samba - Sep 2005 - SaMBa raises 10x the traffic but only when _executing_, pizza offered

Customer is running a Delphi app talking to an MS-SQL-Server through 
Microsoft ADO. The SQL stuff is reasonably chatty but not a problem.

Whenever the program is run or a significant feature is used, it 
generates much SMB traffic -- roughly 10x as much from a SaMBa (3.1 or 
3.0) server as from a W2k or w2k3 server. As you might imagine, this 
makes the app run very slowly.

This happens with one user or with many. The ?mbd processes aren't 
raising a sweat, a few % of CPU at most. Samba delivers (and accepts) 
data at up 9.8MB/s sustained to smbclient over a 100Mb/s link, and 
delivers 2MB images to XP in an eyeblink, so it's not a fundamental 
networking failure. There is no perceptible speed difference serving 
from a muscly hardware-RAIDed-SCSI dual-CPU gig-of-RAM server or my 
el-crappo AOpen laptop.

This DID NOT HAPPEN with their old Novell file server using Novell's 
networking protocols. The application provider also has another site 
running the app on a Citrix server but from a separate file server, 
with no speed problems. That makes it look very much like a cacheing or 
similar issue. The amount of SMB traffic involved is roughly 4x the 
size of the application.

I've tried with and without oplocks, with different levels of buffering, 
different OS levels, all sorts of config performance tweaks and they 
make no perceptible difference vs minimalist changes OOtB.

It's interesting that despite delivering only 10%-ish as much traffic, 
responsiveness from the w2k3 server is only about 20% better than from 
any Samba server. The app is blindingly fast in comparison if run from 
the local disk, but the customer doesn't want to have to maintain 
40-odd local copies of the app, and the basic problem would still lurk.

Initially, we tested with a version of the app which was compressed 
(12MB => 4MB) with BlinkInc's Shrinker, but later testing involved an 
uncompressed version. That did run perceptibly faster, but it was an 
incremental improvement, not the revolution that we need.

There is a an Ethereal capture up at http://samba.cyberknights.com.au/ 
if you're interested in seeing for yourself. This is taken from an XP 
workstation (*.158) talking to a 2k3 server (*.4) and them my laptop 
running Samba (*.108). The traffic to *.100 is the SQL server and 
everything else is pretty much irrelevant.

The capture shows the workstation starting the app, making an initial 
query, then doing a find on a product number, then closing down. This 
is done first to the 2k3 server then Samba.

Trimming the requests down from ~50MB to ~5MB would probably make the 
app "fast enough" but there's extra brownie points (and a meal at
your
local Sizzlers or near equivalent, maybe a couple of pizzas) for enough 
clues to make it all run like a greased otter. (-:

Cheers; Leon

--
http://cyberknights.com.au/     Modern tools; traditional dedication
http://plug.linux.org.au/       Member, Perth Linux User Group
http://slpwa.asn.au/            Member, Linux Professionals WA
http://osia.net.au/             Member, Open Source Industry Australia
http://linux.org.au/            Member, Linux Australia

On Friday 16 September 2005 08:34, Leon Brooks wrote:
> There is no perceptible speed difference serving from a muscly
> hardware-RAIDed-SCSI dual-CPU gig-of-RAM server or my el-crappo
> AOpen laptop. 
smb.conf from said laptop (for 3.1) attached, plus a comment-stipped 
version.

BTW, to clarify: the reward offered is two large pizzas or one 
Sizzlers-or-near-equiv meal for info which solves the basic problem, 
and three pizzas for a greased-weasel solution. I'll contact y'all 
off-list to arrange that.

Cheers; Leon

-- 
http://cyberknights.com.au/     Modern tools; traditional dedication
http://plug.linux.org.au/       Member, Perth Linux User Group
http://slpwa.asn.au/            Member, Linux Professionals WA
http://osia.net.au/             Member, Open Source Industry Australia
http://linux.org.au/            Member, Linux Australia
-------------- next part --------------

# This is the main Samba configuration file. You should read the
# smb.conf(5) manual page in order to understand the options listed
# here. Samba has a huge number of configurable options (perhaps too
# many!) most of which are not shown in this example
#
# Any line which starts with a ; (semi-colon) or a # (hash) 
# is a comment and is ignored. In this example we will use a #
# for commentry and a ; for parts of the config file that you
# may wish to enable
#
# NOTE: Whenever you modify this file you should run the command
"testparm"
# to check that you have not made any basic syntactic errors. 
#
#======================= Global Settings
====================================[global]

# 1. Server Naming Options:
# workgroup = NT-Domain-Name or Workgroup-Name
   workgroup = LEON

# netbios name is the name you will see in "Network Neighbourhood",
# but defaults to your hostname
  netbios name = Leon

# server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field
   server string = Samba Laptop %v

# Message command is run by samba when a "popup" message is sent to
it.
# The example below is for use with LinPopUp:
; message command = /usr/bin/linpopup "%f" "%m" %s; rm %s

# 2. Printing Options:
# CHANGES TO ENABLE PRINTING ON ALL CUPS PRINTERS IN THE NETWORK
# (as cups is now used in linux-mandrake 7.2 by default)
# if you want to automatically load your printer list rather
# than setting them up individually then you'll need this
   printcap name = cups
   load printers = yes

# It should not be necessary to spell out the print system type unless
# yours is non-standard. Currently supported print systems include:
# bsd, sysv, plp, lprng, aix, hpux, qnx, cups
   printing = cups

# Samba 2.2 supports the Windows NT-style point-and-print feature. To
# use this, you need to be able to upload print drivers to the samba
# server. The printer admins (or root) may install drivers onto samba.
# Note that this feature uses the print$ share, so you will need to 
# enable it below.
# printer admin = @<group> <user>
   printer admin = @adm
# This should work well for winbind:
#   printer admin = @"Domain Admins"

# 3. Logging Options:
# this tells Samba to use a separate log file for each machine
# that connects
   log file = /var/log/samba31/log.%m

# Put a capping on the size of the log files (in Kb).
   max log size = 50

# Set the log (verbosity) level (0 <= log level <= 10)
# log level = 3

# 4. Security and Domain Membership Options:
# This option is important for security. It allows you to restrict
# connections to machines which are on your local network. The
# following example restricts access to two C class networks and
# the "loopback" interface. For more examples of the syntax see
# the smb.conf man page. Do not enable this if (tcp/ip) name resolution does
# not work for all the hosts in your network.
#   hosts allow = 192.168.1. 192.168.2. 127.

# Uncomment this if you want a guest account, you must add this to /etc/passwd
# otherwise the user "nobody" is used
#  guest account = pcguest
# Allow users to map to guest:
  map to guest = bad user

# Security mode. Most people will want user level security. See
# security_level.txt for details.
   security = user
# Use password server option only with security = server or security = domain
# When using security = domain, you should use password server = *
#   password server = <NT-Server-Name>
#   password server = *

# Password Level allows matching of _n_ characters of the password for
# all combinations of upper and lower case.
#  password level = 8
#  username level = 8

# You may wish to use password encryption. Please read
# ENCRYPTION.txt, Win95.txt and WinNT.txt in the Samba documentation.
# Do not enable this option unless you have read those documents
# Encrypted passwords are required for any use of samba in a Windows NT domain
# The smbpasswd file is only required by a server doing authentication, thus
# members of a domain do not need one.
  encrypt passwords = yes
  smb passwd file = /etc/samba31/smbpasswd

# The following are needed to allow password changing from Windows to
# also update the Linux system password.
# NOTE: Use these with 'encrypt passwords' and 'smb passwd file'
above.
# NOTE2: You do NOT need these to allow workstations to change only
#        the encrypted SMB passwords. They allow the Unix password
#        to be kept in sync with the SMB password.
;  unix password sync = Yes
# You either need to setup a passwd program and passwd chat, or
# enable pam password change
;  pam password change = yes
#  passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd '%u'
;  passwd chat = *New*UNIX*password* %n\n *Re*ype*new*UNIX*password* %n\n \
;*passwd:*all*authentication*tokens*updated*successfully*

# Unix users can map to different SMB User names
;  username map = /etc/samba31/smbusers

# Using the following line enables you to customise your configuration
# on a per machine basis. The %m gets replaced with the netbios name
# of the machine that is connecting
#   include = /etc/samba31/smb.conf.%m

# Options for using winbind. Winbind allows you to do all account and
# authentication from a Windows or samba domain controller, creating
# accounts on the fly, and maintaining a mapping of Windows RIDs to unix
uid's
# and gid's. winbind uid and winbind gid are the only required parameters.
#
# winbind uid is the range of uid's winbind can use when mapping RIDs to
uid's
#  idmap uid = 10000-20000
#
# winbind gid is the range of uid's winbind can use when mapping RIDs to
gid's
#  idmap gid = 10000-20000
#
# winbind separator is the character a user must use between their domain
# name and username, defaults to "\"
#  winbind separator = +
#
# winbind use default domain allows you to have winbind return usernames
# in the form user instead of DOMAIN+user for the domain listed in the
# workgroup parameter.
#  winbind use default domain = yes
#
# template homedir determines the home directory for winbind users, with 
# %D expanding to their domain name and %U expanding to their username:
#  template homedir = /home/%D/%U

# When using winbind, you may want to have samba create home directories
# on the fly for authenticated users. Ensure that /etc/pam.d/samba31 is
# using 'service=system-auth-winbind' in pam_stack modules, and then
# enable obedience of pam restrictions below:
#  obey pam restrictions = yes

#
# template shell determines the shell users authenticated by winbind get
#  template shell = /bin/bash

# 5. Browser Control and Networking Options:
# Most people will find that this option gives better performance.
# See speed.txt and the manual pages for details
   socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192

# Configure Samba to use multiple interfaces
# If you have multiple network interfaces then you must list them
# here. See the man page for details.
#   interfaces = 192.168.12.2/24 192.168.13.2/24 

# Configure remote browse list synchronisation here
#  request announcement to, or browse list sync from:
#       a specific host or from / to a whole subnet (see below)
#   remote browse sync = 192.168.3.25 192.168.5.255
# Cause this host to announce itself to local subnets here
#   remote announce = 192.168.1.255 192.168.2.44

# set local master to no if you don't want Samba to become a master
# browser on your network. Otherwise the normal election rules apply
#   local master = no

# OS Level determines the precedence of this server in master browser
# elections. The default value should be reasonable
#   os level = 33

# Domain Master specifies Samba to be the Domain Master Browser. This
# allows Samba to collate browse lists between subnets. Don't use this
# if you already have a Windows NT domain controller doing this job
#   domain master = yes 

# Preferred Master causes Samba to force a local browser election on startup
# and gives it a slightly higher chance of winning the election
#   preferred master = yes

# 6. Domain Control Options:
# Enable this if you want Samba to be a domain logon server for 
# Windows95 workstations or Primary Domain Controller for WinNT and Win2k
#   domain logons = yes

# if you enable domain logons then you may want a per-machine or
# per user logon script
# run a specific logon batch file per workstation (machine)
#   logon script = %m.bat
# run a specific logon batch file per username
#   logon script = %u.bat

# Where to store roaming profiles for WinNT and Win2k
#        %L substitutes for this servers netbios name, %u is username
#        You must uncomment the [Profiles] share below
#   logon path = \\%L\Profiles\%u

# Where to store roaming profiles for Win9x. Be careful with this as it also
# impacts where Win2k finds it's /HOME share
# logon home = \\%L\%u\.profile


# The add user script is used by a domain member to add local user accounts
# that have been authenticated by the domain controller, or when adding
# users via the Windows NT Tools (ie User Manager for Domains).

# Scripts for file (passwd, smbpasswd) backend:
# add user script = /usr/sbin/useradd -s /bin/false '%u'
# delete user script = /usr/sbin/userdel '%s'
# add user to group script = /usr/bin/gpasswd -a '%u' '%g'
# delete user from group script = /usr/bin/gpasswd -d '%u' '%g'
# set primary group script = /usr/sbin/usermod -g '%g' '%u'
# add group script = /usr/sbin/groupadd %g && getent group
'%g'|awk -F: '{print $3}'
# delete group script = /usr/sbin/groupdel '%g'

# Scripts for LDAP backend (assumes nss_ldap is in use on the domain controller,
# and needs configuration in smbldap_conf.pm
# add user script = /usr/share/samba31/scripts/smbldap-useradd.pl '%u'
# delete user script = /usr/share/samba31/scripts/smbldap-userdel.pl
'%u'
# add user to group script = /usr/share/samba31/scripts/smbldap-groupmod.pl -m
'%u' '%g'
# delete user from group script = /usr/share/samba31/scripts/smbldap-groupmod.pl
-x '%u' '%g'
# set primary group script = /usr/share/samba31/scripts/smbldap-usermod.pl -g
'%g' '%u'
# add group script = /usr/share/samba31/scripts/smbldap-groupadd.pl '%g'
&& /usr/share/samba31/scripts/smbldap-groupshow.pl %g|awk
'/^gidNumber:/ {print $2}'
# delete group script = /usr/share/samba31/scripts/smbldap-userdel.pl
'%g'


# The add machine script is use by a samba server configured as a domain
# controller to add local machine accounts when adding machines to the domain.
# The script must work from the command line when replacing the macros,
# or the operation will fail. Check that groups exist if forcing a group.
# Script for domain controller for adding machines:
# add machine script = /usr/sbin/useradd -d /dev/null -g machines -c
'Machine Account' -s /bin/false -M '%u'
# Script for domain controller with LDAP backend for adding machines (please
# configure in /etc/samba31/smbldap_conf.pm first):
# add machine script = /usr/share/samba31/scripts/smbldap-useradd.pl -w -d
/dev/null -g machines -c 'Machine Account' -s /bin/false '%u'

# Domain groups:
# Domain groups are now configured by using the 'net groupmap' tool

# Samba Password Database configuration:
# Samba now has runtime-configurable password database backends. Multiple
# passdb backends may be used, but users will only be added to the first one
# Default:
# passdb backend = smbpasswd guest
# TDB backen with fallback to smbpasswd and guest
# passdb backend = tdbsam smbpasswd guest
# LDAP with fallback to smbpasswd guest
# Enable SSL by using an ldaps url, or enable tls with 'ldap ssl' below.
# passdb backend = ldapsam:ldaps://ldap.mydomain.com smbpasswd guest
# Use the samba2 LDAP schema:
# passdb backend = ldapsam_compat:ldaps://ldap.mydomain.com smbpasswd guest

# Idmap settings (set idmap uid and idmap gid above):
# Idmap backend to use:
# idmap backend = ldap:ldap://ldap.mydomain.com

# LDAP configuration for Domain Controlling:
# The account (dn) that samba uses to access the LDAP server
# This account needs to have write access to the LDAP tree
# You will need to give samba the password for this dn, by 
# running 'smbpasswd -w mypassword'
# ldap admin dn = cn=root,dc=mydomain,dc=com
# ldap ssl = start_tls
# start_tls should run on 389, but samba defaults incorrectly to 636
# ldap port = 389
# ldap suffix = dc=mydomain,dc=com
# Seperate suffixes are available for machines, users, groups, and idmap, if 
# ldap suffix appears first, it is appended to the specific suffix.
# Example for a unix-ish directory layout:
# ldap machine suffix = ou=Hosts
# ldap user suffix = ou=People
# ldap group suffix = ou=Group
# ldap idmap suffix = ou=Idmap
# Example for AD-ish layout:
# ldap machine suffix = cn=Computers
# ldap user suffix = cn=Users
# ldap group suffix = cn=Groups
# ldap idmap suffix = cn=Idmap


# 7. Name Resolution Options:
# All NetBIOS names must be resolved to IP Addresses
# 'Name Resolve Order' allows the named resolution mechanism to be
specified
# the default order is "host lmhosts wins bcast". "host"
means use the unix
# system gethostbyname() function call that will use either /etc/hosts OR
# DNS or NIS depending on the settings of /etc/host.config, /etc/nsswitch.conf
# and the /etc/resolv.conf file. "host" therefore is system
configuration
# dependant. This parameter is most often of use to prevent DNS lookups
# in order to resolve NetBIOS names to IP Addresses. Use with care!
# The example below excludes use of name resolution for machines that are NOT
# on the local network segment
# - OR - are not deliberately to be known via lmhosts or via WINS.
# name resolve order = wins lmhosts bcast

# Windows Internet Name Serving Support Section:
# WINS Support - Tells the NMBD component of Samba to enable it's WINS
Server
#   wins support = yes

# WINS Server - Tells the NMBD components of Samba to be a WINS Client
#       Note: Samba can be either a WINS Server, or a WINS Client, but NOT both
#   wins server = w.x.y.z

# WINS Proxy - Tells Samba to answer name resolution queries on
# behalf of a non WINS capable client, for this to work there must be
# at least one  WINS Server on the network. The default is NO.
#   wins proxy = yes

# DNS Proxy - tells Samba whether or not to try to resolve NetBIOS names
# via DNS nslookups. The built-in default for versions 1.9.17 is yes,
# this has been changed in version 1.9.18 to no.
   dns proxy = no 

# 8. File Naming Options:
# Case Preservation can be handy - system default is _no_
# NOTE: These can be set on a per share basis
#  preserve case = no
#  short preserve case = no
# Default case is normally upper case for all DOS files
#  default case = lower
# Be very careful with case sensitivity - it can break things!
#  case sensitive = no

# Enabling internationalization:
# you can match a Windows code page with a UNIX character set.
# Windows: 437 (US), 737 (GREEK), 850 (Latin1 - Western European),
# 852 (Eastern Eu.), 861 (Icelandic), 932 (Cyrillic - Russian),
# 936 (Japanese - Shift-JIS), 936 (Simpl. Chinese), 949 (Korean Hangul),
# 950 (Trad. Chin.).
# UNIX: ISO8859-1 (Western European), ISO8859-2 (Eastern Eu.),
# ISO8859-5 (Russian Cyrillic), KOI8-R (Alt-Russ. Cyril.)
# This is an example for french users:
#   dos charset = 850
#   unix charset = ISO8859-1


#============================ Share Definitions
=============================[homes]
   comment = Home Directories
   browseable = no
   writable = yes
# You can enable VFS recycle bin and on-access virus-scanning on a per 
# share basis:
# Uncomment the next 2 lines (make sure you create a .recycle folder in 
# the base of the share and ensure all users will have write access to it.
# For virus scanning, install samba-vscan-clamav and ensure the clamd service
# is running
#   vfs objects = vscan-clamav recycle
#   vscan-clamav: config-file = /etc/samba31/vscan-clamav.conf

# Un-comment the following and create the netlogon directory for Domain Logons
# [netlogon]
#   comment = Network Logon Service
#   path = /var/lib/samba31/netlogon
#   guest ok = yes
#   writable = no

#Uncomment the following 2 lines if you would like your login scripts to
#be created dynamically by ntlogon (check that you have it in the correct
#location (the default of the ntlogon rpm available in contribs)
#root preexec = /usr/bin/ntlogon -u '%u' -g '%g' -o %a -d
/var/lib/samba31/netlogon/
#root postexec = rm -f '/var/lib/samba31/netlogon/%u.bat'

# Un-comment the following to provide a specific roving profile share
# the default is to use the user's home directory
#[Profiles]
#    path = /var/lib/samba31/profiles
#    browseable = no
#    guest ok = yes
#    writable = yes
# This script can be enabled to create profile directories on the fly
# You may want to turn off guest acces if you enable this, as it
# hasn't been thoroughly tested.
#root preexec = PROFILE='/var/lib/samba31/profiles/%u'; if [ ! -e
$PROFILE ]; \
#                then mkdir -pm700 $PROFILE; chown '%u':'%g'
$PROFILE;fi
# If you want read-only profiles, fake permissions so windows clients think
# they have written to the files
# vfs objects = fake_perms

# NOTE: If you have a CUPS print system there is no need to 
# specifically define each individual printer.
# You must configure the samba printers with the appropriate Windows
# drivers on your Windows clients or upload the printer driver to the
# server from Windows (NT/2000/XP). On the Samba server no filtering is
# done. If you wish that the server provides the driver and the clients
# send PostScript ("Generic PostScript Printer" under Windows), you
have
# to use 'printcap name = cups' or swap the 'print command' line
below
# with the commented one. Note that print commands only work if not using 
# 'printing=cups'
[printers]
   comment = All Printers
   path = /var/spool/samba31
   browseable = no
# to allow user 'guest account' to print.
   guest ok = yes
   writable = no
   printable = yes
   create mode = 0700
# ====================================# print command: see above for details.
# ====================================   print command = lpr-cups -P %p -o raw
%s -r   # using client side printer drivers.
#   print command = lpr-cups -P %p %s # using cups own drivers (use generic
PostScript on clients).
# If you install drivers on the server, you will want to uncomment this so
# clients request the driver 
   use client driver = yes

# This share is used for Windows NT-style point-and-print support.
# To be able to install drivers, you need to be either root, or listed
# in the printer admin parameter above. Note that you also need write access
# to the directory and share definition to be able to upload the drivers.
# For more information on this, please see the Printing Support Section of
# /usr/share/doc/samba31-<version>/docs/Samba-HOWTO-Collection.pdf 
#
# A special case is using the CUPS Windows Postscript driver, which allows
# all features available via CUPS on the client, by publishing the ppd file
# and the cups driver by using the 'cupsaddsmb' tool. This requires the
# installation of the CUPS driver (http://www.cups.org/windows.php) 
# on the server, but doesn't require you to use Windows at all :-).
[print$]
   path = /var/lib/samba31/printers
   browseable = yes
   write list = @adm root
   guest ok = yes
   inherit permissions = yes
   # Settings suitable for Winbind:
   # write list = @"Domain Admins" root
   # force group = +@"Domain Admins"

# A useful application of samba is to make a PDF-generation service
# To streamline this, install windows postscript drivers (preferably colour)
# on the samba server, so that clients can automatically install them.
# Note that this only works if 'printing' is *not* set to 'cups'

[pdf-gen]
   path = /var/tmp
   guest ok = No
   printable = Yes
   comment = PDF Generator (only valid users)
   printing = bsd
   #print command = /usr/share/samba31/scripts/print-pdf file path win_path
recipient IP &
   print command = /usr/share/samba31/scripts/print-pdf "%s"
"%H" "//%L/%u" "%m" "%I" "%J"
&
    lpq command = /bin/true

# A share allowing administrators to set ACLs on, or access for backup purposes
# ll files (as root).
#[admin] 
#  path = /
#  admin users = @"Domain Admins"
#  valid users = @"Domain Admins"
#  browseable = no
#  writeable = yes 

# This one is useful for people to share files
;[tmp]
;   comment = Temporary file space
;   path = /tmp
;   read only = no
;   public = yes

# A publicly accessible directory, but read only, except for people in
# the "staff" group
;[public]
;   comment = Public Stuff
;   path = /home/samba31/public
;   public = yes
;   writable = no
;   write list = @staff
# Audited directory through experimental VFS audit.so module:
# Uncomment next line.
#   vfs object = /usr/lib/samba31/vfs/audit.so

# Other examples. 
#
# A private printer, usable only by Fred. Spool data will be placed in
Fred's
# home directory. Note that fred must have write access to the spool directory,
# wherever it is.
;[fredsprn]
;   comment = Fred's Printer
;   valid users = fred
;   path = /homes/fred
;   printer = freds_printer
;   public = no
;   writable = no
;   printable = yes

# A private directory, usable only by Fred. Note that Fred requires write
# access to the directory.
;[fredsdir]
;   comment = Fred's Service
;   path = /usr/somewhere/private
;   valid users = fred
;   public = no
;   writable = yes
;   printable = no

# a service which has a different directory for each machine that connects
# this allows you to tailor configurations to incoming machines. You could
# also use the %u option to tailor it by user name.
# The %m gets replaced with the machine name that is connecting.
;[pchome]
;  comment = PC Directories
;  path = /usr/pc/%m
;  public = no
;  writable = yes

# The following two entries demonstrate how to share a directory so that two
# users can place files there that will be owned by the specific users. In this
# setup, the directory should be writable by both users and should have the
# sticky bit set on it to prevent abuse. Obviously this could be extended to
# as many users as required.
;[myshare]
;   comment = Mary's and Fred's stuff
;   path = /usr/somewhere/shared
;   valid users = mary fred
;   public = no
;   writable = yes
;   printable = no
;   create mask = 0765

[oplock]
	comment = With OpLocks
	path = /home/scope/yes-oplocks
	public = yes
	writable = yes
	printable = no
	create mask = 0755
	force user = scope
	oplocks = yes
	guest ok = yes
	read only = yes

[noplock]
	comment = No OpLocks
	path = /home/scope/no-oplocks
	public = yes
	writable = yes
	printable = no
	create mask = 0755
	force user = scope
	oplocks = no
	guest ok = yes
	read only = yes