AutoCAD slow - could it be caused by network speed?

[pixel8er]

Hi everyone

 

I am having an issue with users reporting AutoCAD being slow in one office. Three other offices are fine. The setup is the same for all four offices. The support file search paths, Customisation Files, Printer Support File Paths, Template File Paths, etc are all on the network on a server in each office.

 

I did a test using LAN Speed Test from my computer to the server in the slow office. Also the same test on one of the other offices. The two results are attached.

 

 

Would that difference in read and write speeds produce a significant difference in AutoCAD responsiveness?

 

Thanks

Paul

[rkmcswain]

Those look like terrible speeds if I'm reading them correctly.

 

1 to 11 Mbps? If you have a gigabit network, you should be seeing numbers around 800 Mbps. Even on a 100 megabit circuit, you should see ±80% of that.

 

Yes, this would certainly impact the time it takes to open and save files.

[pixel8er]

Those look like terrible speeds if I'm reading them correctly.

 

I was doing the test from my computer on one server across to another server in another office. When I did a comparison from my computer to my local server I got speeds of about 90Mbps.

 

The way the test works is by building a file (20Mb in this test) in memory, then transfer it both ways (without effects of windows file caching)

 

Yes, this would certainly impact the time it takes to open and save files.

 

What about for general AutoCAD work within a file? Would the slower network speed affect that?

[BIGAL]

1st thing make sure all temporary file stuff is written local not to the server with those sort of speeds, does the office have the older 10MB cards rather than 100Mb

[rkmcswain]

What about for general AutoCAD work within a file? Would the slower network speed affect that?

 

Yes. You would be amazed at how "chatty" AutoCAD is to/from file storage locations.

 

Grab Process Monitor to watch all of this in real time.

[SLW210]

Unplug from the network and check your speed, you may also find network locations where AutoCAD is looking for something. I had to move everything I could to my local drive after IT decided to use some new firewall software, AutoCAD just kept searching.