Macs running slowly

[_Bat_]

Hi,

 

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

Edited December 12, 2009 by _Bat_

[DMcCoy]

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.

[_Bat_]

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.

 

Thanks

[DMcCoy]

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.

[_Bat_]

Cheers for that, that would be very helpful.

 

I'll check the file server on Monday.

[mbrunt]

Hi,

 

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

 

6) User error, generally macs are used by art and media types, art and media types tend to be complainers in my opinion!

[mbrunt]

id be interested in seeing your settings too dmcoy

[DMcCoy]

Hi,

 

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.

[DMcCoy]

The how: AFP548 - Leopard's Built-in Network Home Folder Redirector

 

The what (DO BE CAREFUL HERE!): See attached.

[mbrunt]

Hi,

 

Which folders should I be looking to redirect if I wanted adobe to open quicker?

[NotVeryPC]

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.

[mbrunt]

with mobile accounts doesnt that mean that all the students work is stored locally on a mac, so they would have to use the same mac each time....

[NotVeryPC]

Hmm Yes and No.

 

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.

[mbrunt]

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?

[NotVeryPC]

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.

[mbrunt]

hmm usb pens aren't really an option here, 2000 students here and 1500 would probably forget to bring in their pens!

 

also as soon as we would start to implement mobile profiles and logins started to go slow we would get majorly moaned at!

 

back to the drawing board i guess. we would like to be able to simply run the applications locally by redirecting folders, not totally sure how to do this but yea

[NotVeryPC]

The folder redirection does work for the majority of apps but I had problems getting the Adobe Apps especially the CS4 flavoured ones to work correctly.

 

And as for video editing - that's just a world of pain with network accounts!!

[mbrunt]

im not totally sure which folders i should be redirecting though to behonest, or even exactly how to do this.

 

cant find much info online either.

[NotVeryPC]

I'll dig out some info on re-direction tomorrow. As for which folders it's really try and see.

[NotVeryPC]

A good starting point for Folder Redirection is this article on AFP548.com

 

When deciding which folders to redirect I used "fseventer" it tracks in realtime what files are created or changed and where they are saved.

 

I found the MS Office apps to be a nightmare with folder redirection. Word would error when saving changes.

 

I highly recommend you test, test and test again before deploying folder redirection especially the Adobe Suites.

[Robbocop]

If your log ins seem reasonably quick then I suspect it's the caching problem mentioned above. We often set up suites of Macs using the portable home folder strategy, which syncs the user's home folder on log in, allows the user to work locally (very fast) and then syncs again on log off. This works really well where you can get students to use the same machine each time, but causes slow log ins if they switch to a different machine. Also, on Macbooks it's not so good because there's a danger of students shutting the lid before the sync has completed. Fundamentally, Macs are very "chatty" on the network, and if the home folder resides on your windows servers you'll notice that it balloons in size as soon as a user logs on from a Mac. Macs deposit a lot of Library (System) stuff in there and have to keep referring to it. So ALWAYS use gigabit E for Macs, and if it's still slow, redirect your scratch disks and temporary caches to the local drive. Anything using large files will benefit from this, and particularly video editing (iMovie for example) will be much more comfortable. I hope that helps you. I'm a consultant, not a technician, but this is the kind of thing our technical guys recommend when they install Mac suites.

[mbrunt]

Thanks. How do I redirect cache disks and stuff?

[_Bat_]

The how: AFP548 - Leopard's Built-in Network Home Folder Redirector

 

The what (DO BE CAREFUL HERE!): See attached.

 

Very useful, thanks DMcCoy. I implemented these changes on Friday for students, and using the same preference section I also managed to solve a couple of other nagging (but smaller) issues we were having (I also like your idea of deleting the trash on login - will save us a bit of space of the fileserver).

 

So, I'll see if it all works in January when the students come back, and then do the same for staff