Guidelines for Slow Server

Scenario

Users report needing multiple attempts to connect to Salesforce, the web-based application. The administrator suspects that the application server hosting Salesforce may be experiencing slow performance.

Analyzing the Issue

Begin by determining whether all applications on the application server hosting Salesforce are experiencing slowness or if it is limited to only Salesforce. If all applications are slow, the application server itself may be the source of the issue. However, if only Salesforce is slow while other applications (e.g., CRM) are performing as expected, the issue is likely related to the application itself.

To start the diagnosis

1. Navigate to Monitoring ▶ Clt/Srv Table.
2. In the drop-down menu labeled Server Zone, select the application server.
3. Click Search.

• If all applications on the server are responding slowly (e.g., high SRT values for both "Salesforce" and "CRM"), this indicates that the issue is likely related to the server itself rather than the individual applications.
• Review the Connection Time of the application server. High connection times may also indicate a slow server.
• Check for retransmissions between the clients and the application server. A high number of retransmissions may indicate that either the application server or a network device in the path is dropping packets.

To investigate retransmission rate

1. Navigate to Monitoring ▶ Performance Over Time Chart.
2. From the Server Zone drop-down menu, select Salesforce.
3. Click Search.

It appears here that there is a high Retransmission Rate (RR Server) going from the clients to the application server. However, none of the packets from the server to the clients needed to be retransmitted (RR Client is aproximately 0). This indicates that the application server is, in fact, dropping the packets and is therefore a slow server. This conclusion assumes that the route taken from the client to the server is the same route taken from the server to the client, which is standard industry practice.

Finally, review the TCP errors for both the clients and the application server. A high server reset count or a significant number of timed-out sessions further indicate a slow server.

To review TCP errors

1. Navigate to Analysis ▶ TCP Errors.
2. From the Server Zone drop-down menu, select Salesforce.
3. Click Search.

Here, the data indicates a high number of server resets and timeouts. Given this information and the previous observations, it can be concluded that the application server is performing slowly. At this stage, the server administrator should conduct a direct diagnosis of the application server, verifying CPU, RAM, and hard disk usage.