[Samba] samba 3 performance with windows 7 workstations

[Bob Miller]

Hi Peter,

I read your post with interest, seems sage has done some work on their
linux support since last I checked into it.  I didn't think it was so
long ago, but I guess it was long enough...

> Further to previous post.
> I have changed each of the seven win7 PCs to use smb1 instead of smb2
> It has made no difference to Sage performance.
> I noted today that a batch task which would previously take 1-2 minutes
> completes in an hour.
> I checked on the server processes and the user running sage had 1 minute 6
> seconds of server time when the task completed.
> I had assumed that the only variable was replacing XP workstations with
> win7, but I discovered today that the accountant had been in last week and
> installed Sage line50 2014.
> Anybody have any ideas?

Given my experience trying to get their linux stuff working a while ago,
one suggestion is to store the data on a windows machine and see if
performance improves.  Won't fix the samba problem, but might help rule
out some things.

The other suggestion is based on my experience with Sage Accpac, and
that is make sure you are running gigabit network.  I installed some IP
Phones with 10/100 switch and it slowed Accpac down considerably - not
as much as you describe, but what did take a couple minutes started to
take a couple tens of minutes.  some cheap gigabit switches brought it
back...

If you get it working reliably I hope you report back...

> Peter Lawrie
> 
> 
> 
> On 16 May 2014 19:57, peter lawrie <peter.lawrie at glendiscovery.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> > My customer has a Centos Linux 5.10 server running Samba 3. (Samba version
> > 3.0.33-3.40.el5_10)
> > The machine is about three years old. I suggested that they should
> > consider replacing it with a Centos 6 machine and Samba 4, but they decided
> > as it was doing its job without any issues to keep it as is. I also
> > suggested updating to samba3x but they decided not to do this.
> > I recently installed a centos 6/samba4 server for another customer but
> > they do not use Sage so I cannot compare performance. That customer has a
> > mix of XP, win7, and win8 but nobody is complaining of performance
> > differences.
> > At home I also have Centos 5.10 with samba3x (Samba version
> > 3.6.6-0.139.el5_10)
> > I use a win7 PC as a domain member and have not noticed any issues when
> > moving up from XP - but I don't have Sage Accounts.
> >
> > The customer at issue decided to replace seven desktop XP PCs with Windows
> > 7 pro. All now installed and working.  After discussion, they decided they
> > did not really need domain machines, so the win7 PCs have been set up in a
> > workgroup. I advised them if they wanted to join a domain they would need
> > samba3x as a minimum, and preferably a new server with samba 4.
> > Normal use appears to be fine, office applications from the server share
> > work just as well a before including their access databases.
> > However, they have found a significant problem with their Sage accounts
> > package. The data is stored on a samba share with the applications on four
> > of the PCs. Performance is significantly less than before.
> > I told them to turn off 'remote differential compression' but apparently
> > that has not helped.
> > What other windows 7 features may be affecting network performance?
> > I have three other customers using Sage on Samba servers, they are still
> > using XP workstations, but at least one of them is intending to upgrade in
> > the next couple of months, using the same centos5/samba3 setup so
> > suggestions are urgently required.
> > Changing from samba3 to 3x appears to involve rebuilding samba which will
> > take time. I normally visit this customer during working hours and they
> > wanted to minimise any disruption to their business. If the solution is to
> > install 3x then so be it, but I have told them they would not need to until
> > they were ready to replace the server.
> > Peter Lawrie
> >
> >