Slow network connectivity between SBS 2003 and Server 2008

[Daniel Havlín]

Situation:
1/ SBS 2003, Pentium D 3.0 Ghz, 2GB RAM, discs SATA on interated ICH8
as RAID 5 controller, LAN Intel 82566DC Gigabit Ethernet, Primary AD
Controller
2/ Server 2008, Dual Xeon E5420 2.5GHz, 8GB RAM, discs SAS on MegaSR
integrated controller of mainboard (Intel S5000PSL) as RAID5, Intel PRO/1000
EB Gigabit Ethernet, Secondary AD Controller

Problem:
Copy of data from the SBS2003 to the Server 2008 is really very slow. In
average 7000-8000 kb/s (sometimes only 1000-2000 ks/s). Copying in oposite
direction from the Server 2008 to the SBS 2003 works normally 35000-45000
kb/s.

It looks like the problem could be on the SBS2003 LAN card (and it's
upload). BUT if I copy whatever from the SBS2003 to any workstation in the
same network, everything works normally at speed about 25000-40000 kb/s
(depends on hw of workstation). The same if I copy something to the Server
2008 from any workstation in the network, it goes on speed 25000-40000 kb/s.
So the problem is ONLY if I copy something from the SBS2003 to Server 2008.

Could anybody help me how to solve this problem?

Thank you very much!
Daniel HavlÃÂ*n

[Robert L. \(MS-MVP\)]

For a test, try to disable auto tuning. This search result may help.
Vista Slow Issues
Vista Slow Issues. Some solutions for slow copy. 1. Disable the
automatic adjustment (Auto Tuning) for the TCP window size on the network.

I did try this on Server 2008 side - no recognisable result, still the same behaviour :(

[Justin King-Lacroix]

I'm having the same problem between XP clients and a 2008 server. Server->client is as fast as it should be; client->server is about one-tenth the speed. Have fiddled with autotuning, receive-side scaling, ethernet card interrupt moderation, to no avail.
Client->2003 server is at normal speed.

[rnikolich]

I have the same issues between a 2003 R2 File Server & all my 2008 Servers. I see this issue on a vista boxt to the 2003R2 File Server also. Any advise or fix would be appreciated. Thanks,

[Ace Fekay [Microsoft Certified Trainer]]

Unfortunately, replying to a post in Techarena that is older than 90 days,
doesn't allow us in the actual Microsoft newsgroups to see the original post
that you are replying to. <ost of the posts that you see in Techarena come
from the Microsoft newsgroups.

It would have helped us to better help you. If you made a new post with your
problem with an explanation of what's going on, it would have been better.

Based on the limited information and the subject line, I would suggest to
disable the RSS TCP Chimney values in the reg on both the 2003 and 2008 box,
as well as disable IPv6 in the registry on the 2008 server.

Info on the TCP Chimney feature...
==================================================================================================== ==
==================================================================================================== ==
Slow file transfer and connectivity with Windows 2003 SP2, Windows 2008, SBS
2003 SP2 and SBS 2008, and Vista
System Error 64
System Error 53
Shares disconnect after a server has been running for a period of time such
as a couple of weeks and a restart fixes it temporarily.

This may be due to the new RSS TCP Chimney Offload feature enabled on 2003
SP2 and newer servers.

TCP Chimney Offload overview:

TCP Chimney Offload is a networking technology that helps transfer the
workload from the CPU to a network adapter during network data transfer. In
Windows Server 2008, TCP Chimney Offload enables the Windows networking
subsystem to offload the processing of a TCP/IP connection to a network
adapter that includes special support for TCP/IP offload processing.

TCP Chimney Offload is available in all versions of Windows Server 2008 and
Windows Vista. Both TCP/IPv4 connections and TCP/IPv6 connections can be
offloaded if the network adapter supports this feature.

Two ways to handle it.
1. Disable RSS using the netsh command (preferred)
2. Disable RSS in the registry

1. Disable RSS using the netsh command:
(From http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951037)

netsh interface tcp set global rss=disabled
netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled
Reboot the server

2. Disable RSS in the Registry
(From http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927695):

Add a DWORD registry key value for
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\EnableRSS
and setting it to 0. A reboot is required to make the value go in to
effect.
Set DisableTaskOffload in the Registry
Use the steps in KB 904946 to create a DWORD value for
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\DisableTaskOffload
and set it to 1.
A reboot is required to make this value go in to effect.

More info on the subject...

Information about the TCP Chimney Offload, Receive Side Scaling, and Network
Direct Memory Access features in Windows Server 2008
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951037

You cannot host TCP connections when Receive Side Scaling is enabled in
Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=927695

Vista slow after SP2 installed on Windows 2003 Server (SBS or non-SBS) or
using Windows 2008?
http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/arch...installed.aspx

Windows 2003 service pack 2 known issues on Small Business Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555912/en-us

Susan Bradley: Vista slow after SP2 installed?
http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/arch...installed.aspx

You experience intermittent communication failure between computers that are
running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=904946

Common Networking Issues After Applying Windows Server 2003 SP2 on SBS:
http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive...p2-on-sbs.aspx