15 Replies Latest reply on Jan 16, 2013 6:01 PM by Greg Rupp

Slow EPDM Performance - remote clients using Replicated Archivers

Susan Weinheimer May 28, 2011 4:24 PM

Since our Implementation of EPDM in 2008 Users connecting from Remote Replicated Archivers have indicated ‘slow performance of the PDM Vault’

The performance hardships are

Within Soliworks

File > New =

18-30seconds to present the dialog box to select format/start parts which are stored in the EPDM Vault

File > SaveAs =

12-20 seconds to present the Diaglog box of Green vault folder, which the user can start browsing to the new save location

File > Save = 12-20 seconds (new model) to present the Dialog box of Green vault folder, which the user can start browsing to the new save location.

Slow transitions

Slow Folder Browsing in the Explorer Vault View

This issue has not gotten better or worse with various verions (Epdm 2008, 2009, 2010) of EDM or SQL in our 3 year history of this product.

My question Is whether this Normal/Accepted performance for clients using Remote Archivers? Do customers using remote archivers experience these delays? We need to increase our performance to Clients using Remote Replicated Archivers

In the past our users have accepted the poor performance, in order to gain the benefits of PDM, however this in now no longer the case.

Our infrastructure is :

1 Dedicated Solidworks PDM SQL Server SQL2008 (Database) at Corporate Headquarters (5-T1lines -EVPN fully meshed network)

10 Remote EPDM Archivers EPDM 2010 sp4 (there files are stored on the remote archiver) WAN connection to Remote Archivers are typically T1 or 2-T1 circuits. SQL ports 1433/1433 are defined as COS3 with full burst as needed. All remote ARchivers connected to the SQL Server at Corporate Headquartes

The PDM Accounts are using the Windows Authentication

Significant PDM Security through PDM Groups is used

Current Version= EPDM 2010sp4 – 10 remote archivers

75 Solidworks users with RW access to the Vault.

350 clients total (most View/print consumers)

SQL Server 2008 on a Windows 2003 Server Server 8GB memory

EVPN WAN connection to Remote Archivers are T1 or 2-T1 , or E2 depending on the site size 5-T1’s at Corporate

We Have tickets open with Solidworks, it is confirmed that our SQL Server is NOT a bottleneck, no SQL sizing, performance issues of concern. Our carrier has reviewed our WAN links for saturation. There general statement is, “If you see similar performance in off peak times, we would not consider it as a WAN circuit sizing issue”

We have Riverbed appliances in several locations, we do not see an increase in performance. We do Not have the ‘sql component’ enabled. Riverbed as indicated the SQL componet requires custom code and have mixed results in performance gain in SQL Traffic.

Each of the functions above must communicate with the SQL Server in order to produce the On Line (green) vault folders. Solidworks has indicated a small amount of latency will cause the performance we are seeing, however our performance does not improve marketable during low wan usage. As expected the EPDM Performance is acceptable locally to the EPDM SQL Database

Experiences from Users using Remote Replicated Archivers would be appreciated.

Re: Slow EPDM Performance - remote clients using Replicated Archivers

Faur Arama May 29, 2011 2:08 AM (in response to Susan Weinheimer)

Hi Susan,
You do not say nothing about the computers on replicated sites. What configuration and are used, are dedicated only to PDM activities?
We have such problems when on server, on replicated site, there are many opened files. On that server there also also electric projects (not in PDM) and when our colegs open these projects, directly from server, we have problems with slow response of PDM. Usually a electric projects can have a lot of small files.
We will move all the electric projects on other machine.
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Re: Slow EPDM Performance - remote clients using Replicated Archivers

Susan Weinheimer May 29, 2011 6:40 AM (in response to Susan Weinheimer)

Faur:
Thank you for your reply.

I’m assuming you are asking about the configuration of the Remote Archivers. In Most cases our remote archivers are also the Remote Sites DC (AD domain controller) and File/Print Server. Since they act as a dual purpose, we would have non-PDM related files open.

I asked the Solidworks Engineer assigned to this ticket whether the remote Archiver is the source of our issues. He has indicated that the display of the Vault folders was dependent on SQL traffic and has been looking exclusively to SQL traffic. I will share your information with him as another source of troubleshooting.

As to the slow PDM performance on a shared server you speak of, are you seeing the slow performance in the same functions that we speak of ?
Within Soliworks the time it takes to display the Green Vault folders for command such as:
File > New , File > SaveAs , File > Save , Slow transitions, Slow Folder Browsing in the Explorer Vault View

Thanks again for your reply,
Sue
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- Re: Slow EPDM Performance - remote clients using Replicated Archivers
  
  Susan Weinheimer May 30, 2011 6:50 AM (in response to Susan Weinheimer)
  
  Faur:
  As a follow up -
  I confirmed the same PDM poor performance with clients using a dedicated Remote PDM Replicated Archiver, as those with a Remote PDM Replicated Archiver that acts as the sites DC and File/Print Server.
  
  Thank you again for your Post, any insight from customers experiencing the same problem or customers having a successful experience is much appreciated.
  
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  - Re: Slow EPDM Performance - remote clients using Replicated Archivers
    
    Faur Arama May 30, 2011 7:53 AM (in response to Susan Weinheimer)
    
    Our issues are not constant. There are only related to other activities that are running on remote archive server.
    
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- Re: Slow EPDM Performance - remote clients using Replicated Archivers
  
  Eric Stocker Jun 28, 2011 1:21 AM (in response to Susan Weinheimer)
  
  Hi Susan,
  
  We have also been experiencing the same slow Vault browsing performance as you describe for some time now.
  
  When we click on a project folder, it can take up to 30 seconds to display the contents. Very annoying when trying to do something quickly.
  
  Our configuration:
  SQL Server 2008 sp1 running on Windows Server 2008 (Shared with other systems)
  EPDM 2010 sp4.0 running on Windows Server 2008 (Dedicated to EPDM)
  
  This is on a local network, so network speeds should not be a problem.
  
  I ran an SQL Server Profiler while browsing through the vault folders to capture what is sent through SQL. I came accross the following SQL Statements which took 27 seconds to execute.
  
  Set Transaction Isolation Level READ UNCOMMITTED
  Exec Prj_VerifyProject 5292, 0
  Exec GetNodeDetailsData2 5292,2,N'2bd9d325-12e5-4fd9-bc73-033ccaca6808',1
  Exec Prj_GetChildList 5292,2,1,1
  Set Transaction Isolation Level READ COMMITTED
  
  It possibly appears to be the source of the delay. Every time this statement is run, it causes a delay of up to 30 seconds. Perhaps you could ask the SolidWorks Engineer to look at these SQL statements?
  
  I did some further investigation, in between writing this post, and I looked at our SQL Secirity Settings. The EPDM Database server uses an SQL login to connect. I noticed that the Default database for this user was master. I changed this value to our EPDM vault database and had almost instantaneous results. Now, it takes at maximum 2 seconds to load all our project folders when browsing. Pressing the Save button almost instantly brings up a save dialogue box.
  
  Since this only just now fixed our problem, I remain a bit of a sceptic. I will monitor the vault speed over the next few days and let you know if it has been solved for certain.
  
  Let me know if this has worked for you, if not we may be able to go through some of the other SQL security settings.
  
  Best Regards,
  Eric
  
  p.s. Is this bad that I am actually getting excited about possibly having found the solution?
  
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  - Re: Slow EPDM Performance - remote clients using Replicated Archivers
    
    Susan Weinheimer Nov 28, 2011 1:46 PM (in response to Eric Stocker)
    
    Eric:
    Thanks for your reply. Then I initially read your reply, I didn't think it applied. I revisited this link resently and found my default was also set as Master. I changed it to the EPDM Vault database. Initial Login to the EPDM Vault is quicker, however The poor Vault performance of the following still remain
    The performance hardships are
    Within Soliworks
    File > New =
    18-30seconds to present the dialog box to select format/start parts which are stored in the EPDM Vault
    
    File > SaveAs =
    12-20 seconds to present the Diaglog box of Green vault folder, which the user can start browsing to the new save location
    
    File > Save = 12-20 seconds (new model) to present the Dialog box of Green vault folder, which the user can start browsing to the new save location.
    
    Slow transitions
    
    Slow Folder Browsing in the Explorer Vault View
    
    Thanks for your reply and your suggestion above.
    
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  - Re: Slow EPDM Performance - remote clients using Replicated Archivers
    
    Paul Wyndham Dec 11, 2012 1:32 PM (in response to Eric Stocker)
    
    I found this helpful. We have multiple vaults so I set the default database to ConisioMasterDb. I have been using one of our assemblies in one of the Vaults as a test. When I saved the assembly to a local folder on my harddrive (not in the vault) it opened in 46 seconds consistently. When I opened the file from the vault folder it opened in 2:30 to 3:00 minutes.
    
    After changing the default database to ConisioMasterDb the assembly opened in 1.10 minutes. Hopefully this will eleviate some of the frustrations the engineers have.
    
    Thanks for the posts.
    
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    - Re: Slow EPDM Performance - remote clients using Replicated Archivers
      
      Jack Berryman Jan 16, 2013 7:43 AM (in response to Paul Wyndham)
      
      Hi Guys,
      
      Whereabouts do you change the default database, as described below?
      
      Eric Stocker wrote:
      
      "I did some further investigation, in between writing this post, and I looked at our SQL Secirity Settings. The EPDM Database server uses an SQL login to connect. I noticed that the Default database for this user was master. I changed this value to our EPDM vault database and had almost instantaneous results. Now, it takes at maximum 2 seconds to load all our project folders when browsing. Pressing the Save button almost instantly brings up a save dialogue box."
      
      I've had a look a just can't seem to find the setting you're all talking about!
      
      We are really struggling with our vault at the moment, and these posts seem to describe the problems that we're having.
      
      Thankyou for all your help in advance.
      
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      - Re: Slow EPDM Performance - remote clients using Replicated Archivers
        
        Raghavendra Bhagwan Jan 16, 2013 10:42 AM (in response to Jack Berryman)
        
        Log into SQL Server > Open the (Vault name) database > Security Settings > sa > General > Default database will be master > change it to (Vault name).
        
        Hope this helps !
        Raghav.
        
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        Re: Slow EPDM Performance - remote clients using Replicated Archivers
        
        Jack Berryman Jan 16, 2013 11:09 AM (in response to Raghavendra Bhagwan)
        
        Thank you for the reply Raghav,
        
        I just logged in and still can't find that setting. I explored to the database but can't find security settings.
        
        I've attached a screenshot snippet of what I am seeing, can you point me in the right direction?
        
        Thankyou!
        
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        Re: Slow EPDM Performance - remote clients using Replicated Archivers
        
        Susan Weinheimer Jan 16, 2013 11:14 AM (in response to Jack Berryman)
        
        Hello All:
        It's good to see some replies, even though this thread has been posted since May 2011. Unfortunately in our case our Performance problems still exist. We continue to trouble shoot with Solidworks, and have made some progress in know where the source of the issue is, but no resolution. This is troubling as the performance problems exist since the implementation of PDM in 2009. It appears that one source of the of the issue is using the Windows Authentication for user accounts (not the PDM internal accounts). For functions such as “File Open” , and “File Save As” in Sollidworks. PDM authenticates the user before presenting the dialog box. In addition when browsing the PDM Vault folders, it does the same thing. In many cases, a User will wait 17-20 seconds for the dialog box to open from Solidworks when issuing a “File Open” command.
        We set our SQL default database from Master to the Production Vault name in May 2011, although we saw some performance increase on the initial logins, the over all performance problem still exists.
        
        To answer your question above, Select the "Security " Folder (not databases), Logins (folder), sa Then right click on sa select properties > General > Default database
        
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        Re: Slow EPDM Performance - remote clients using Replicated Archivers
        
        Jack Berryman Jan 16, 2013 1:01 PM (in response to Susan Weinheimer)
        
        Thank you very much for the reply Susan, it seems like a lot more work needs to be down to get EPDM up to truly acceptable standard.
        
        Any other tips on improving our EPDM are greatly appreciated - currently it takes 1+ minute to simply edit a dimension of a part whilst in an assembly. Browsing the vault is a nightmare and opening files or simply switching between windows is painfully slow. All of this while neither my machine OR the SQL server OR the network are showing any signs of strain (in the task manager). All three are practically asleep.
        
        We have a SQL/network consultant and a solidworks technician from our VAR coming to take a look at our set up next week. Hopefully they can improve the situation slightly.I will be posting back any of my findings.
        
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        Re: Slow EPDM Performance - remote clients using Replicated Archivers
        
        Frank Krockenberger Jan 16, 2013 1:13 PM (in response to Jack Berryman)
        
        Jack, Susan,
        
        This is a shot in the dark, I had a slow down issues with Sw/Epdm
        
        I had a similiar issue and it was due to two things,
        Either one put Solidwiorks to a extream slow down and it would only use less than 1G of ram (I had 8G)
        it took SW 40-60 minutes to start up and took just as long to load files. Everything was sluggish.
        
        1- when checking files into the vault, Selecting KEEP CHECKED OUT.
        2- I had to make sure that I checked in all my files before the vault was backed up in the evening.
        
        I hope this helps,
        
        Frank
        
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        Re: Slow EPDM Performance - remote clients using Replicated Archivers
        
        Greg Rupp Jan 16, 2013 6:01 PM (in response to Jack Berryman)
        
        I've recently been having issues with our Vault getting slower over time. I did some time studies and it was taking about 90 seconds to process a group of 18 test files. By process, I mean run a change state on the files. We made a HUGE improvement to get the process time down to 12 seconds. This was done by implementing a maintainence plan on our SQL server. Adding a Rebuild / Reorganize plan is what made the difference for us. On average, we modify, add, delete about 700 files a day.
        
        You should review KB S-042552.
        
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        Re: Slow EPDM Performance - remote clients using Replicated Archivers
        
        Paul Wyndham Jan 16, 2013 11:19 AM (in response to Jack Berryman)
        
        To answer the question about where to find the setting. Log in and got to Security -> Logins -> double click "sa" -> Default database on General page.
        
        For me it seemed to work for a little while then reverted back to being slow.
        
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