Microsoft has done some strange things and even though I have many years in this business I continue to uncover oddities on a regular basis.
The most recent was an issue with a client SBS 2011 server that was running horribly slow.
This server has been an issue for the client for years. A particular application that uses SQL seems to cause the most issues prompting a reboot of the server every week. The server runs anywhere from a day to a few days before bogging down so badly it needs to be rebooted again.
As usual I started looking through the performance monitor, checking for disk thrashing, high CPU usage, and memory pigs. This server is running MS Exchange and MS SQL, both of which are performance hogs, but I’ve already curtailed their resource access to prevent the server from completely tanking.
Anyway, I started digging into the networking and discovered something odd. The server has two Network Adapters (which is normal) and one of those network adapters is disabled (also normal).
What wasn’t normal was what I found in the Advanced –> Advanced Settings
Local Area Connection 2 was being given order preference despite the fact that the NIC was currently disabled.
In the Provider Order the Microsoft Remote Desktop Session Host Service was also being given higher preference.
What?? That’s BACKWARDS! In my office, that’s a pseudonym for “Microsoft”.
Trust me – changing the order of preference to Microsoft Windows Network and setting the active/dominant NIC to the top of the order makes a huge difference in the performance of the server.
