You cannot access the existing File Share resources on a Windows Server 2003 failover cluster

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

Note The "Workaround" section also applies to non-cluster scenarios where you cannot access a file share.

To work around this issue, follow these steps.

Step 1: Tune the Server service to increase capacity

Note Follow this step if the server has more than 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of system memory. Otherwise, go to the "Step 2: Tune the Workstation service to increase capacity" section.

To follow this step, use one of the following methods.

Method 1

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit.exe, and then click
   OK.
2. In Registry Editor, locate and then right-click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters
3. Create a MaxFreeConnections registry entry, and then set the value to 1000 (hexadecimal). To do this, follow these steps:
   
   1. On the Edit menu, point to
      New, and then click DWORD Value.
   2. Type MaxFreeConnections, and then press ENTER.
   3. On the Edit menu, click
      Modify.
   4. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, click Hexadecimal under Base, type
      1000 under Value data, and then click
      OK.
4. Create a MinFreeConnections registry entry, and then set the value to 64 (hexadecimal). To do this, follow these steps:
   
   1. On the Edit menu, point to
      New, and then click DWORD Value.
   2. Type MinFreeConnections, and then press ENTER.
   3. On the Edit menu, click
      Modify.
   4. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, click Hexadecimal under Base, type
      64 under Value data, and then click
      OK.
5. Create a MaxRawWorkItems registry entry, and then set the value to 200 (hexadecimal).
   
   1. On the Edit menu, point to
      New, and then click DWORD Value.
   2. Type MaxRawWorkItems, and then press ENTER.
   3. On the Edit menu, click
      Modify.
   4. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, click Hexadecimal under Base, type
      200 under Value data, and then click
      OK.
6. Create a MaxWorkItems registry entry, and then set the value to 2000 (hexadecimal).
   
   1. On the Edit menu, point to
      New, and then click DWORD Value.
   2. Type MaxWorkItems, and then press ENTER.
   3. On the Edit menu, click
      Modify.
   4. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, click Hexadecimal under Base, type
      2000 under Value data, and then click
      OK.
7. Create a MaxMpxCt registry entry, and then set the value to 800 (hexadecimal).
   
   1. On the Edit menu, point to
      New, and then click DWORD Value.
   2. Type MaxMpxCt, and then press ENTER.
   3. On the Edit menu, click
      Modify.
   4. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, click Hexadecimal under Base, type
      800 under Value data, and then click
      OK.

Method 2

1. Click Start, click Run, type Notepad, and then click
   OK.
2. Copy the following text, and then paste it into Notepad:

   Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters]
   "MaxFreeConnections"=dword:00001000
   "MinFreeConnections"=dword:00000064
   "MaxRawWorkItems"=dword:00000200
   "MaxWorkItems"=dword:00002000
   "MaxMpxCt"=dword:00000800 

3. Save the file as .reg file type, and then exit Notepad.
4. In Windows Explorer, double-click the file to import these registry settings.

Step 2: Tune the Workstation service to increase capacity

To follow this step, use one of the following methods.

Method 1

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit.exe, and then click
   OK.
2. In Registry Editor, locate and then right-click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanworkstation\parameters
3. Create a MaxCmds registry entry, and then set the value to 1000 (hexadecimal).
   
   1. On the Edit menu, point to
      New, and then click DWORD Value.
   2. Type MaxCmds, and then press ENTER.
   3. On the Edit menu, click
      Modify.
   4. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, click Hexadecimal under Base, type
      1000 under Value data, and then click
      OK.

Method 2

1. Click Start, click Run, type notepad, and then click
   OK.
2. Copy the following text, and then paste it into Notepad:

   Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanworkstation\parameters]
   "MaxCmds"=dword:00001000 

3. Save the file as .reg file type, and then exit Notepad.
4. In Windows Explorer, double-click the file to import these registry settings.

Step 3: Enable the SessTimeout registry entry setting for the Workstation service

Note Follow this step only if you have Distributed File System (DFS) shares.

To follow this step, use one of the following methods.

Method 1

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit.exe, and then click
   OK.
2. In Registry Editor, locate and then right-click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters
3. Create a SessTimeout registry entry, and then set the value to 300 (Decimal).
   
   1. On the Edit menu, point to
      New, and then click DWORD Value.
   2. Type SessTimeout, and then press ENTER.
   3. On the Edit menu, click
      Modify.
   4. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, click Decimal under Base, type
      300 under Value data, and then click
      OK.

Method 2

1. Click Start, click Run, type notepad, and then click
   OK.
2. Copy the following text, and then paste it into Notepad:

   Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanworkstation\parameters]
   "SessTimeout"=dword:0000012c 

3. Save the file as .reg file type, and then exit Notepad.
4. In Windows Explorer, double-click the file to import these registry settings.

For more information about the SessTimeout registry entry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

102067 SESSTIMEOUT Information

Step 4: Improve disk I/O performance

Disk fragmentation causes disks to perform additional data-seeking operations and slows down the rate of data transfer. To improve disk I/O performance, follow these steps:

1. Perform a defragmentation analysis on high-load volumes.
   
   Disk fragmentation can cause slow disk I/O. If the disk cannot sustain the network load, the response time of the disk increases. You can perform a defragmentation analysis on high-load volumes to determine whether the volumes should be defragmented.
   
   To perform a defragmentation analysis, follow these steps.
   
   Important Do not perform a defragmentation analysis on a volume that has active user operations.
   
   1. Click Start, click
      Run, type Dfrg.msc, and then click
      OK.
   2. In the Disk Defragmenter snap-in, click the volume that you want to analyze, and then click Analyze.
2. If you receive the following message after the analysis is complete, you should schedule a defragmentation of the volume or rebuild the volume.
   Analysis is complete for: (VolumeNumber:)
   You should defragment this volume.
   If you have 200GB or more of data on the volume, it is faster to rebuild the volume than to defragment the volume. To rebuild the volume, follow these steps:
   
   1. Create a new logical unit number (LUN).
   2. Copy the data on the volume to the LUN.
   3. Copy the data back to the volume from the LUN.
   After you rebuild the volume, you should run a third-party disk defragmenting utility to make sure that the volume is not highly fragmented.
3. Run the Chkdsk.exe utility against the volumes.
   
   Note Follow this step only if the defragmentation analysis finishes quickly and without any error.
   
   You cannot schedule a disk check task on shared disks when the system starts. Therefore, interactively running the Chkdsk.exe utility is the only method that is supported on a Windows Server 2003 failover cluster.
   
   Be aware that if severe corruption exists on the volume, running the Chkdsk.exe utility can take the disk offline and disconnect all users. When you interactively run the Chkdsk.exe utility, you can stop the utility if the Chkdsk.exe utility produces severe errors. If the Chkdsk.exe utility exits, you must rebuild the volume. Disk corruption can cause an I/O bottleneck when read or write operations occur on the volume. Remember that if you run the Chkdsk.exe utility against a large volume, it may take a very long time for the Chkdsk.exe utility to finish. The actual time can vary from one day to two to three weeks. Therefore, before you run the Chkdsk.exe utility, you should consider scheduling downtime for the volume.
   
   To run the Chkdsk.exe utility against an online volume, type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:
   Chkdsk.exe X:
   Note The placeholder X represents the drive letter. If you have multiple volumes to check, you must run a separate command for each volume.

Step 5: Apply the latest hotfix for certain Windows components

Apply the latest hotfix for the following Windows components:

• Server service driver
• Windows Kernel
• SMB mini-redirector driver
• TCP/IP driver

To obtain the latest hotfixes for these components, follow these steps:

1. Visit the Microsoft Support Center. To do this, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
   http://support.microsoft.com/
2. Use the "Srv.sys kbqfe" string together with the "Windows Server 2003" string to search for articles about the Server service driver. For example, Microsoft Knowledge Base article 950298 appears in the search results.
3. Use the "NTOSKrnl.exe kbqfe" string together with the "Windows Server 2003" string to search for articles about the Windows kernel driver. For example, Microsoft Knowledge Base article 942835 appears in the search results.
4. Use the "MrxSmb.sys kbqfe" string together with the "Windows Server 2003" string to search for articles about the SMB mini-redirector driver. For example, Microsoft Knowledge Base article 925903 appears in the search results.
5. Use the "TCPIP.sys kbqfe" string together with the "Windows Server 2003" string to search for articles about the TCP/IP driver. For example, Microsoft Knowledge Base article 950224 appears in the search results.

Step 6: Obtain the latest device drivers

Outdated device drivers can reduce server performance. Therefore, we recommend that you follow these steps:

1. Obtain the latest device driver updates. For example, obtain the driver update for the HP Solid State Drive (SSD). You can use the IBM UpdateXpress tool to update device firmware. Frequently, manufacturers release updated device drivers to resolve bottleneck issues. Contact hardware vendors to obtain the latest driver updates and to verify that you are using the current version of the device firmware. It is especially important to do this for disk subsystem hardware.
2. If you use SANs, follow these steps:
   
   1. Check the driver configuration. For example, check the driver and firmware for SANs and for host bus adapters (HBAs).
   2. Verify that you have the most recent version of the Storport storage driver (Storport.sys).
   3. Check the following items:
      
      • HBA queue depth setting
      • Multipathing software
      • Fibre Channel connection

Step 7: Disable file system filter drivers if it is possible

Usually, quota management applications, open file agents, and file replication applications use file system filter drivers. Therefore, if you disable these applications, you disable the file system filter drivers. After you take this action, you can determine whether the problem is resolved.

You can also configure the antivirus software on the server to disable real-time scanning of all files. If you cannot disable real-time scanning of all files, we recommend that you configure the antivirus software so that it scans only incoming files and does not scan any of the following files:

• Page files
• .vhd files
• .tmp files
• .shd files
• .spl files

Step 8: Understand the load on the server, and collect system information in case this problem occurs again

After you perform the previous seven steps, the problem should be resolved. However, you should make sure that you have an idea of the load on the server after the server is back in production. Additionally, you should make sure that you collect system information in case this problem occurs again.

You can collect general performance data from the server to obtain an idea of the load on the server.

Note We recommend that you collect the data for at least three hours per day.

To collect general performance data from the server, follow these steps.

1. Obtain an output from the Net Files command and from the Net Sessions command. To do this, one at a time, type the following commands at a command prompt, and then press ENTER.
   
   Note In the following commands, the placeholder
   ServerName represents the name of the server on which this problem occurs. The placeholder MMDDYEARrepresents the date in the MMDDYear format. For example, you type
   01012008 for MMDDYEAR.
   Net.exe Files > C:\NetFiles_ServerName_MMDDYEAR.log
   
   Net.exe Sessions > C:\NetSessions_ServerName_MMDDYEAR.log
2. Collect the Performance Monitor log.
   
   Note Follow the appropriate steps, depending on the version of Windows Server 2003 that is running on the computer.
   
   Windows Server 2003, x86-based versions
   1. Obtain the PerfWiz.exe utility. To do this, visit the following Microsoft Download Web site:
      http://download.microsoft.com/download/b/0/e/b0e8dae9-b8ba-49a8-8ae7-5a967a7421a1/PerfWiz.zip
   2. From a remote computer, run the Performance Monitor Wizard utility (PerfWiz.exe), and then click Next.
   3. Next to Monitoring Computer, type the name of the local computer, and then click Next.
   4. Click Create New Log, and then click
      Next.
   5. Click Standard Perfmon, and then click
      Next.
   6. Type the name of the server that encounters the problem, and then click Next.
   7. Next to Log Name, type the name that you want to use for the log, and then click Next. You can use the default size of 200 MB that appears next to Log file size for the log size. If you specify a different size, make sure that you do not specify a size that is larger than 250 MB. If the log size is larger than 250 MB, it is almost impossible for the system to read the log because of the delay that occurs when the system is loading the performance counters.
   8. Take one of the following actions:
      
      • Under Average Time to issue, type
        6 hours.
      • Under Sample Interval, type
        300 seconds.
   9. Click Next.
   10. Click START, and then click
       Next.
   11. Click Finish.
   12. Run the PerfWiz.exe utility to create another Performance Monitor log. To do this, use the standard log profile, and use the following settings:
       
       • Set Log file size to 150 MB.
       • Set Average Time to issue to 1 hour.
   Windows Server 2003, x64-based and Itanium-based versions
   1. From a remote computer, click Start, click Run, type PerfMon, and then click
      OK.
   2. In the Performance snap-in, expand Performance Logs and Alerts.
   3. Right-click Counter Logs, and then click New Log Settings.
   4. In the New Log Settings dialog box, type a name for the new log, and then click OK.
   5. In the
      LogName dialog box, click
      Add Counters.
      
      Note The placeholder LogName represents the name of the log that you created in the previous step.
   6. In the Add Counters dialog box, click
      Select counters from computer, and then specify the name of the server that encounters the problem. Specify the server name in the following form:
      \\ServerName
   7. Under Performance object, select
      Process.
   8. Click All counters, click All instances, and then click Add.
   9. Repeat the previous two steps to add the following objects:
      
      • Cache
      • Memory
      • Objects
      • Paging File
      • LogicalDisk
      • NBT Connection
      • Network Interface
      • PhysicalDisk
      • Processor
      • Redirector
      • Server
      • Server Work Queues
      • System
      • Thread
      Note For some objects, the All instances option does not apply.
   10. In the Add Counters dialog box, click
       Close.
   11. In the
       LogName dialog box, type
       600 next to Interval, and then select
       seconds next to Units.
   12. Click the Log Files tab, select
       Binary Circular File under Log file type, and then click Configure.
   13. In the Configure Log Files dialog box, type 250 under Limit of, and then click
       OK
       
       Note If you set the size limit to 250 MB, you can see enough history to recognize a trend. Notice that the log can become very large. However, the log will be automatically compressed to about 20 percent of its original size. Therefore, if the log reaches the maximum size, the log will be automatically compressed to around 50 MB.
   14. In the
       LogName dialog box, click
       OK.
   15. Repeat steps c through o of this subsection to create another log. However, type 5 next to
       Interval in step k.
3. Obtain the description of the files that are generally opened on the server and the description of the roles of the server. For example, a server may act as a file server or as a terminal server.

You can use the Network Monitor utility to capture network traffic in case this problem occurs again.

Note Capturing network traffic is also known as capturing the network sniffer trace.

To download the Network Monitor utility, visit the following Microsoft Download Web site: For more information about the Network Monitor utility, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

933741 Information about Network Monitor 3

To use the Network Monitor utility to capture network traffic, follow these steps.

Note The following steps are based on Network Monitor 3.2.1303.0.

1. Set up the Network Monitor utility. To do this, follow these steps:
   
   1. Start the Network Monitor utility.
   2. Under Select Networks, click to select the Local Area Connection check box.
   3. Click New Capture.
   4. On the Tools menu, click
      Options.
   5. In the Options dialog box, click the
      Capture tab.
   6. Under Temporary capture file, change the Size setting from 20 to
      30.
   7. Click OK.
2. When you are ready to reproduce the problem, ping the client from the server. To do this, type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:
   ping <ClientName>
3. In the Network Monitor utility, click
   Start to start the capture.
   
   Note In the HH:MM:SS format, note the time when you start the trace.
4. Start the applications that are typically running on the server.
5. When this problem occurs, note the time in the HH:MM:SS format.
6. Stop the applications.
7. In the Network Monitor utility, click
   Stop.
8. Save the trace. To do this, follow these steps:
   
   1. On the File menu, click Save As.
   2. In the File name box, specify a name in the following format:
      ProblemDescription_ServerName_UserName_HHMM_MMDDYear
      Note The placeholder ProblemDescription represents a brief description of the problem. The placeholder
      ServerName represents the name of the server that encounters the problem. The placeholder UserName represents the account that you use to log on the server. The placeholder
      HHMM represents the time when you stop the trace. The placeholder MMDDYear represents the date when you stop the trace.
   3. Click Save.

Important You should also collect the IP address of the server and the IP address of the client.

How to optimize the network load that the clients create

After you analyze both the kind of load on the server and the network trace that you capture, you can optimize the network load that the clients create. To do this, fine-tune the Registry to reduce the network connections to the File Share resources on the server.

After you analyze both the kind of load on the server and the network trace that you capture, you can optimize the network load that the clients create. To do this, fine-tune the Registry on the client computers to reduce the network connections to the File Share resources on the server. The client computers you must do this on include the following:

• Windows XP
• Windows Vista
• Windows 7
• Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server
• Windows Server 2008 Terminal Server

To fine-tune the registry, use one of the following methods.


Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

Method 1

1. Start Registry Editor.
   
   • In Windows Vista, in Windows 7, and in Windows Server 2008, click Start , type
     regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
     
     If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
   • In Windows XP and in Windows Server 2003, click
     Start, click Run, type
     regedit in the Open box, and then click
     OK.
2. In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\explorer
   
3. Create a NoRemoteRecursiveEvents registry entry, and then set the value to 1 (hexadecimal). To do this, follow these steps:
   
   1. On the Edit menu, point to
      New, and then click DWORD Value.
   2. Type NoRemoteRecursiveEvents, and then press ENTER.
   3. On the Edit menu, click
      Modify .
   4. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, click Hexadecimal under Base , type
      1 in the Value data box, and then click
      OK.
4. Create a NoRemoteChangeNotify registry entry, and then set the value to 1 (hexadecimal). To do this, follow these steps:
   
   1. On the Edit menu, point to
      New, and then click DWORD Value.
   2. Type NoRemoteChangeNotify, and then press ENTER.
   3. On the Edit menu, click
      Modify.
   4. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, click Hexadecimal under Base, type
      1 in the Value data box, and then click
      OK.
5. In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MRxSmb\Parameters Create a InfoCacheLevel registry entry, and then set the value to A (hexadecimal). To do this, follow these steps:
   
   1. On the Edit menu, point to
      New, and then click DWORD Value.
   2. Type InfoCacheLevel, and then press ENTER.
   3. On the Edit menu, click
      Modify.
   4. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, click Hexadecimal under Base, type
      10 in the Value data box, and then click OK.
6. Exit Registry Editor.

Method 2

1. Start Notepad.
   
   • In Windows Vista, in Windows 7, and in Windows Server 2008, click Start , type
     notepad.exe in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
   • In Windows XP and in Windows Server 2003, click
     Start, click Run, type
     notepad.exe in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Copy the following text, and then paste it into Notepad:

   Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 
   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\explorer]
   "NoRemoteRecursiveEvents"=dword:00000001
   "NoRemoteChangeNotify"=dword:00000001
   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MRxSmb\Parameters]
   "InfoCacheLevel"=dword:000000010 

3. Save the file as .reg file type, and then exit Notepad.
4. In Windows Explorer, double-click the file to import these registry settings.

For more information about how to fine-tune the Registry, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

292504 Policy settings for the Start menu in Windows XP

306850 Programs start slowly or slow logon if the network connection to your home folder is slow

330929 Windows XP may cause extra SMB Notify Change traffic

829700 Slow network performance when you open a file that is located in a shared folder on a remote network computer

830903 A file in a network folder opens as read-only or returns an error message that the file type cannot be recognized

831129 Folder tree flickers when you view a mapped network drive in Microsoft Windows Explorer

834350 Your access to network resources is slower in Windows XP than in earlier versions of Windows

840309 Browsing the My Documents folder on a network share with Windows Explorer from a Windows XP-based computer takes longer than expected

905890 A program may run very slowly if the network connection to your home folder is slow in Windows Server 2003 or in Windows XP