Slow(!) afp connection

[SleepyJay]

I'm running Snow Leopard on a Mac Pro.

I often connect to a Linux server sitting at the office through afp. It connects fine, but very quickly the response time of the folders becomes extremely slow.

Granted there are fire walls and network magic and whatnot between here and that server that don't exist inside the network at the office. But I feel as if this is a more recent phenomena. Connections in this way have been a little sluggish in the past, but now it's consistently unbearable--beach balls and unresponsive Finder windows.

I have an internal RAID pair, and extra drives, and shared connections all talking to this machine, which clearly causes the occasional "hiccup" in the system. Like sometimes I wait for folders to load, or like VMWare pausing for a few seconds when trying to access some of the Mac drives. But, for the most part, the system works fast and fine.

I've tried to watch the Activity Monitor while accessing the Finder windows on the server. And, all that I've learned is that FireFox is big resource hog, and that Finder barely registers any CPU effort when I click into those drives. Speakeasy tells me I'm getting around 14 Mbps for network speed. The server itself seems to be running fine (according to top and snappy terminal responses).

This was almost helpful, but I'm not really connecting to a NAS, am I?
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/778965/

Thoughts?
thanks
jason.

 

[SleepyJay]

BTW, I just rebooted and without opening anything else, I tried the server again. Still pretty sluggish. So, doesn't appear to be application-related (FireFox and VMWare seem innocent).

jason.

 

[iMAVERICKam]

Traceroute.

14 Mbps to Speakeasy doesn't mean jack, the hops from your house to the office do.

 

[larkost]

First off, you are not using AppleTalk, you are using AppleShare. At one point AppleShare only went over AppleTalk (the network protocol), but those days are long since past and that would have never gone over the internet (which is IP based). You are using AppleShare over TCP/IP.

As iMAVERICKam hinted at you could be seeing a slowdown somewhere along the line. And beyond that you also have to remember that there are usually two speed associated with any network connection: an upload and a download speed. In most internet connections nowadays they are highly asymmetric (faster in one direction than the other). Undoubtably Speakeasy is going to quote your download speed to you, since that is almost always the faster number.

But just as a random idea, you might want to check to see if turning off IPv6 on your home computer improves things. MacOS X has a tendency to want to negotiate IPv6 connections (since they are faster), but most ISPs are not setup to carry IPv6 traffic yet. So if you local networks on both sides are IPv6 capable (surprisingly most home routers are) your computers might be trying to negotiate IPv6 connections, and only falling back from there. This is a pure shot-in-the-dark, but it is easy to try.

 

[SleepyJay]

First off, you are not using AppleTalk, you are using AppleShare.

Fine, I actually meant that generically. Although, I believe the server itself is running a service approximately called "appletalk" to allow this communication to exist in the first place. I thought larkost bothering to explain the history of AppleTalk/Share seemed a bit misplaced, but a quick bit of research shows that 10.6 was the first to drop AppleTalk entirely (hardly seems like "long since past"). I just tried the same test on my laptop (haven't updated from 10.5.x yet) and the folders on the server are snappy and responsive (relatively speaking).

Not entirely sure what to do next. Need to see if my network guys have any ideas.

BTW, Speakeasy tests do mean "jack". You are correct that the network speed from here to Speakeasy's servers are not directly related to the speed from here to the office. Sure, the speeds of up and down typically aren't the same (Speakeasy reports both). But I'm pretty sure reading the contents of a directory is a down operation, yes? HOWEVER, my point was that had I been getting really crappy numbers from those Speakeasy tests, then the problem would have been more obviously closer to home. For the same reason I tried to explain it wasn't application-hog related. Sheesh.

thanks
jason.

 

[larkost]

Fine, I actually meant that generically. Although, I believe the server itself is running a service approximately called "appletalk" to allow this communication to exist in the first place.

I don't know what you mean by the word 'generically', AppleTalk and AppleShare have never meant the same thing. AppleTalk was a protocol, AppleShare is the file sharing service. You got it wrong. Next the service on linux is not "AppleTalk" but "NetaTalk" which is an implementation of AppleShare. It started out speaking over AppleTalk, but like everything else has graduated (long ago... as in OS 8 days) to AppleShare (AFP) over TCP/IP.

I thought larkost bothering to explain the history of AppleTalk/Share seemed a bit misplaced, but a quick bit of research shows that 10.6 was the first to drop AppleTalk entirely (hardly seems like "long since past").

The lesson was so that you could do better research, and you seem to have missed that. Yes Apple has just dropped any support at all for the AppleTalk protocol, but they have only been supporting it for printers for a while. They dropped support for AppleShare over AppleTalk a long time ago (completely with 10.4, but it was already a bit shaky in 10.0/10.1). AppleShare over TCP/IP started around 2000. For more information please see the Wikipedia page on the subject

I just tried the same test on my laptop (haven't updated from 10.5.x yet) and the folders on the server are snappy and responsive (relatively speaking).

Not entirely sure what to do next. Need to see if my network guys have any ideas.

This sounds like more evidence of a IPv6 issue. You don't seem to have bothered to try that fix.

 

[iMAVERICKam]

BTW, Speakeasy tests do mean "jack". You are correct that the network speed from here to Speakeasy's servers are not directly related to the speed from here to the office. Sure, the speeds of up and down typically aren't the same (Speakeasy reports both). But I'm pretty sure reading the contents of a directory is a down operation, yes? HOWEVER, my point was that had I been getting really crappy numbers from those Speakeasy tests, then the problem would have been more obviously closer to home. For the same reason I tried to explain it wasn't application-hog related. Sheesh.

What's with the attitude? I was trying to help you. Are you going to pay attention to the other words I wrote?

Hint:

Traceroute.

and

...the hops from your house to the office...

 

[SleepyJay]

What's with the attitude?

Attitude? You used the word "jack" first. I was merely pointing out why testing my internet speed was relevant.

Actually, I'm finding this entire conversation actually quite snarky.

At least I didn't give you a SECOND lecture on the difference between AppleTalk and AppleShare, because you know, that helps to inform me as to how I might fix my issue.

 

[SleepyJay]

I don't know what you mean by the word 'generically', AppleTalk and AppleShare have never meant the same thing.
...
The lesson was so that you could do better research, and you seem to have missed that.
...
This sounds like more evidence of a IPv6 issue. You don't seem to have bothered to try that fix.

Just so you know, I did try turning off IPv6 to no avail. And it is irrelevant as my laptop doesn't exhibit the same issue (with or without IPv6).

I meant "generically" as: if I had called it "AppleFinderMagicToMyServer" you would have known what I'm talking about. And I didn't need a second lecture on the subject. Thanks for the lesson about on line research, but you can stop helping me now, I'm done with your "help".

BTW, just because you are trying to be helpful doesn't give you the right to treat me like an idiot. I do not appreciate it.

 

[SleepyJay]

Are you going to pay attention to the other words I wrote?

Seriously, though, as I explained, 10.5.x laptop doesn't seem to have the problem. 10.6.x Mac Pro does.

But, I did try traceroute, and there's nothing particularly slow to the firewall along the trace. Finder still sluggish.

jason.