I am helping run a windows server 2003 domain network. On this network we have a number of macs running osx 10.5.6 and 10.5.2. We have a xserve running osx server 10.5.2 for setting policies on these macs and they are linked to active directory for authentication. The system is set up in a triangular fashion i.e. open directory on the xserve links to active directory on the windows domain, and the mac clients link to both active directory on the windows domain and open directory on the xserve.
We set these up in the summer holidays, previously they were all standalone machines.
Ever since we added these machines to the domain, our users have complained about them running slowly. They are mainly used for image editing with photoshop. We didn't have these complaints before adding them to the domain and doing the same tasks on our windows machines seems to be fine. Local homes are not enabled on the macs, all their files are stored in their AD specified home area.
I suspect it may be to do with the cache. Does anyone have any advice on the best way of getting these to run a little faster? We are kind of learning on the job with this mac setup really. So I'd be very grateful for any help
James
Last edited by _Bat_; 12th December 2009 at 11:46 PM.
CS4? You should also redirect a number of library folders to the local machine to stop it taking so long to logon, things like the safari cache etc.
Yes I'm pretty sure it's CS4 on the macs, though I'd have to double check that. We have different versions around the college. How would I set these redirections up without having to visit each machine?
Logging on speeds are actually not too bad at all. It's mainly just using photoshop etc. after they have logged on.
Photoshop is a specific case, the Library redirections can be done with open directory preferences. I'll dig ours out next week with a guide to setting them.
When photoshop is slow have a look on the file server with process monitor for lots of file requests for GPUInitCrashed. If this is the case then you may well have to disable the 3D acceleration in Photoshop with a special plugin.
We have the exact same problem; I put it down to a number of reasons though...
1) ANYTHING is always slower in a networked environment and there’s no way of getting around this.
2) The macs are relying on two sources of information for a successful logon, OD and AD, this has to have some effect.
3) Check that the users home directories and the places that host these home dirs are up to scratch and in fully working order.
4) !!!DNS!!!
5) Apps that are not designed for networks (e.g. CS4 will always require some additional config
1) only if the option for the users Library as far as the network goes is a simple on or off option with the entire library or none on the network
2) This doesn't actually affect the performance very much as OD is barely used after login.
3) OS X places a very high I/O load on the Library with lots of file opens and closes due to 1).
4) DNS is actually working perfectly here
5) Adobe goes one step beyond this, even to the point of ignoring hard symlinks on the file system when creating the Photoshop preference folders. Adobe are completely useless, do not care about network users or how many thousands of pounds we throw at them. It's simply "not supported on networks" because they still live in the dark ages. It's not even config changes, it's just broken.
I was running into a similar problem with summer/start of year with our Media students.
In the end I moved our students over to Mobile Accounts. The logins take a bit longer but all the apps function correctly and quickly. We've had far less issues with mobile accounts than we did with the Network accounts. Especially with InDesign and Premier.
If they stick to the same Mac then their log ins will be quicker. If the move to a different Mac then their Home folder is downloaded from the file sever onto the Mac and this may take some time depending on the size of their home folder.
Staff and IT Support get asked which why type of account they would like to login with, Mobile or Network. Students don't get a choice.
ah right so if the user has a full home directory (in our case its limited to 3gb) then this will have to get transfered too and back from the network each time?
Only changes or new item are uploaded back to the file server.
Something else you "could" do is give each student a 4GB USB pen drive, which could also store their home folder.
Then at the Login Window the student would plug the USB pen into the mac and then log in from an external home. Any changes or new file are then sync'ed back to the file server.
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