Optimising the Novell client
John Sheesley
Published: 18 Feb 2003 16:15 GMT
To get the most out of your NetWare server, Novell recommends that you use its client software, rather than Microsoft's client, on your workstations. I'll identify ten things you can do to optimize the Novell Client on your workstations.
Author's note For the purposes of this article, I'll focus on tuning the Novell Client 4.83 for Windows NT/2000/XP on a Windows 2000 Professional computer. Most of the tuning tips will apply equally well on all versions of the Novell Client and on all platforms.
Check your installed client software
By default, when you install Windows 2000, it will install the Client For Microsoft Networks. You'll only need this client if you plan to connect to a Windows NT server, connect to a Windows 2000 server, or use peer-to-peer sharing on the workstation. If you're only going to connect to a NetWare server and don't need these additional services, you can safely eliminate the Client For Microsoft Networks. If you don't get rid of it, it will consume RAM on your workstation and cause your workstation to do extra work transmitting network packets using both clients.
To remove the client, right-click My Network Places and select Properties. When the Network And Dial-up Connections window appears, right-click Local Area Connection and select Properties. This will display the Local Area Connection Properties screen.
In the Components scroll box, you'll see all the clients, protocols, and network services configured for your workstation. To remove the Client For Microsoft Networks, select it and click Uninstall. When Uninstall finishes, you'll need to restart the workstation.
If you must use both the Client For Microsoft Networks and the Novell Client, but primarily use NetWare resources, you can reorder Windows 2000's preferences to make the Novell Client take priority. To do so, select Local Area Connection in the Network And Dial-Up Connections windows, and then select Advanced Settings from the Advanced menu.
From the resulting Advanced Settings window, click the Provider Order tab. This tab controls the order in which your Windows 2000 workstation uses network resources. Make sure the Novell Client is at the top of the list. If it isn't, select Novell Client, and then click the up arrow to the right of the Network Providers box. This will cause the Novell Client to rise to the top of the Network Provider list. Click OK to save your changes, then reboot your workstation.
Tune Novell Client settings
The Novell Client has many settings you can change. You can find these settings by selecting the Novell Client in Local Area Connection Properties and then clicking Properties. When the Novell Client Properties window appears, click Advanced Settings.
When the Advanced Settings window appears, you'll see a list of settings in a scroll box. As you select each setting, the default value for the setting will appear in the Setting list. Additionally, the range of values for the setting will appear directly underneath the Setting list and within the Description pane. The Description pane will also give you a detailed description of the setting. You can use the Settings and Description listings to tweak the values for the setting.
Settings that affect network performance include:
- Burst Mode
- File Caching
- File Commit
- Give Up On Requests To SAs
- Large Internet Packets
- Large Internet Packet Start Size
- Link Support Max Buffer Size
- Max Read Burst Size
- Max Write Burst Size
- Minimum Time To Net
- Name Resolution Timeout
- Quit Idle Connects
- Replica Timeout
- Server Cache Timeout
- SLP Cache Replies
- SLP Default Registration Timeout
- SLP Multicast Radius
- Wait Before Giving Up On DA
- Wait Before Registering On Passive DA
Unfortunately, there's no hard and fast rule about which values you should assign to these settings. The effectiveness of changing the settings will vary depending on the network applications you use. Increasing the value of a setting may make one application go faster, but make something else go slower. Check with your application vendors to see if they have recommended settings for the Novell Client and their applications.
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