas as to some possible causes? Why would it matter if the Paint
> pictures are already stored on the server or not? BTW, the server has
> tons and tons of free space and 1G of RAM. Thanks very much for any
> advice you could give me!
>
> Mommio2
><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->


"Slowness" can be a broad and general topic when trying to troubleshoot
because of the numerous things that work together for a system to function.
There are disk, cpu and network factors to consider,as well as role of the
machine and its configuration.

There are a number of things that could be causing this, including DNS
misconfigs, multiple NICs on it where it's handling routing, NAT, etc (multi
NICs on a DC is bad), bad wiring, bad switch, inexpensive network cards, low
end server hardware, slow drives, non-SCSI drives, not using RAID, or the
mere fact that using one server with 1GB of RAM for 60 students and staff,
just can't handle the load, especially in conjunction with a few of the
above items.

For starters:

Please post an ipconfig /all from the server.
Is the server a domain controller?
How many servers do you have?
How many of them are domain controllers?
Is Exchange installed?
Any other services installed? (AV, SQL, 3rd party software, etc)
Is the server's role a NAT device for the network?
Type of drives? RAID?
Server manufacture and model.
Number of CPUs and type


How much RAM is being used at any given time? Look in Task Manager,
Performance tab. The PF Usage is the actual RAM being used at any given
moment. Compare that to what's installed.

MSPaint files can become rather large if saved as BMP files. They can get
into the multiple MB range. I suggest to save them as JPG, which are
substantially smaller. If numerous students are concurrently opening
numerous BMP files, I can see a slowdown occuring.

Look in the Event viewer logs. Any errors? If so, post the EventID# and
source names, please.

If SP2 is installed, it could be the TCP Chimney feature, if not
specifically causing it, it could contribute to the issue. Check the
following link out to see what I'm talking about.

TCP Chimney and RSS Features May Cause Slow File Transfers or Cause
Connectivity Problems


You can also use Performance Monitor (built in under Administrative Tools)
to view specifics about your system that will help identify bottlenecks.

How to use Performance Monitor


Windows Server 2003 Performance Monitor - Disk counters to find disk
bottlenecks


Download details: Performance Monitor WizardAug 9, 2004 ... This wizard
simplifies creating and managing performance monitor logs.


I hope this is not overwhelming, but as you see, there are number factors to
look at when "slowness" occurs. Trying to troubleshoot this may require some
sleuthing...

--
Ace

This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and
confers no rights.

Please reply back to the newsgroup or forum for collaboration benefit among
responding engineers, and to help others benefit from your resolution.

Ace Fekay, MCT, MCITP EA, MCTS Windows 2008 & Exchange 2007, MCSE & MCSA
2003/2000, MCSA Messaging 2003
Microsoft Certified Trainer

For urgent issues, please contact Microsoft PSS directly. Please check
for regional support phone numbers.