Note: There are more factors to consider (Bus type, disk controller type, disk type, NIC type, etc.) but these few are common to all NetWare v4 Servers.

Not having loaded the latest NetWare patches loaded.

The latest patches can be found on Novell's Support Connection WEB Site

As of September 1999, the following is a direct link to a page where the latest Patch List is maintained: (http://support.novell.com/misc/patlst.htm)

SET Compress Screen = ON

This will allow you to view Compression/Decompression activity. If the compression activity seems continuous, there probably is not much advantage to using compression.

SET Days Untouched Before Compression = [is too low]

As cheap as hard disks are, it is far more practical (for performance) not to use Compression. However, there are situations where compression can be advantageous. In such cases, this value should be seriously evaluated and adjusted to a more realistic value (14 days to 30 days may prove more practical).

If the network supports users who travel for lengthly periods or do not access some files on a regular basis, many files are likely to meet the default (7 day) compression criteria easily. While the space savings may seem advantageous, the decompression required once the file is accessed creates significant overhead on the Server since it is a high priority process (due to the need to quickly service the client request). If such activity occurs too frequently, it can significantly degrade Server performance during critical production periods.

Using Backup software which is NOT NetWare v4 aware and NetWare v4 compression compatible will invalidate the value of compression.

SET Decompress Disk Space Percent Free To Allow Commit = [too high]

Decompressing a file takes disk space and Server resources. Why not decompress a file that met the compression criteria if sufficient disk space is available? If disk space is that much of a premium, GET A LARGER DISK. They are CHEAP!

SET Deleted Files Compression Option = [1 or 2]

It is a popular misconception that it is advantageous to compress deleted files to maximize disk space. It is really best to set this to 0 (DON'T) since deleted file space is reused anyway... Why compress a deleted file whose space is destined to be reused anyway? If you want to recover deleted space quicker, reduce the purge time.

This can be especially critical at sites using products that create A LOT of temporary files. In such cases, it is best to completely disable compression for deleted files.

SET Maximum Service Processes = [too low]

There isn't really an absolute rule to this one... However, if you see that the MONITOR NLM shows the Service Processes equals this SET value and the Server appears sluggish, you should consider increasing it. NDS Servers attach to themselves and to other NDS Servers as client to remain in synch. The more NDS Servers and clients you have, the greater the load on the Service Processes (which process client requests).

SET Minimum Compression Percentage Gain = [too low]

This should be self-explanatory... Why compress/decompress a file unless it provides significant space savings.

SET Upgrade Low Priority Threads = ON

If an old or poorly designed NLM is loaded on the Server, a Console alert may appear about the need to Upgrade Low Priority Threads. While the Console alert description and message may seem to indicate that doing such is not a problem, NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. Enabling this SET Parameter WILL adversely impact NetWare's performance since Low Priority background processes which are always active and normally not a problem suddenly are given High Priority processing status, consuming more resources and processing time than is normal.

SET Worker Thread Execute In A Row Count = [too high]

Worker threads are high priority processes. This value specifies the number of such threads that NetWare will allow to run in a row before forcing a thread switch to allow other normal and low priority processes to run. Lowering this (less than 10 but no lower than 5) will force NetWare to provide other processes more CPU time slice.

Compression...

If you don't absolutely need it, don't use it! The most efficient disk I/O will ALWAYS be uncompressed I/O. However, if you must use Compression, be sure that the SET parameters are defined to make most efficient use of it. Then budget for more disk!

Cache Buffers are too low

Last, but by no means least... NetWare's efficiency is based upon File Caching. Thus, insufficient Cache Buffers WILL adversely impact NetWare's efficiency and performance. More is better!