Slow network printing to a 2008 R2 print server

[adamf]

We have approx. 50 network printers and in the last week or so printing to them has become increasing slower to the point where it will take 2-3 minutes from submitting the document before the printer kicks into life. The document I have been testing this with is only 53kb in size. The same thing happens if I generate a test page from the print server itself.

 

I've looked at a number of threads on the technet forums which suggest disabling TCP Chimney Offload, RSS and Autotuning on the print server, I've done this but it's had no effect. There is no firewall between the server and clients, all the clients are Windows 7 Enterprise x64 SP1. We have Antivirus on the server but on-access scanning is disabled.

 

Does anybody have any other suggestions on how to improve the performance?

[6Foot2]

You do not mention any other slow network problems. We had issues with slowness on the network that we were able to eliminate by adding VLANs to our network.

 

Perhaps VLANs will help you too [if you do not have then already?]

[m25man]

Check the printer defaults/properties on ther server and review the resolution your using as defaults.

Some of these printers are set far too high for what is needed and rendering to 1200 dpi takes 4 times longer than 300 dpi

 

Also check you topology, where is the Print Server in relation to the client and the target printer?

Eg. Client -> 2 switch hops -> PS -> 2 switch hops -> Printer

 

If you send a Test print from server to printer and as you say it takes the same time, what happens if you set up a TCP Printer Port on the client and print directly to the Printer?

Do you just have a latency issue on the network that you havent detected yet or is it actually a printer problem?

[adamf]

@DaveP - no other network problems as far as I am aware of or that we are seeing, we already have multiple vlans

@m25man - Check the resolution on the printer in my office, it's set to 600dpi which appears to be the factory default. Topology wise the printer and the client (my laptop in this case) are plugged into the same switch (core switch) and the print server is plugged into the switch with the rest of the servers. There is a 3gb fibre trunk between the server switch and core switch - actual distance is no more than 2m. Yes, when I generate a test page on the server to the same printer we still experience a delay. I haven't tried setting up a TCP printer port on my laptop and printing to it directly, but I will. I don't think it's a latency issue on the network as I am not seeing any other problems that might suggest that, nor a printer problem becuase it's happening to more than just one printer, different models aswell!

 

We have Print Manager Plus installed. I've stopped the service for that so I can rule that out as being the cause.

[ricki]

HI

 

Are you using ip6. If not have you disabled ip6

 

Richard

[adamf]

Not using IPv6. IPv6 still enabled on the NIC but it has always been like that without any problems until recently.

[ricki]

HI

 

I have checked our windows 2008 box and we also disables check sum.

 

Richard

[adamf]

I've just created a TCP port on my laptop, sent a test page to the printer I've been testing the issue with and it printed instantly. I've then sent a test page to the printer (with my laptop as the print server) and again it prints instantly.

[Michael]

It could be related to this, although it's not just printing which would be slow.

[sonic1485]

We are having similar issues with our Server 2008 print server. We first noticed we were having issues after we ran some Windows Updates. Since then the CPU spikes and prints can take 5 minutes to come out

[Mcshammer_dj]

2008 Print server performance slow - Spiceworks

[sonic1485]

I will try the fix suggested and see if it makes a difference over the next few days. Thanks for the link

[chazzy2501]

Just in case someone else is getting this issue, I've found that the Sharp Universal Drivers cause performance issues with all print servers (inc my 2008r2) Stick to the drivers Sharp make to the specific printer. (I was getting slowness in Word and you could see the connection to the printer take 5 or 6 seconds) This caused the program to halt until done.

[PaulJRJ]

Just in case someone else is getting this issue, I've found that the Sharp Universal Drivers cause performance issues with all print servers (inc my 2008r2) Stick to the drivers Sharp make to the specific printer. (I was getting slowness in Word and you could see the connection to the printer take 5 or 6 seconds) This caused the program to halt until done.

 

Hi Chazzy, this is exactly the problem I've been experiencing on my network, however, I have 3 Sharp photocopiers (MX4112) which don't have a specific driver avail, just the Sharp PCL universal driver. Is there anything else you can suggest that might sort this?

 

My setup;

Server 2008r2 (64bit)

Windows 7 (32bit)

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Paul J