CPU Usage and System Resources

[VST_Man 1]

there is mention of reducing % by removing uneeded "services" or programs. Can you list your research and results here? How did you remove them, or did you just set it not to load? ie;

mm_tray.exe MusicMatch Jukebox Traybar not needed, removed

 

and is it not true that some programs may load and lay "dormant" won't use system resources (cpu) until run?

 

what is the best way to streamline the server?

[rory 0]

Administrative Tools, Services - Disabled.

[kandcorp 0]

Rory, definetely a good list of services to disable, we disable the exact same ones. Really makes a difference in performance and use of resources. Also reduces any chance of Virus/Spyware and Hackers. We will enable the IE for customers by their request but of course, "poof" there goes your warranty. Just to many problems with customers using computer as a well, computer. Browsing internet, downloading porn/music, and really just screwing up all our hard work.

 

It would be a good idea to have a section to upload Pics with specific setups and configurations of hard/software. May be very usefull for some of us.

[scottj 0]

Jasper needs an OEM installation and just transfer an image of the new build onto the system...30 minutes tops and you are done, no need to spend much time on it, you can compile all the latest drivers needed for your system into the image.

 

Scottj

[Thomas 0]

Rory, IE is removable from WinXP. It's not fun, and isn't a task I recommend. But it is doable.

[kandcorp 0]

Check this out:

http://www.vorck.com/answers-ie.html#benefits

 

There are a few pre-installation scripts and automated IE removals but all I have found them for is WIN2K.

 

Also check out:

http://www.vorck.com/remove-ie.html

 

There is a way to remove Internet Explorer from Windows, but it's not worth the hassle. Whether or not you realize it, you actually do need IE; it's used throughout Windows. For example, Outlook, Word, Windows Explorer--basically any apps that need to render HTML--all rely on IE to some degree. If you remove IE, which requires editing your system registry files (something I don't recommend unless you have experience and a good backup first), you'll then have to associate these apps with another Web rendering product in order to view, for example, HTML-enabled e-mail. Not impossible, but I'm sure you have better use for your time. Instead, simply drag and drop your IE icon to the trash and just forget about it.

[scottj 0]

It is just as easy to disable it to prevent people from playing on the DVR. This entire "CPU Usage" concern is blown out of proportion in my opinion. The cost of CPU resources is minimal when you look at the big picture of any security project outside of a residential application where the user wants to utilize the machine to play games.com etc.

 

Scottj

[rory 0]

Well same with MSN Instant Messanging, to really get rid of it requires registry stuff, but once you can just disable it, so it can not be used, then that is fine.

[Jasper 0]

Probably the most important reason to eliminate all the unnecessary services and software is for the sake of stability and it helps greatly in determining what is causing a potential problem.

 

It’s a lot easier to review software and services when you don’t have any extra you don’t need. Rory strips it down to the bare essentials, which makes it much easier to track down a problem that might arise.

 

A cooperative effort of listing things that can be done to streamline an install, maximize simplicity, stability and performance would be great.

 

I’ll start off:

 

Every system should have a minimum 1GB of memory. Memory prices are very low these days. And the swap file should be disabled to reduce I/O to the hard drive and improve overall performance.

[Thomas 0]

Unless you're a hardcore gamer or DB admin then 1GB is overkill. 512 is ample with most video apps.

[CCTVDude 0]

JASPER:

 

You mentioned before that you don't use a swap file. Why? Is this a good Idea?

 

Does anyone else disable it?

[Jasper 0]

It speeds up overall performance because the system is not constantly swapping virtual memory to and from the hard disk. RAM is always much faster then a hard drive.

 

Also unless you create a static sized swap file you are increasing your fragmentation of files on your hard drive. Windows will dynamically enlarge and shrink the swap(virtual memory) file as needed causing the virtual memory to become fragmented and thus slowing down retrieval of memory components back into memory.

 

By increasing the amount of RAM to allow for components that normally would be stored in virtual memory you can eliminate the swap file decreasing file fragmentation, which helps stabilize the file system. And also reduce the wear and tear on the hard drive as you are reducing the number of times the hard drive is read and written to.

[kandcorp 0]

Totally agree w. you Thomas 512 is definitely ample...Crazy people with there 1.5 GB DDR500..what a waste.

[CCTVDude 0]

It speeds up overall performance because the system is not constantly swapping virtual memory to and from the hard disk. RAM is always much faster then a hard drive.

 

Also unless you create a static sized swap file you are increasing your fragmentation of files on your hard drive. Windows will dynamically enlarge and shrink the swap(virtual memory) file as needed causing the virtual memory to become fragmented and thus slowing down retrieval of memory components back into memory.

 

By increasing the amount of RAM to allow for components that normally would be stored in virtual memory you can eliminate the swap file decreasing file fragmentation, which helps stabilize the file system. And also reduce the wear and tear on the hard drive as you are reducing the number of times the hard drive is read and written to.

Good stuff!

 

I'm going to experiment with it a little. Do you get more memory errors or mem wear out quicker? Any negatives?

[Jasper 0]

No, your memory won’t wear out quicker.

You’ll just utilize it more, which is a good thing.

 

Having the extra memory to make up for the swap file being gone saves on wear and tear on the hard drive since it is mechanical where RAM isn’t.

 

You will also notice a considerable difference in system response also.

 

There is also a registry tweak to prevent some of the OS from swapping out to the hard drive.

 

I will try to find it and post it.

[Jasper 0]

Memory Management: Kernel Paging and Cache Tuning

 

The "DisablePagingExecutive" entry in the registry prevents the kernel (the core of the XP OS) from being rolled out to the page file. The effect of this part of the tweak is to cause the OS to cache the OS Kernel and its entourage to RAM instead of to disk, which makes XP far more responsive.

 

The "LargeSystemCache" registry entry forces XP to allocate all but 4MB of system memory, that is system memory, not avaliable RAM, to the file system cache. The remaining 4MB of system memory is used for disk caching, though XP will allocate more memory if it is needed.

 

A modern hard disk will transfer sequential data to and from disk at up to 40MB per second, or even faster on some drives, but the LargeSystemCache tweak means that effective transfer speeds of 1GB per second or more can be obtained, depending on the amount of RAM in your system and its operating speed. This is achieved because the LargeSystemCache modification causes the OS to store data read from disk in RAM. It means that the OS is always using the optimum amount of RAM instead of leaving it untouched for future use that may or may not occur. Without this part of the tweak, 200MB or more of RAM in a typical 512MB machine goes completely unused.

 

Some I/O intensive applications may take a hit in performance from changing the LargeSystemCache, so this particular component of the tweak should not be applied to a system that is running either SQL Server or Internet Information Server (IIS) because both of those applications perform their own caching.

 

Start regedit and navigate to the following key:

 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]

 

Add these two lines, save the changes and reboot;

 

"DisablePagingExecutive"=dword:00000001

 

"LargeSystemCache"=dword:00000001

[Thomas 0]

If the system is only using 400 mb of ram (active) and you have 512 mb total...you won't be hitting the swap file. Just turn it off and look at your usage. Most DVR apps aren't ram hungry, they are CPU thirsty.

[rory 0]

1Gb makes a diff over 512, i should know, i only got 512 ..

 

but if its just recording video, and not doing much else, then 512 is fine.

however if you are spending the money anyway, spend the extra couple $$ on the extra ram one time, its cheap, especially for you guys over there .. here is a different story.

[Thomas 0]

For some applications it makes a huge differance. I'm a gamer and when I'm playing World of Warcraft I notice the jump from 512 to 1 GB. But it's a ram hungry app.

[kandcorp 0]

Yea your right, i too am a gamer nerd and notice a difference especially on some of the most recent releases (battlefied 2, doom3, farcry 2). They are making these games to eat up all your cpu, ram and video resources. But thats the point. These game developers get together with the Video card manufacturers (Nvidia, ATI) and make up a card to run the game at full speed.

[Thomas 0]

It's nothing new. I remember Quake beating the crap out of my P100.

[rory 0]

who has time for games