W7 and XP64 network problem.

[Tommy L]

Network works fine. Except for one intermittent issue.

 

I have the following seetup:

8 nodes running xp64

1 server running W7 Ultimate

1 workstation running W7 Ultimate

 

When the workstation is not on the network, I have no problems.

 

When the worksation transfers large files over the network, the nodes lose their connection to the server.

 

WTF.

 

This has been a longstanding annoying problem,. However, I now need to render a 500mb max file. This is making my nodes lose connection to the server. Which is obviously a huge problem.

 

Any help much appreciated.

Tom.

[BVI]

Hey Tom,

 

I think it may be a windows 7 issue. We have a similar setup, but with VISTA rather than XP. The VISTA machines work perfectly, but the windows 7 machine is painfully slow on the network.

 

One thing I did was to get a switch (or a router) to replace the hub. A hub just routes traffic around the network and sends data to all the nodes, so when you start exceeding 10 nodes, you get issues. A switch will actually properly route the packets to the node it then needs the data. You might also check the cable, sometimes the CAT5's are damaged and can cause issues. Lastly, also check the network card on the windows 7 box, if its built in - disable it in the BIOS and grab a $10 NIC and pop it in - malformed packets could result from the faulty NIC.

[Tommy L]

Not a cable issue, Im sure of that. Im going througha 16 port LinkSys switch, I dont think thats the problem.

Yeah, wierd thing is its just when the workstation is on the network. No problems when its disconnected. It just has to be a setting in W7 on the workstation, but I'll be ****ed if I can figure out what it is.

At this rate Ill have to upgrade the whole farm to W7. Not an expense I'd too happy about considering its around $1600 to fix one small networking issue.

My workaround at the momernt is to reboot the server. Not ideal.

[armilla]

Hi Tom. Did you ever resolve this issue? I'm getting painfully slow transfer speeds between my XP (32&64bit) machines and my newer Win7 machine - like 9 hours to copy 1.5Gb across the network from an XP machine to the Win7 one! It seems to be well a well documented problem on the net, but no one has a definitive solution. Like you, I'm inclined to think it's a setting in Win7 somewhere, as my network worked fine until I introduced the Win7 box. Cheers.

[Tommy L]

Andrew,

doesnt sound like the same issue. Mine is a problem of dropping connections, although I do have a lag issue from 1 W7 machine to the server.

I bought a new switch (HP Procurve) and all new cables at the recommendation of a tech guy (my old one was 100mb instead of 1 gig switch) and it has helped speed my network.

I think a 9hr transfer for 1.5gb is not tranferring anything. You could leave it 9hrs and it would still say it has 9hrs to go.

I would upgrade the 32 bit machines to 64 bit for a start. Other than that, Im not the right guy to ask. I hate, hate, hate network issues. They are the biggest waste of my time.

Ive come to the conclusion that one machine has a bad card or bad settings. Its the one that lags and also the network runs smoother without it turned on. I think its something to do with bridged connections on the dual network card. Buggered if I know. Im of the opinion that networking is unnessecarily complicated, be it W or mac.

[Matt McDonald]

Tom

 

You've got 10 boxes and none of them are running a server os. XP, 7, NT, etc. cap the number of concurrent connections. I think its at 10 but it might be lower. It sounds to me like your "server" (which isn't running a server os) starts kicking connections once you get to 10. Try shutting off a couple of your nodes then transferring a file from your workstation to your server and see if the remaining connections die.

 

Hope this heads you in the right direction. I wish that I would have seen this post sooner.

[Tommy L]

Hi Matt,

Thanks, I will give that a try. I dont believe the non-server-ness of my OS on the server is the culprit, its just too quirky for that. For instance, one of my machines does not recognise anything by name, only IP address. Which sounds simple, but it actually messes with alot of stuff. Also, my whole network has now decided not to recognise the other network its plugged into by name, only ip address. There are too many quirks and bugs to get into here. Even if I had a pro engineer come to fix it, it would take 2 days to explain the problems and recreate them for him to fix. Ill just keep going with workarounds til I explode then someone else can come deal with it.

[armilla]

Thanks Tom. Couldn't agree more about Networking, I dread it whenever I get a new machine.

My network is only 3 strong at the mo - main workstation on Win7, old one on XP64 and then my laptop (used for emails, admin) on XP32bit. I'm going to upgrade to a new router next week with a built in 4 port Gigabit swith, so that will help to some extent, but I never had any speed issues with the 100mb setup until adding the Win7 box. Think I might also try adding a separate network card into the Win7 box instead of using the built in adapter, which may help.

 

On a separate note, have you had any problems with Backburner on the Win7 machine? I'm having a nightmare with the BB Manager becoming unresponsive and losing connection with the BB Servers, both on across the network and on the machine also running BB Manager. Weird thing is, it's intermittent - sometimes it works, but lastnight when I left it rendering 6 images, it locked up after 2 images and left me right in the sh#t. Again, it used to work fine on the XP64 machine.

[Tommy L]

Networking is all about Windows. Any network glitches your other software has can be traced to windows.

I would save your money on the switch and get all your Windows the same. Start as you mean to go on. My problem is my nodes are not worth upgrading. They are all Q6600's and +200 bucks on an OS is overkill for them. However, you just need 2 copies, I'd do it.

 

Oh, btw, make sure you dont have auto updates on Windows. It updates at 3am and sometimes forces a restart.

[armilla]

Tom, I hear what you're saying, and I felt I could always get to the bottom of a problem to to with Win XP, but Win7 is just not that easy, so much stuff is hidden now - the whole Permissions thing is ridiculous.

 

Like your nodes, my old XP64 box is due for retirement really, it's only dual core, so fairly soon I'll have to replace it - probably with a Sandybridge when they sort those out.

 

In the meantime, I need to get a wireless set-up to make it easier using our iPhones and the laptop around the house, hence upgrading to a new router with built in 4 port gigabit switch. I'll let you know if that helps!

 

Cheers.

[Tommy L]

If you dont intend to expand the number of machines, maybe the apple airport(?) is a good idea. I have one at home. It has a gig on board for backup thru timemachine and is a wireless router also. My wife has a mac and she is rubbish a backing up. This does it autoatically when her mac is idle and we have better wireless than previously. Not cheap tho.

[armilla]

Sounds good, I'll have a look at that. Cheers.

[Matt McDonald]

For instance, one of my machines does not recognise anything by name, only IP address.

 

That makes me think its a server thing too! It's been awhile since I've dealt with this but when working with a LAN you can start to have DNS issues if there is no dedicated DNS server. With XP anyways, one box will try and fullfill DNS duties but sometimes it doesn't update correctly or a second box will also try and take care of DNS and there are conflicts. I can't remember what this is called.

[Tommy L]

Matt,

So my only two options would be:

1: take a node off.

2: get a server OS.

Because that would be a good excuse to upgrade the farm. Get myself fewer but faster machines. Hello Boxx!