Terrible response time

lrg...@jaguar.uofs.edu

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Jun 26, 1991, 1:58:37 PM6/26/91

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--
We have just installed ANU-NEWS as a client on a VAX 6320, and we are having
one very serious problem with it. The performance is TERRIBLE! We've seen
five minute delays to call up a newgroup with less than 75 articles. We
previously ran VNEWS with instantaneous response (but it had other problems).

Our news server is a MicroVax II running Ultrix and we are using Multinet
TCP/IP.

obe...@ptavv.llnl.gov

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Jun 26, 1991, 8:26:46 PM6/26/91

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In article <1991Jun26...@jaguar.uofs.edu>, lrg...@jaguar.uofs.edu writes:
> --
> We have just installed ANU-NEWS as a client on a VAX 6320, and we are having
> one very serious problem with it. The performance is TERRIBLE! We've seen
> five minute delays to call up a newgroup with less than 75 articles. We
> previously ran VNEWS with instantaneous response (but it had other problems).

Possibly. The default settings in ANU NEWS are more appropriate to a full
server than a client. The biggest single improvment you will get is by having
users enter the command:
SET PROFILE/DISP=UNSEENSTACK

ANU-NEWS issues xheader requests to the server to get the subject lines and
such. This requires the server to read in EVERY article requested from disk! By
using the UNSEENSTACK, you will, by default, only request this for articles
starting with the first unseen item. A SHOW ALL will read in the rest on the
rare occasion it is required.

ANU NEWS stores lots of stuff in memory. A small system like a uVAX II,
especially if it has limited memory, will not be too fast. I offer VNEWS, ANU
NEWS and the RPI READNEWS to my users. They can deceide which they want to use.
I prefer ANU, myself. But I read on a VS 3100 with 24 MB of memory, so it runs
fast for me.

R. Kevin Oberman Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Internet: obe...@icdc.llnl.gov (415) 422-6955

Disclaimer: Don't take this too seriously. I just like to improve my typing
and probably don't really know anything useful about anything. Especially
anything gnu.

Eric Dittman

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Jun 27, 1991, 2:01:59 PM6/27/91

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>Possibly. The default settings in ANU NEWS are more appropriate to a full
>server than a client. The biggest single improvment you will get is by having
>users enter the command:
>SET PROFILE/DISP=UNSEENSTACK
>
>ANU-NEWS issues xheader requests to the server to get the subject lines and
>such. This requires the server to read in EVERY article requested from disk! By
>using the UNSEENSTACK, you will, by default, only request this for articles
>starting with the first unseen item. A SHOW ALL will read in the rest on the

Issuing a SET PROFILE/DISP=UNSEENSTACK does save a lot of time when you
use ANU-News over a 2400bps phone line as well, but one unfortunate side
effect of a SHOW ALL in a newsgroup seems to be that the group will almost
always stay in a SHOW ALL state rather than a SHOW UNSEENSTACK state, even
after issuing a SHOW UNSEENSTACK (or even another SET PROFILE/DISP=
UNSEENSTACK). Also, SET PROFILE/DISP=UNSEENSTACK usually won't work for
some odd reason if you are logged in over DECnet.
--
Eric Dittman
Texas Instruments - Component Test Facility
dit...@skitzo.csc.ti.com
dit...@skbat.csc.ti.com

Disclaimer: I don't speak for Texas Instruments or the Component Test
Facility. I don't even speak for myself.