Lag - Help needed

[OldBloke]

We would like to enlist the help of as many members as possible to try and track down the cause of the server lag.

This what you need to do:

• Download the 30 day trial version of PingPlotter.
  
• Install it and make sure you know how to produce a trace.
• At 8pm on Tuesday 10th Aug - point it at 193.110.88.20
• Set it to produce a trace every 5 seconds.
• Leave it running and join the MeatHook or CZ server if MH full.
• Make a note of the exact time and duration of any lag you experience.
• At 9pm - stop your trace and save it as a file.

We will post what we'd like done with the files after the test.

As this is very short notice we may repeat the exercise at a later date.

Cheers.

[Grimnar]

k will do.

We post the files in here?

[Benny]

Just to beak in.

What would solve it is if you had someone with a host right next to the server, same lan preferably (stryker/doggers) then you can prove app or network..

I'll bugger off now.

[OldBloke]

Originally posted by Benny@Aug 9 2004, 10:25 PM
... What would solve it is if you had someone with a host right next to the server, same lan preferably ...

Not a goer I'm afraid.

[Benny]

hmm....can you hit the server hard on another app? How bout connecting from Homer or Baldric, running constant pings from those, see if they drop.

I don't think a load of traces are gonna show anything other than random drops..

/cynic..

Sorry been to long in networking.

[OldBloke]

All input appreciated Benny.

I'm well passed the 'hair-pulling' stage with this problem.

What we have is a lag 'event' about every 5mins where most (not all) people on the server 'freeze' for 5 seconds or more. The server appears to be totally OK during the periods between outages.

We've run a single, mod-free server having turned off the forums and website and the lag was still evident. <_<

We've tried the server's 2nd nic. Still lag.

This all points, IMHO, to the network but at this stage I'd consider any plausable cause.

[Anonymous]

Can we get streaming video off the server to see if that get choppy?

Have we ever checked HLTV to see if that lags?

Is there anything in server logs? We're running Server2003 aren't we? What has been configured for monitoring through PERFMON? (it is sometimes quite a useful tool and I am of course assuming that it is still avail on 2003 and they didn't ditch it after server2000)

Just some thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Won't let me edit

Does everyone on the server lag or just some? If everyone is lagging then the prob must be inside or close to crosswired as network routes will be widely different outside (didn't they have at least two routes out?)

[OldBloke]

We're running W2K Server.

Not all people lag. Sadako, for example, doesn't lag.

[Anonymous]

Mmm, would be interesting to compare Sadakos traceroutes to other peoples to see how his packets come into crosswired. Does he have his own private T1 line in?

[Maus]

This info won't be worth much, but whenever I have big lag issues on the hook I run a tracert to see what's going on - nine times out of ten there's no problem, but occasionally I get massive problems en route to (and through) crosswired. I think though that they start the one before I get to crosswired.

[Dr Sadako]

Target Name: //www.deadmen.co.uk
         IP: 193.110.88.19
  Date/Time: 2004-08-10 08:41:48

 1    0 ms    0 ms    0 ms    0 ms  [192.168.2.100]
 2    4 ms    5 ms    5 ms    5 ms  [82.182.99.1]
 3    5 ms    5 ms    4 ms    4 ms  cr1-gig1-3.djakneg16.mlm.bostream.net [82.182.4.13]
 4   13 ms   13 ms   14 ms   14 ms  cr2-gig1-1.torgg4.sth.bostream.net [82.182.0.17]
 5   14 ms   13 ms   13 ms   14 ms  [193.158.5.53]
 6   40 ms   39 ms   40 ms   40 ms  ams-e4.AMS.NL.net.DTAG.DE [62.154.15.2]
 7   35 ms   35 ms   35 ms   35 ms  amsix1.teleglobe.net [195.69.145.168]
 8   66 ms   48 ms   48 ms   47 ms  if-5-0.core1.Amsterdam.teleglobe.net [80.231.80.5]
 9   48 ms   47 ms   47 ms   48 ms  if-6-0.core2.London2.teleglobe.net [80.231.80.2]
10   47 ms   48 ms   48 ms   48 ms  if-2-0.core2.London.Teleglobe.net [195.219.96.121]
11  154 ms   47 ms   47 ms   47 ms  if-1-0-0.bb2.London.Teleglobe.net [195.219.96.77]
12   48 ms   48 ms   48 ms   48 ms  [195.219.2.18]
13   56 ms   56 ms   56 ms   60 ms  cwgway1.crosswired.co.uk [80.71.4.10]
14   56 ms   57 ms   56 ms   59 ms  [193.110.88.19]

Ping statistics for //www.deadmen.co.uk
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0,0%)
Round Trip Times: Minimum = 56ms, Maximum = 59ms, Average = 57ms


-----------------------------------------------


Target Name: homer.deadmen.co.uk
         IP: 193.110.88.20
  Date/Time: 2004-08-10 08:53:12

 1    0 ms  [192.168.2.100]
 2    5 ms  [82.182.99.1]
 3   40 ms  cr1-gig1-3.djakneg16.mlm.bostream.net [82.182.4.13]
 4   13 ms  cr2-gig1-1.torgg4.sth.bostream.net [82.182.0.17]
 5   14 ms  [193.158.5.53]
 6   40 ms  ams-e4.AMS.NL.net.DTAG.DE [62.154.15.2]
 7   36 ms  amsix1.teleglobe.net [195.69.145.168]
 8   48 ms  if-5-0.core1.Amsterdam.teleglobe.net [80.231.80.5]
 9   47 ms  if-6-0.core2.London2.teleglobe.net [80.231.80.2]
10   48 ms  if-2-0.core2.London.Teleglobe.net [195.219.96.121]
11   48 ms  if-1-0-0.bb2.London.Teleglobe.net [195.219.96.77]
12   48 ms  [195.219.2.18]
13   57 ms  cwgway1.crosswired.co.uk [80.71.4.10]
14   56 ms  homer.deadmen.co.uk [193.110.88.20]

Ping statistics for homer.deadmen.co.uk
Packets: Sent = 1, Received = 1, Lost = 0 (0,0%)
Round Trip Times: Minimum = 56ms, Maximum = 56ms, Average = 56ms

[TeaLeaf]

Target Name: homer.deadmen.co.uk
         IP: 193.110.88.20
  Date/Time: 10/08/2004 07:42:02 to 10/08/2004 07:43:37

Hop Sent Err   PL% Min Max Avg  Host Name / [IP]
 1    20   0   0.0   0   1   0  [10.1.1.1]
 2    20   1   5.0  15  19  16  gauss-dsl.zen.net.uk [62.3.82.18]
 3    20   1   5.0  15  46  17  deleuze-ge-0-1-0-1.hq.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.161]
 4    20   0   0.0  15  22  16  lotze-ge-0-0-0-0.hq.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.57]
 5    20   2  10.0  16  54  18  bolzano-ge-0-0-3-0.wh.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.53]
 6    20   1   5.0  16  32  17  erazmus-ge-0-0-1-0.wh.zen.net.uk [62.3.83.129]
 7    20   2  10.0  16  79  20  [212.121.34.12]
 8    18  18 100.0   0   0   0   [-]
 9    20   2  10.0  16 114  23  homer.deadmen.co.uk [193.110.88.20]

[TeaLeaf]

Target Name: N/A
         IP: 193.110.88.19
  Date/Time: 10/08/2004 07:53:18

 1    0 ms    0 ms    0 ms    0 ms    0 ms    0 ms  [10.1.1.1]
 2   16 ms   *       *       16 ms   16 ms   16 ms  gauss-dsl.zen.net.uk [62.3.82.18]
 3   15 ms   *       *       18 ms   15 ms   17 ms  deleuze-ge-0-1-0-1.hq.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.161]
 4   16 ms   17 ms   17 ms   28 ms   16 ms   15 ms  lotze-ge-0-0-0-0.hq.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.57]
 5   *       *       16 ms   17 ms   17 ms   17 ms  bolzano-ge-0-0-3-0.wh.zen.net.uk [62.3.80.53]
 6   17 ms   *       17 ms   16 ms   17 ms   16 ms  erazmus-ge-0-0-1-0.wh.zen.net.uk [62.3.83.129]
 7   17 ms   *       16 ms   17 ms   17 ms   17 ms  [212.121.34.12]
 8   *       *       *       *      N/A     N/A      [-]
 9   18 ms   *       19 ms   17 ms   17 ms   17 ms  [193.110.88.19]

Ping statistics for 193.110.88.19
Packets: Sent = 6, Received = 5, Lost = 1 (16.7%)
Round Trip Times: Minimum = 17ms, Maximum = 19ms, Average = 17ms

[TeaLeaf]

Sorry bout the tracert posts peeps, Sadako and i were comparing routes into and otu of .19 and .20 this morning.

....which brings us back to the request for PingPlotter use.

Running a tracert after the lag spike usually doesn't show show a problem.  The trace needs to be running during the problem as it is both temporary and intermittent in nature.

We need to establish where and how people connect to the server to build a map of the routes into the server.
If we compare pingplotter log files then we should be able to reasonably quickly identify if there is any common pattern amongst the lag spikes and the routing.

Start your Pingplotter log to 193.110.88.20 as soon as you get home.  
Leave it running and join the gaming no later than 8.00pm.
At 9.00pm please use File, Save Sample Set and save the log file to your hard drive.

I will turn on the upload facility for this topic at 9pm tonight so that members can upload their pingplotter logs directly into this forum topic AFTER 9pm tonight.

PLEASE post them ASAP after 9pm so that we can get on with it.

Many thanks.

TL.