Slow Performance with FPNW and More than 60 Printers (142056)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
  • Microsoft File and Print Services for NetWare 3.51
This article was previously published under Q142056

SYMPTOMS

After you add more than 60 printers using Print Manager on a Windows NT Server running File and Print Services for NetWare (FPNW), server performance quickly degrades. Performance Monitor shows processor utilization at a constant 100%, while the user mode service portion of FPNW (NWSSVC.EXE) and the Windows NT spooler (SPOOLSS.EXE) shows between 45% and 55% of the processor utilization. Acceptable performance levels are returned if the number of printers defined is reduced to 60 or less.

CAUSE

The FPNW printing component does not scale well to large numbers of printers (greater than 60) due to its current program design.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, upgrade to Windows NT Server version 4.0.

The program design for the FPNW printing component has been changed for the next release of Windows NT, removing the scaling problem.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 3.51. This problem was corrected in Windows NT Server version 4.0.

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/4/2003
Keywords:kbprint KB142056
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.