NCM Web Interface Seems Slow

Our NCM web interface seems slow, specifically the two parts that seem bad are loading the home page and opening the Node List drop downs. This is very slow as compared to our NPM server where both of these things are pretty fast.

Currently our NCM system is on a dedicated server, we are accessing it via an additional web server and the SQL database is on it's own system as well which also serves as our NPM SQL server. We only have about 10 systems in NCM right now and the home page is pretty much the default layout.

Any help or suggestions here would be much appreciated!

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Accepted answers

chris.lapoint

There is definitely some misunderstanding. Both the NCM integration module and the NCM standalone website talk to the NCM server in the EXACT same way. They both use the SolarWinds Information Service (SWIS) on the NCM Server to broker information back from the database.

The NCM integration module does do permission checks against NPM account limitations, but this is not the cause of the slowness as verified by our performance tests. We've investigated on the dev side and it appears there was a performance issue with our macro parsing in the NCM integration module's NCM Nodes List control. For example, if you are setting your Node Name in NCM using the ${SysName} macro (the default), you will notice this slowness. The same issue isn't present in the standalone NCM website. This issue will be fixed in the next release, so all customers using macros should see significant performance increases with 6.0.

All comments

docwhite

If you are running ColdFusion server in your environment this KB article might help you:

http://support.solarwinds.com/kbase/ProblemDetail.cfm?ID=1388

byrona

We are not running ColdFusion and I am also running FireFox as my browser. I did test IIE to see if the problem was somehow FireFox related and I still experienced the performance problems. As a side note I also tested Chrome which doesn't work at all for NCM.

savell

I'm really glad you mentioned this Bryon - I didn't think anyone else had this issue.

I have the same slowness of the home page and drop down node lists (our configuration is almost the same as yours - although we have a separate NCM database server).

I might open a support ticket. Our Orion server when using node admin with 4500 nodes is much much faster than the NCM node list with only 1500 nodes (same database hardware specs). So I'm hopeful that this could be improved.

Dave.

byrona

Dave

Well I am equally glad to hear that I am not the only person with this problem. = )

I figured I would start on the forum as I usually do and if that didn't pan out I would then open a support ticket. At the very least I now have evidence that I am no the only one with this problem.

Thanks for your response.

byrona

After talking to support at SolarWinds I have identified my problem. I am using the NCM inegration module as well as additional web servers. My database server is also on a different system. This causes a lot of hops for the data.

My current data flow looks like the following...

Additional Web Server --> NPM --> NCM --> Database (And back again)

When I log directly into the NCM system web interface things are much faster. Anybody else using this type of setup will also notice a bit of performance impact on the WebUI and this is normal.

savell

Mmmm...

I didn't realise that this was the flow used. It seems a very poor design in terms of providing a usable web interface from a performance standpoint.

Anyone from SolarWinds want to comment regarding any changes proposed in this space?

I'm thinking that for us the integration module is pointless. I wonder if I should just have a direct link from the NPM page to the NCM home page (it's a pain as I don't get the navigation bars to go back into NPM pages, but do I lose anything else of value?).

Dave.

Edit: Not quite true regarding the navigation bars - if I add NCM as an external website (and have it as an option on the views bar, then the page is loaded within the NPM page). Not fantastic looking - but worth it for the performance gain over the integration module.

Derek

Just thought I'd touch base with you on this issue. Are either of you using macros with your nodes list?

byrona

Nope, no macros here... unless they are hiding as part of a devious plot to thwart my system.

chris.lapoint

byrona

There is definitely some misunderstanding. Both the NCM integration module and the NCM standalone website talk to the NCM server in the EXACT same way. They both use the SolarWinds Information Service (SWIS) on the NCM Server to broker information back from the database.

Chris, I believe you, however; this is not how it was explained to me via the support person that I worked with.

I am happy to hear that this issue should be resolved in the next release. = )