Strange Performance Issue

[JonathonBerg]

CAN ANYONE HELP?

I have a very strange problem. In know my Access DBs but I have never encountered this issue before. It is an Access 2019 front end/back end arrangement running on a Windows Server 2012 R2. It performs fine. But if we move it anywhere else it slows down by a factor of 10x. That includes another 2012 server, a 2019 Server, AWD, Windows 7 or 10 workstations, literally any other platform.

So we cloned the 2012 R2 server and moved it to that - same thing. 10x slower.

Despite the fact that EVERYTHING IS IDENTICAL.

I would love to know if anyone else has ever seen this or know the cause. We tried Microsoft Critical Incident support. That was three weeks ago and they are still bouncing us between Server support and Office support with neither team having a clue.

Anyone? Help?

 

[Gasman]

All I can think of is a network issue?
I once worked somewhere in Birmingham, where the server was next to my desk and we had 4 PCs on individual desks BUT, the network traffic was going via Coventry and then coming back to Birmingham. Stupidly slow. The network guys had to sort it out?

 

[JonathonBerg]

Thank you @Gasman - but we have tried installing this to other networks and also local machines (Windows 7 and 10) and always get the same behaviour. There is something special about the RDS setup that doesn't carry through the cloning process.

I think it will be something like OpLocks, but we have already tried fiddling with that without success.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

You mentioned RDS. Which strongly suggests that both FE and BE are on the same machine.

Do you have separate folders (one per user) for the FE files? Sharing a single copy of the FE (as opposed to distributing it) opens up multiple cans of worms. Cloning the machine still requires you to "adjust" how the RDS users log in when you publicize the app. I ran into that when the sys admin for the server didn't understand the need for separating user folders for "local" files.

When you cloned the server, did you remember to relink the BE files in the FE before using it? Or did you make the links to the BE relative to the FE? Because if you didn't and that original server is still on the network, you might even be suddenly crossing the net to find the BE on the original server.

 

[JonathonBerg]

Very good point. I *know* to re-link, but then again......

I will ask Infrastructure to re-perform the clone and examine the copy again to ensure it isn't as simple as that. I would kick myself - but be very grateful it that was it,

I'll report back in a day or two.

 

[Pat Hartman]

You might have started your question with - RDS since it is different from the normal LAN installation and we only found out about it in #3. Also, I will remind you again to make sure that the FE is NOT being shared. Each user should have his own personal folder and the start up script should copy the FE to that folder every time the user logs on. If you are using a shortcut to start the app, the .bat file should do the copying.

 

[Isaac]

CAN ANYONE HELP?

I have a very strange problem. In know my Access DBs but I have never encountered this issue before. It is an Access 2019 front end/back end arrangement running on a Windows Server 2012 R2. It performs fine. But if we move it anywhere else it slows down by a factor of 10x. That includes another 2012 server, a 2019 Server, AWD, Windows 7 or 10 workstations, literally any other platform.

So we cloned the 2012 R2 server and moved it to that - same thing. 10x slower.

Despite the fact that EVERYTHING IS IDENTICAL.

I would love to know if anyone else has ever seen this or know the cause. We tried Microsoft Critical Incident support. That was three weeks ago and they are still bouncing us between Server support and Office support with neither team having a clue.

Anyone? Help?

My guess would be that there is something - it could be just one table link, one line of code, one recordsource, whatever - which utilizes a connection to a network and maybe that drive/connection is different, or further from source

 

[cyberman55]

You might have started your question with - RDS since it is different from the normal LAN installation and we only found out about it in #3. Also, I will remind you again to make sure that the FE is NOT being shared. Each user should have his own personal folder and the start up script should copy the FE to that folder every time the user logs on. If you are using a shortcut to start the app, the .bat file should do the copying.

Thanks Pat, I have a question about this. I have a client who runs my application in an FE/BE configuration where the BE is on a shared network drive and each user has their own, local copy of the FE. The problem is that over a single user session, performance for that user slows down. Now I'm wondering it performance would be better if the FE's and BE's were both located on the server, configured as you suggested where each user has their own copy of the FE. Make sense?

 

[JonathonBerg]

Well prompted Cyberman......

I hope Pat will give you his reply but in follow-up to my original post we continued to try everything (and I mean everything) - so did the Microsoft Office support team and the Microsoft Azure support team and also Ingram. In the end we have called a truce and decided to move the BE into SQL, which does resolve the issue.

We are left with the conclusion that some setting on a BE 2012 Server that is not carried across in a cloning exercise allows faster Access operation in a FE/BE scenario using AVD. We still do not know what that is.

Thank you all who provided a response.

 

[Gasman]

That would be her reply?

 

[Pat Hartman]

Would an access application be faster if both the FE and BE were on your local machine? Yes, because there is no network activity involved. That means that if the FE and BE are both running on the server, the same condition applies. Keep in mind that you still NEVER want to share the FE so each user needs his own copy of the FE. The way you have it set up know is probably using a VPN. The BE is on the server. The FE is on the laptop and the connection is via VPN. If you use RD to establish a "desktop" that you log into, you are still accessing via a VPN. The difference though is that data is not being sent across the wire. Just images of the desktop coming from the server and keystrokes coming from your PC.

Here is a sample batch file used for Citrix installations. I think the RD will be the same or similar.

md %USERPROFILE%\DwgLog
del %USERPROFILE%\DwgLog\DrawingLog.accdb
copy "\\BSCCTIMBERLINE1\Timberline Office\AccessApps\Data\CommonFE\DrawingLog.accdb" %USERPROFILE%\DwgLog
%USERPROFILE%\DwgLog\DrawingLog.accdb