[Ltsp-discuss] slow performance, where to start?

[Mike Cammilleri]

So I've been experimenting with various hardware for our LTSP servers.
Everything from VM's to this current Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2630 0 @
2.30GHz (12 core) with ~48GB of RAM. (Dell Poweredge).

Thin client is a Zotac ZboxSD13-ID13 with 4GB of RAM and an Intel Atom
D525 (1.8 GHz, dual-core).

I have a 1gigabit connection all the way from the thin client to the
LTSP server.

Why are things always laggy? Multiple tabs in Firefox - will take 5
seconds after each click for anything to happen. Clicking between
windows has same almost 5 second lag or more. Of course watching a
Youtube video slows everything down.

I installed xosview to monitor the server and I do notice the network
graph pegging at the top of the chart, but the actually numbers are just
fluctuating from 6K to 5Mbit so I'm not sure network is the problem. But
there is no way that this LTSP server shouldn't be able to handle a
single thin-client efficiently. However I've seen this behavior on our
other LTSP server configurations as well. I can't seem to track down the
slowness - RAM looks good and CPU time is very low.

Could it be a lag in the actual transmission of X (video) to my monitor?
When I type this email the cursor is moving fine. If I type in Firefox
its laggy again. I'm stumped.

What should one look for when optimizing LTSP for performance?
Everything I read says I'm doing it fine as far as meeting the LTSP
server system requirements but I can't have users using such a lagging
interface.

Thanks for any advice!
mike

[Mike Cammilleri]

Oh and i should mention I've been running both Ubuntu 12.04 and 14.04
LTS. And scrolling is one of the biggest problems. Scrolling a PDF in
either firefox or Acroread is bad, and just scrolling web pages. Waiting
for big chunks at a time.

On 11/07/2014 02:23 PM, Mike Cammilleri wrote:
> So I've been experimenting with various hardware for our LTSP servers.
> Everything from VM's to this current Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2630 0 @
> 2.30GHz (12 core) with ~48GB of RAM. (Dell Poweredge).
>
> Thin client is a Zotac ZboxSD13-ID13 with 4GB of RAM and an Intel Atom
> D525 (1.8 GHz, dual-core).
>
> I have a 1gigabit connection all the way from the thin client to the
> LTSP server.
>
> Why are things always laggy? Multiple tabs in Firefox - will take 5
> seconds after each click for anything to happen. Clicking between
> windows has same almost 5 second lag or more. Of course watching a
> Youtube video slows everything down.
>
> I installed xosview to monitor the server and I do notice the network
> graph pegging at the top of the chart, but the actually numbers are just
> fluctuating from 6K to 5Mbit so I'm not sure network is the problem. But
> there is no way that this LTSP server shouldn't be able to handle a
> single thin-client efficiently. However I've seen this behavior on our
> other LTSP server configurations as well. I can't seem to track down the
> slowness - RAM looks good and CPU time is very low.
>
> Could it be a lag in the actual transmission of X (video) to my monitor?
> When I type this email the cursor is moving fine. If I type in Firefox
> its laggy again. I'm stumped.
>
> What should one look for when optimizing LTSP for performance?
> Everything I read says I'm doing it fine as far as meeting the LTSP
> server system requirements but I can't have users using such a lagging
> interface.
>
> Thanks for any advice!
> mike
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> _____________________________________________________________________
> Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto:
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss
> For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net

[James McQuillan]

This sounds like a video driver issue on the client.

It's probably using the default Vesa driver.

Unfortunately, I've been away from ltsp too long to remember what you need
to change it to, and how to change it.

Jim McQuillan
***@Ltsp.org



On Fri, Nov 7, 2014 at 4:06 PM, Mike Cammilleri <***@stat.wisc.edu> wrote:

> Oh and i should mention I've been running both Ubuntu 12.04 and 14.04
> LTS. And scrolling is one of the biggest problems. Scrolling a PDF in
> either firefox or Acroread is bad, and just scrolling web pages. Waiting
> for big chunks at a time.
>
> On 11/07/2014 02:23 PM, Mike Cammilleri wrote:
> > So I've been experimenting with various hardware for our LTSP servers.
> > Everything from VM's to this current Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2630 0 @
> > 2.30GHz (12 core) with ~48GB of RAM. (Dell Poweredge).
> >
> > Thin client is a Zotac ZboxSD13-ID13 with 4GB of RAM and an Intel Atom
> > D525 (1.8 GHz, dual-core).
> >
> > I have a 1gigabit connection all the way from the thin client to the
> > LTSP server.
> >
> > Why are things always laggy? Multiple tabs in Firefox - will take 5
> > seconds after each click for anything to happen. Clicking between
> > windows has same almost 5 second lag or more. Of course watching a
> > Youtube video slows everything down.
> >
> > I installed xosview to monitor the server and I do notice the network
> > graph pegging at the top of the chart, but the actually numbers are just
> > fluctuating from 6K to 5Mbit so I'm not sure network is the problem. But
> > there is no way that this LTSP server shouldn't be able to handle a
> > single thin-client efficiently. However I've seen this behavior on our
> > other LTSP server configurations as well. I can't seem to track down the
> > slowness - RAM looks good and CPU time is very low.
> >
> > Could it be a lag in the actual transmission of X (video) to my monitor?
> > When I type this email the cursor is moving fine. If I type in Firefox
> > its laggy again. I'm stumped.
> >
> > What should one look for when optimizing LTSP for performance?
> > Everything I read says I'm doing it fine as far as meeting the LTSP
> > server system requirements but I can't have users using such a lagging
> > interface.
> >
> > Thanks for any advice!
> > mike
> >
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > _____________________________________________________________________
> > Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto:
> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss
> > For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> _____________________________________________________________________
> Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto:
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss
> For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net
>

[John Hupp]

I have been working on building an LTSP server that runs Lubuntu 14.04.1
i386 desktop and uses LTSP-PNP to build the image.

Clients were booting in a test setup as of a month or so ago. But now
they don't. If I Esc out of the Plymouth splash screen, boot hangs just
after the screen displays the boot.log message:
* restoring resolver state ... [OK]

The last couple lines of the server syslog:
nbd_server: size of exported file is 536xxxxxx
ldminfod: connect from 192.168.1.47

Can anyone recognize the problem or advise me on how to troubleshoot it?

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[John Hupp]

On 2/12/2015 6:48 PM, John Hupp wrote:
> I have been working on building an LTSP server that runs Lubuntu
> 14.04.1 i386 desktop and uses LTSP-PNP to build the image.
>
> Clients were booting in a test setup as of a month or so ago. But now
> they don't. If I Esc out of the Plymouth splash screen, boot hangs
> just after the screen displays the boot.log message:
> * restoring resolver state ... [OK]
>
> The last couple lines of the server syslog:
> nbd_server: size of exported file is 536xxxxxx
> ldminfod: connect from 192.168.1.47
>
> Can anyone recognize the problem or advise me on how to troubleshoot it?

Though it may be obvious, I could add that the server itself boots just
fine.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dive into the World of Parallel Programming. The Go Parallel Website,
sponsored by Intel and developed in partnership with Slashdot Media, is your
hub for all things parallel software development, from weekly thought
leadership blogs to news, videos, case studies, tutorials and more. Take a
look and join the conversation now. http://goparallel.sourceforge.net/
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Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto:
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss
For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net

[John Hupp]

On 2/12/2015 7:49 PM, John Hupp wrote:
> On 2/12/2015 6:48 PM, John Hupp wrote:
>> I have been working on building an LTSP server that runs Lubuntu
>> 14.04.1 i386 desktop and uses LTSP-PNP to build the image.
>>
>> Clients were booting in a test setup as of a month or so ago. But now
>> they don't. If I Esc out of the Plymouth splash screen, boot hangs
>> just after the screen displays the boot.log message:
>> * restoring resolver state ... [OK]
>>
>> The last couple lines of the server syslog:
>> nbd_server: size of exported file is 536xxxxxx
>> ldminfod: connect from 192.168.1.47
>>
>> Can anyone recognize the problem or advise me on how to troubleshoot it?
>
> Though it may be obvious, I could add that the server itself boots
> just fine.

It seems that this problem is due to Bug 1389904
<https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-intel/+bug/1389904>,
affecting at least the Intel 810 and 815 video chipsets. Applying the
workaround in bug comment #30 to the client image allowed 3 affected
thin clients (different make/model, but all with i810) to boot.

[Johan Kragsterman]

-----James McQuillan <***@mcquil.com> skrev: -----
Till: ltsp-***@lists.sourceforge.net
Från: James McQuillan <***@mcquil.com>
Datum: 2014-11-07 22:39
Ärende: Re: [Ltsp-discuss] slow performance, where to start?

This sounds like a video driver issue on the client.

It's probably using the default Vesa driver.

Unfortunately, I've been away from ltsp too long to remember what you need to change it to, and how to change it.

Jim McQuillan
***@Ltsp.org






Hi!


If that is the problem, there is a guide here:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuLTSP/AtomIon

Pls report back and tell us how you're doing!

I suppose you're using FAT Clients?


Best regards from/Med vänliga hälsningar från

Johan Kragsterman

Capvert









On Fri, Nov 7, 2014 at 4:06 PM, Mike Cammilleri <***@stat.wisc.edu> wrote:
Oh and i should mention I've been running both Ubuntu 12.04 and 14.04
LTS. And scrolling is one of the biggest problems. Scrolling a PDF in
either firefox or Acroread is bad, and just scrolling web pages. Waiting
for big chunks at a time.

On 11/07/2014 02:23 PM, Mike Cammilleri wrote:
> So I've been experimenting with various hardware for our LTSP servers.
> Everything from VM's to this current Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2630 0 @
> 2.30GHz (12 core) with ~48GB of RAM. (Dell Poweredge).
>
> Thin client is a Zotac ZboxSD13-ID13 with 4GB of RAM and an Intel Atom
> D525 (1.8 GHz, dual-core).
>
> I have a 1gigabit connection all the way from the thin client to the
> LTSP server.
>
> Why are things always laggy? Multiple tabs in Firefox - will take 5
> seconds after each click for anything to happen. Clicking between
> windows has same almost 5 second lag or more. Of course watching a
> Youtube video slows everything down.
>
> I installed xosview to monitor the server and I do notice the network
> graph pegging at the top of the chart, but the actually numbers are just
> fluctuating from 6K to 5Mbit so I'm not sure network is the problem. But
> there is no way that this LTSP server shouldn't be able to handle a
> single thin-client efficiently. However I've seen this behavior on our
> other LTSP server configurations as well. I can't seem to track down the
> slowness - RAM looks good and CPU time is very low.
>
> Could it be a lag in the actual transmission of X (video) to my monitor?
> When I type this email the cursor is moving fine. If I type in Firefox
> its laggy again. I'm stumped.
>
> What should one look for when optimizing LTSP for performance?
> Everything I read says I'm doing it fine as far as meeting the LTSP
> server system requirements but I can't have users using such a lagging
> interface.
>
> Thanks for any advice!
> mike
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> _____________________________________________________________________
> Ltsp-discuss mailing list.   To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto:
>        https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss
> For additional LTSP help,   try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net


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For additional LTSP help,   try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net

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For additional LTSP help,   try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net

[Richard Doyle]

On 11/07/2014 12:23 PM, Mike Cammilleri wrote:
> So I've been experimenting with various hardware for our LTSP servers.
> Everything from VM's to this current Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2630 0 @
> 2.30GHz (12 core) with ~48GB of RAM. (Dell Poweredge).
>
> Thin client is a Zotac ZboxSD13-ID13 with 4GB of RAM and an Intel Atom
> D525 (1.8 GHz, dual-core).
>
> I have a 1gigabit connection all the way from the thin client to the
> LTSP server.
>
> Why are things always laggy? Multiple tabs in Firefox - will take 5
> seconds after each click for anything to happen. Clicking between
> windows has same almost 5 second lag or more. Of course watching a
> Youtube video slows everything down.
>
> I installed xosview to monitor the server and I do notice the network
> graph pegging at the top of the chart, but the actually numbers are just
> fluctuating from 6K to 5Mbit so I'm not sure network is the problem. But
> there is no way that this LTSP server shouldn't be able to handle a
> single thin-client efficiently. However I've seen this behavior on our
> other LTSP server configurations as well. I can't seem to track down the
> slowness - RAM looks good and CPU time is very low.
>
> Could it be a lag in the actual transmission of X (video) to my monitor?
> When I type this email the cursor is moving fine. If I type in Firefox
> its laggy again. I'm stumped.
>
> What should one look for when optimizing LTSP for performance?
> Everything I read says I'm doing it fine as far as meeting the LTSP
> server system requirements but I can't have users using such a lagging
> interface.
>
> Thanks for any advice!
> mike
>
>
Run Firefox as a local application.

[Michael Pope]

Mike,

On 08/11/14 07:23, Mike Cammilleri wrote:
> So I've been experimenting with various hardware for our LTSP servers.
> Everything from VM's to this current Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2630 0 @
> 2.30GHz (12 core) with ~48GB of RAM. (Dell Poweredge).
>
> Thin client is a Zotac ZboxSD13-ID13 with 4GB of RAM and an Intel Atom
> D525 (1.8 GHz, dual-core).
>
> I have a 1gigabit connection all the way from the thin client to the
> LTSP server.
>
> Why are things always laggy? Multiple tabs in Firefox - will take 5
> seconds after each click for anything to happen. Clicking between
> windows has same almost 5 second lag or more. Of course watching a
> Youtube video slows everything down.
>
> I installed xosview to monitor the server and I do notice the network
> graph pegging at the top of the chart, but the actually numbers are just
> fluctuating from 6K to 5Mbit so I'm not sure network is the problem. But
> there is no way that this LTSP server shouldn't be able to handle a
> single thin-client efficiently. However I've seen this behavior on our
> other LTSP server configurations as well. I can't seem to track down the
> slowness - RAM looks good and CPU time is very low.
>
> Could it be a lag in the actual transmission of X (video) to my monitor?
> When I type this email the cursor is moving fine. If I type in Firefox
> its laggy again. I'm stumped.
>
> What should one look for when optimizing LTSP for performance?
> Everything I read says I'm doing it fine as far as meeting the LTSP
> server system requirements but I can't have users using such a lagging
> interface.
>
> Thanks for any advice!
> mike

If you install virtualbox and create a PXE boot VM you could do a test
like this and it would prove that it's your thin client hardware or not.

Another trick I do is use my notebook to test as it has a better
graphics card than some of these thin clients and see if it has the same
problem when I use it to PXE boot from the LTSP machine.

from
Michael

[Harry Lavender]

Are you sure you're not using Compiz?

Compiz is horrifically slow for us using LTSP, and isn't even slightly
usable, so instead we use either metacity or MATE.

Good luck!
On 10/11/14 00:56, Michael Pope wrote:
> Mike,
>
> On 08/11/14 07:23, Mike Cammilleri wrote:
>> So I've been experimenting with various hardware for our LTSP servers.
>> Everything from VM's to this current Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2630 0 @
>> 2.30GHz (12 core) with ~48GB of RAM. (Dell Poweredge).
>>
>> Thin client is a Zotac ZboxSD13-ID13 with 4GB of RAM and an Intel Atom
>> D525 (1.8 GHz, dual-core).
>>
>> I have a 1gigabit connection all the way from the thin client to the
>> LTSP server.
>>
>> Why are things always laggy? Multiple tabs in Firefox - will take 5
>> seconds after each click for anything to happen. Clicking between
>> windows has same almost 5 second lag or more. Of course watching a
>> Youtube video slows everything down.
>>
>> I installed xosview to monitor the server and I do notice the network
>> graph pegging at the top of the chart, but the actually numbers are just
>> fluctuating from 6K to 5Mbit so I'm not sure network is the problem. But
>> there is no way that this LTSP server shouldn't be able to handle a
>> single thin-client efficiently. However I've seen this behavior on our
>> other LTSP server configurations as well. I can't seem to track down the
>> slowness - RAM looks good and CPU time is very low.
>>
>> Could it be a lag in the actual transmission of X (video) to my monitor?
>> When I type this email the cursor is moving fine. If I type in Firefox
>> its laggy again. I'm stumped.
>>
>> What should one look for when optimizing LTSP for performance?
>> Everything I read says I'm doing it fine as far as meeting the LTSP
>> server system requirements but I can't have users using such a lagging
>> interface.
>>
>> Thanks for any advice!
>> mike
> If you install virtualbox and create a PXE boot VM you could do a test
> like this and it would prove that it's your thin client hardware or not.
>
> Another trick I do is use my notebook to test as it has a better
> graphics card than some of these thin clients and see if it has the same
> problem when I use it to PXE boot from the LTSP machine.
>
> from
> Michael
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> _____________________________________________________________________
> Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto:
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss
> For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net

--
Regards

Harry Lavender
Systems Administrator
Severn Delta Limited
DDI 01278 726278
Tel [phone]
Fax [phone]

Showground Road,
Bridgwater,
Somerset TA6 6AJ
Company Number 4269451
VAT Registration GB793728185

[jef peeraer]

could QT be the problem? We experienced some serieus slowdowns with the
new QT rendering, see
https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:KIWI-LTSP_troubleshooting at the bottom of
the file.

jef

Op 11/10/2014 09:49 AM, Harry Lavender schreef:
> Are you sure you're not using Compiz?
>
> Compiz is horrifically slow for us using LTSP, and isn't even slightly
> usable, so instead we use either metacity or MATE.
>
> Good luck!
> On 10/11/14 00:56, Michael Pope wrote:
>> Mike,
>>
>> On 08/11/14 07:23, Mike Cammilleri wrote:
>>> So I've been experimenting with various hardware for our LTSP servers.
>>> Everything from VM's to this current Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2630 0 @
>>> 2.30GHz (12 core) with ~48GB of RAM. (Dell Poweredge).
>>>
>>> Thin client is a Zotac ZboxSD13-ID13 with 4GB of RAM and an Intel Atom
>>> D525 (1.8 GHz, dual-core).
>>>
>>> I have a 1gigabit connection all the way from the thin client to the
>>> LTSP server.
>>>
>>> Why are things always laggy? Multiple tabs in Firefox - will take 5
>>> seconds after each click for anything to happen. Clicking between
>>> windows has same almost 5 second lag or more. Of course watching a
>>> Youtube video slows everything down.
>>>
>>> I installed xosview to monitor the server and I do notice the network
>>> graph pegging at the top of the chart, but the actually numbers are just
>>> fluctuating from 6K to 5Mbit so I'm not sure network is the problem. But
>>> there is no way that this LTSP server shouldn't be able to handle a
>>> single thin-client efficiently. However I've seen this behavior on our
>>> other LTSP server configurations as well. I can't seem to track down the
>>> slowness - RAM looks good and CPU time is very low.
>>>
>>> Could it be a lag in the actual transmission of X (video) to my monitor?
>>> When I type this email the cursor is moving fine. If I type in Firefox
>>> its laggy again. I'm stumped.
>>>
>>> What should one look for when optimizing LTSP for performance?
>>> Everything I read says I'm doing it fine as far as meeting the LTSP
>>> server system requirements but I can't have users using such a lagging
>>> interface.
>>>
>>> Thanks for any advice!
>>> mike
>> If you install virtualbox and create a PXE boot VM you could do a test
>> like this and it would prove that it's your thin client hardware or not.
>>
>> Another trick I do is use my notebook to test as it has a better
>> graphics card than some of these thin clients and see if it has the same
>> problem when I use it to PXE boot from the LTSP machine.
>>
>> from
>> Michael
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> _____________________________________________________________________
>> Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto:
>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss
>> For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net
>

[Mike Cammilleri]

Hi Harry,

I'm using Ubuntu 14.04 LTS out of the box, so I'm getting the Unity
desktop environment which I think uses compiz does it not? Perhaps I
should be trying other desktop environments such as Xfce and see if
there's better performance? I've never tried metacity or mate.

Our users have been using the gnome environment forever so it will be
work to use a new environment that doesn't use similar names for apps
(like evince for example). Our current LTSP environment thats in
production actually runs gnome on Red Hat and we just use LTSP to book
the clients, but I'm now testing using a legit Ubuntu LTSP desktop
environment and running into these performance issues.

Should I be concerned with video drivers that are on the LTSP server
itself? Not just the thinclient?

Thanks,
mike


On 11/10/2014 02:49 AM, Harry Lavender wrote:
> Are you sure you're not using Compiz?
>
> Compiz is horrifically slow for us using LTSP, and isn't even slightly
> usable, so instead we use either metacity or MATE.
>
> Good luck!
> On 10/11/14 00:56, Michael Pope wrote:
>> Mike,
>>
>> On 08/11/14 07:23, Mike Cammilleri wrote:
>>> So I've been experimenting with various hardware for our LTSP servers.
>>> Everything from VM's to this current Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2630 0 @
>>> 2.30GHz (12 core) with ~48GB of RAM. (Dell Poweredge).
>>>
>>> Thin client is a Zotac ZboxSD13-ID13 with 4GB of RAM and an Intel Atom
>>> D525 (1.8 GHz, dual-core).
>>>
>>> I have a 1gigabit connection all the way from the thin client to the
>>> LTSP server.
>>>
>>> Why are things always laggy? Multiple tabs in Firefox - will take 5
>>> seconds after each click for anything to happen. Clicking between
>>> windows has same almost 5 second lag or more. Of course watching a
>>> Youtube video slows everything down.
>>>
>>> I installed xosview to monitor the server and I do notice the network
>>> graph pegging at the top of the chart, but the actually numbers are just
>>> fluctuating from 6K to 5Mbit so I'm not sure network is the problem. But
>>> there is no way that this LTSP server shouldn't be able to handle a
>>> single thin-client efficiently. However I've seen this behavior on our
>>> other LTSP server configurations as well. I can't seem to track down the
>>> slowness - RAM looks good and CPU time is very low.
>>>
>>> Could it be a lag in the actual transmission of X (video) to my monitor?
>>> When I type this email the cursor is moving fine. If I type in Firefox
>>> its laggy again. I'm stumped.
>>>
>>> What should one look for when optimizing LTSP for performance?
>>> Everything I read says I'm doing it fine as far as meeting the LTSP
>>> server system requirements but I can't have users using such a lagging
>>> interface.
>>>
>>> Thanks for any advice!
>>> mike
>> If you install virtualbox and create a PXE boot VM you could do a test
>> like this and it would prove that it's your thin client hardware or not.
>>
>> Another trick I do is use my notebook to test as it has a better
>> graphics card than some of these thin clients and see if it has the same
>> problem when I use it to PXE boot from the LTSP machine.
>>
>> from
>> Michael
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> _____________________________________________________________________
>> Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto:
>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss
>> For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net

[Harry Lavender]

Hi Mike,

Unity works very poorly, it's unusable in my experience. If you remove
compiz, Unity will cease to function. Instead, install a different
window manager, such as gnome flashback. But, if you use gnome, make
sure the backend is metacity, both are installed by default. Another
option that we use here is MATE. It's a gnome lookalike, but with more
features, such as window snapping similar to that in Unity.

I'd definitely say it was Unity, when I have used it with LTSP, the
window has taken seconds to refresh, just when clicking on a menu item.
This was solved when moving away from Compiz.

I think that Compiz makes too many requests to the X terminal, causing
huge slowdowns. The same is true for Google Chrome!

Good luck Mike!

Harry
On 10/11/14 17:37, Mike Cammilleri wrote:
> Hi Harry,
>
> I'm using Ubuntu 14.04 LTS out of the box, so I'm getting the Unity
> desktop environment which I think uses compiz does it not? Perhaps I
> should be trying other desktop environments such as Xfce and see if
> there's better performance? I've never tried metacity or mate.
>
> Our users have been using the gnome environment forever so it will be
> work to use a new environment that doesn't use similar names for apps
> (like evince for example). Our current LTSP environment thats in
> production actually runs gnome on Red Hat and we just use LTSP to book
> the clients, but I'm now testing using a legit Ubuntu LTSP desktop
> environment and running into these performance issues.
>
> Should I be concerned with video drivers that are on the LTSP server
> itself? Not just the thinclient?
>
> Thanks,
> mike
>
>
> On 11/10/2014 02:49 AM, Harry Lavender wrote:
>> Are you sure you're not using Compiz?
>>
>> Compiz is horrifically slow for us using LTSP, and isn't even slightly
>> usable, so instead we use either metacity or MATE.
>>
>> Good luck!
>> On 10/11/14 00:56, Michael Pope wrote:
>>> Mike,
>>>
>>> On 08/11/14 07:23, Mike Cammilleri wrote:
>>>> So I've been experimenting with various hardware for our LTSP servers.
>>>> Everything from VM's to this current Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2630 0 @
>>>> 2.30GHz (12 core) with ~48GB of RAM. (Dell Poweredge).
>>>>
>>>> Thin client is a Zotac ZboxSD13-ID13 with 4GB of RAM and an Intel Atom
>>>> D525 (1.8 GHz, dual-core).
>>>>
>>>> I have a 1gigabit connection all the way from the thin client to the
>>>> LTSP server.
>>>>
>>>> Why are things always laggy? Multiple tabs in Firefox - will take 5
>>>> seconds after each click for anything to happen. Clicking between
>>>> windows has same almost 5 second lag or more. Of course watching a
>>>> Youtube video slows everything down.
>>>>
>>>> I installed xosview to monitor the server and I do notice the network
>>>> graph pegging at the top of the chart, but the actually numbers are just
>>>> fluctuating from 6K to 5Mbit so I'm not sure network is the problem. But
>>>> there is no way that this LTSP server shouldn't be able to handle a
>>>> single thin-client efficiently. However I've seen this behavior on our
>>>> other LTSP server configurations as well. I can't seem to track down the
>>>> slowness - RAM looks good and CPU time is very low.
>>>>
>>>> Could it be a lag in the actual transmission of X (video) to my monitor?
>>>> When I type this email the cursor is moving fine. If I type in Firefox
>>>> its laggy again. I'm stumped.
>>>>
>>>> What should one look for when optimizing LTSP for performance?
>>>> Everything I read says I'm doing it fine as far as meeting the LTSP
>>>> server system requirements but I can't have users using such a lagging
>>>> interface.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for any advice!
>>>> mike
>>> If you install virtualbox and create a PXE boot VM you could do a test
>>> like this and it would prove that it's your thin client hardware or not.
>>>
>>> Another trick I do is use my notebook to test as it has a better
>>> graphics card than some of these thin clients and see if it has the same
>>> problem when I use it to PXE boot from the LTSP machine.
>>>
>>> from
>>> Michael
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> _____________________________________________________________________
>>> Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto:
>>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss
>>> For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> _____________________________________________________________________
> Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto:
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss
> For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net

--
Regards

Harry Lavender
Systems Administrator
Severn Delta Limited
DDI 01278 726278
Tel [phone]
Fax [phone]

Showground Road,
Bridgwater,
Somerset TA6 6AJ
Company Number 4269451
VAT Registration GB793728185


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_____________________________________________________________________
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[Paweł Ptasznik]

kupa kupa kupa

2014-11-11 9:56 GMT+01:00 Harry Lavender <***@severndelta.co.uk>:

> Hi Mike,
>
> Unity works very poorly, it's unusable in my experience. If you remove
> compiz, Unity will cease to function. Instead, install a different
> window manager, such as gnome flashback. But, if you use gnome, make
> sure the backend is metacity, both are installed by default. Another
> option that we use here is MATE. It's a gnome lookalike, but with more
> features, such as window snapping similar to that in Unity.
>
> I'd definitely say it was Unity, when I have used it with LTSP, the
> window has taken seconds to refresh, just when clicking on a menu item.
> This was solved when moving away from Compiz.
>
> I think that Compiz makes too many requests to the X terminal, causing
> huge slowdowns. The same is true for Google Chrome!
>
> Good luck Mike!
>
> Harry
> On 10/11/14 17:37, Mike Cammilleri wrote:
> > Hi Harry,
> >
> > I'm using Ubuntu 14.04 LTS out of the box, so I'm getting the Unity
> > desktop environment which I think uses compiz does it not? Perhaps I
> > should be trying other desktop environments such as Xfce and see if
> > there's better performance? I've never tried metacity or mate.
> >
> > Our users have been using the gnome environment forever so it will be
> > work to use a new environment that doesn't use similar names for apps
> > (like evince for example). Our current LTSP environment thats in
> > production actually runs gnome on Red Hat and we just use LTSP to book
> > the clients, but I'm now testing using a legit Ubuntu LTSP desktop
> > environment and running into these performance issues.
> >
> > Should I be concerned with video drivers that are on the LTSP server
> > itself? Not just the thinclient?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > mike
> >
> >
> > On 11/10/2014 02:49 AM, Harry Lavender wrote:
> >> Are you sure you're not using Compiz?
> >>
> >> Compiz is horrifically slow for us using LTSP, and isn't even slightly
> >> usable, so instead we use either metacity or MATE.
> >>
> >> Good luck!
> >> On 10/11/14 00:56, Michael Pope wrote:
> >>> Mike,
> >>>
> >>> On 08/11/14 07:23, Mike Cammilleri wrote:
> >>>> So I've been experimenting with various hardware for our LTSP servers.
> >>>> Everything from VM's to this current Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2630 0 @
> >>>> 2.30GHz (12 core) with ~48GB of RAM. (Dell Poweredge).
> >>>>
> >>>> Thin client is a Zotac ZboxSD13-ID13 with 4GB of RAM and an Intel Atom
> >>>> D525 (1.8 GHz, dual-core).
> >>>>
> >>>> I have a 1gigabit connection all the way from the thin client to the
> >>>> LTSP server.
> >>>>
> >>>> Why are things always laggy? Multiple tabs in Firefox - will take 5
> >>>> seconds after each click for anything to happen. Clicking between
> >>>> windows has same almost 5 second lag or more. Of course watching a
> >>>> Youtube video slows everything down.
> >>>>
> >>>> I installed xosview to monitor the server and I do notice the network
> >>>> graph pegging at the top of the chart, but the actually numbers are
> just
> >>>> fluctuating from 6K to 5Mbit so I'm not sure network is the problem.
> But
> >>>> there is no way that this LTSP server shouldn't be able to handle a
> >>>> single thin-client efficiently. However I've seen this behavior on our
> >>>> other LTSP server configurations as well. I can't seem to track down
> the
> >>>> slowness - RAM looks good and CPU time is very low.
> >>>>
> >>>> Could it be a lag in the actual transmission of X (video) to my
> monitor?
> >>>> When I type this email the cursor is moving fine. If I type in Firefox
> >>>> its laggy again. I'm stumped.
> >>>>
> >>>> What should one look for when optimizing LTSP for performance?
> >>>> Everything I read says I'm doing it fine as far as meeting the LTSP
> >>>> server system requirements but I can't have users using such a lagging
> >>>> interface.
> >>>>
> >>>> Thanks for any advice!
> >>>> mike
> >>> If you install virtualbox and create a PXE boot VM you could do a test
> >>> like this and it would prove that it's your thin client hardware or
> not.
> >>>
> >>> Another trick I do is use my notebook to test as it has a better
> >>> graphics card than some of these thin clients and see if it has the
> same
> >>> problem when I use it to PXE boot from the LTSP machine.
> >>>
> >>> from
> >>> Michael
> >>>
> >>>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>> _____________________________________________________________________
> >>> Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto:
> >>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss
> >>> For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net
> >
> >
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > _____________________________________________________________________
> > Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto:
> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss
> > For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net
>
> --
> Regards
>
> Harry Lavender
> Systems Administrator
> Severn Delta Limited
> DDI 01278 726278
> Tel [phone]
> Fax [phone]
>
> Showground Road,
> Bridgwater,
> Somerset TA6 6AJ
> Company Number 4269451
> VAT Registration GB793728185
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Comprehensive Server Monitoring with Site24x7.
> Monitor 10 servers for $9/Month.
> Get alerted through email, SMS, voice calls or mobile push notifications.
> Take corrective actions from your mobile device.
>
> http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=154624111&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk
> _____________________________________________________________________
> Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto:
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss
> For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net
>

[Mike Cammilleri]

Thanks Michael,

I have tried setting up an LTSP server as a VM and I have the same
problems. So perhaps it is my thin-client.

A couple things regarding Harry's suggestions as well....

How does one get rid of compiz or disable it? If I apt-get remove compiz
it will also remove ubuntu-desktop. I think I need ubuntu-desktop, so
not sure how to get rid of compiz. I did have to install gconf-editor
and disable apps->metacity->general compositing_manager and
compositor_effects so that the gnome terminal wouldn't always be on top.

Are there other post-installation steps that should be done after
setting up an out-of-the-box LTSP server that is not really documented?

I'm using Intel GMA 3150 onboard intel graphics -- doesn't Ubuntu
already contain all Intel drivers? According to their site: "Most
versions of the Linux* operating system include Intel® graphics drivers.
Intel recommends checking with your Linux distribution vendor or
computer manufacturer for precompiled driver packages."

Thanks for these leads guys.

--mike


On 11/09/2014 06:56 PM, Michael Pope wrote:
> Mike,
>
> On 08/11/14 07:23, Mike Cammilleri wrote:
>> So I've been experimenting with various hardware for our LTSP servers.
>> Everything from VM's to this current Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2630 0 @
>> 2.30GHz (12 core) with ~48GB of RAM. (Dell Poweredge).
>>
>> Thin client is a Zotac ZboxSD13-ID13 with 4GB of RAM and an Intel Atom
>> D525 (1.8 GHz, dual-core).
>>
>> I have a 1gigabit connection all the way from the thin client to the
>> LTSP server.
>>
>> Why are things always laggy? Multiple tabs in Firefox - will take 5
>> seconds after each click for anything to happen. Clicking between
>> windows has same almost 5 second lag or more. Of course watching a
>> Youtube video slows everything down.
>>
>> I installed xosview to monitor the server and I do notice the network
>> graph pegging at the top of the chart, but the actually numbers are just
>> fluctuating from 6K to 5Mbit so I'm not sure network is the problem. But
>> there is no way that this LTSP server shouldn't be able to handle a
>> single thin-client efficiently. However I've seen this behavior on our
>> other LTSP server configurations as well. I can't seem to track down the
>> slowness - RAM looks good and CPU time is very low.
>>
>> Could it be a lag in the actual transmission of X (video) to my monitor?
>> When I type this email the cursor is moving fine. If I type in Firefox
>> its laggy again. I'm stumped.
>>
>> What should one look for when optimizing LTSP for performance?
>> Everything I read says I'm doing it fine as far as meeting the LTSP
>> server system requirements but I can't have users using such a lagging
>> interface.
>>
>> Thanks for any advice!
>> mike
> If you install virtualbox and create a PXE boot VM you could do a test
> like this and it would prove that it's your thin client hardware or not.
>
> Another trick I do is use my notebook to test as it has a better
> graphics card than some of these thin clients and see if it has the same
> problem when I use it to PXE boot from the LTSP machine.
>
> from
> Michael
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> _____________________________________________________________________
> Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto:
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss
> For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net

[Mike Cammilleri]

By the way, this is my thin-client - and I'm using the VGA connection.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856173036


On 11/10/2014 09:34 AM, Mike Cammilleri wrote:
> Thanks Michael,
>
> I have tried setting up an LTSP server as a VM and I have the same
> problems. So perhaps it is my thin-client.
>
> A couple things regarding Harry's suggestions as well....
>
> How does one get rid of compiz or disable it? If I apt-get remove compiz
> it will also remove ubuntu-desktop. I think I need ubuntu-desktop, so
> not sure how to get rid of compiz. I did have to install gconf-editor
> and disable apps->metacity->general compositing_manager and
> compositor_effects so that the gnome terminal wouldn't always be on top.
>
> Are there other post-installation steps that should be done after
> setting up an out-of-the-box LTSP server that is not really documented?
>
> I'm using Intel GMA 3150 onboard intel graphics -- doesn't Ubuntu
> already contain all Intel drivers? According to their site: "Most
> versions of the Linux* operating system include Intel® graphics drivers.
> Intel recommends checking with your Linux distribution vendor or
> computer manufacturer for precompiled driver packages."
>
> Thanks for these leads guys.
>
> --mike
>
>
> On 11/09/2014 06:56 PM, Michael Pope wrote:
>> Mike,
>>
>> On 08/11/14 07:23, Mike Cammilleri wrote:
>>> So I've been experimenting with various hardware for our LTSP servers.
>>> Everything from VM's to this current Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2630 0 @
>>> 2.30GHz (12 core) with ~48GB of RAM. (Dell Poweredge).
>>>
>>> Thin client is a Zotac ZboxSD13-ID13 with 4GB of RAM and an Intel Atom
>>> D525 (1.8 GHz, dual-core).
>>>
>>> I have a 1gigabit connection all the way from the thin client to the
>>> LTSP server.
>>>
>>> Why are things always laggy? Multiple tabs in Firefox - will take 5
>>> seconds after each click for anything to happen. Clicking between
>>> windows has same almost 5 second lag or more. Of course watching a
>>> Youtube video slows everything down.
>>>
>>> I installed xosview to monitor the server and I do notice the network
>>> graph pegging at the top of the chart, but the actually numbers are just
>>> fluctuating from 6K to 5Mbit so I'm not sure network is the problem. But
>>> there is no way that this LTSP server shouldn't be able to handle a
>>> single thin-client efficiently. However I've seen this behavior on our
>>> other LTSP server configurations as well. I can't seem to track down the
>>> slowness - RAM looks good and CPU time is very low.
>>>
>>> Could it be a lag in the actual transmission of X (video) to my monitor?
>>> When I type this email the cursor is moving fine. If I type in Firefox
>>> its laggy again. I'm stumped.
>>>
>>> What should one look for when optimizing LTSP for performance?
>>> Everything I read says I'm doing it fine as far as meeting the LTSP
>>> server system requirements but I can't have users using such a lagging
>>> interface.
>>>
>>> Thanks for any advice!
>>> mike
>> If you install virtualbox and create a PXE boot VM you could do a test
>> like this and it would prove that it's your thin client hardware or not.
>>
>> Another trick I do is use my notebook to test as it has a better
>> graphics card than some of these thin clients and see if it has the same
>> problem when I use it to PXE boot from the LTSP machine.
>>
>> from
>> Michael
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> _____________________________________________________________________
>> Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto:
>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss
>> For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> _____________________________________________________________________
> Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto:
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss
> For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net
>