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Slow Network Performance on Windows Server 2008 R2 or 2012 VPS RDP

02 March 2013 Shawn-Hyde Quick Tips (0)

Many things can cause these issue, here are a few things you can do to improve performance on your Windows Server 2012 VPS on Hyper-V.

  1. Make sure both your switch and NIC are set to the same speed, Auto can cause lots of issues.
    • Verify your router service speed. If you do not manage the router check with the person or company that manages it. Otherwise if you have a cisco router you can follow this basic commands. 
      > password
> enable
> password
> show interface [InterfaceName#/#] capabilities (example: FastEthernet#/#)
> exit
    • Verify what speed your switch is running, if the switch is not yours ask your service provider. Assuming you have a cisco switch login to the switch via terminal or  telnet session, if the value for the switch is different than the router then you will need to use admin credentials. Then you will need to edit config mode for the correct interface. Here are some basic instructions. (If you screw up your network because you don't know what you are doing I am not liable! you have been warned) 
      > password
> Enable
> password
> Show interface (interfacename example: FastEthernet#/#) capabilities
> Config Interface (interfacename example: FastEthernet#/#)
> Speed 100 (this number should match your router service speed)
> duplex full (this should match your router duplex)
    • To do this on your server simply open network and sharing center, select "change adapter settings", click advanced tab. Now scroll down until you find something like "Speed Duplex" and set this to the same as your switch. (ie 100Mbps Full Duplex, or if you have a Gigabit switch 1 Gbps Full Duplex".
  2. Jumbo Packet / Jumbo Frames should be disabled in most cases for best performance.
  3. Receive Buffers can be increased in increments of 64 if you have sufficient system memory to support the increase. Maximum is generally 2048 or 8MB for VPS.
  4. Transmit Buffers can be increased to provide improved performance. Maximum is generally 16384 or 8MB for VPS.
  5. Preferred NUMA node can be adjusted to a specified node other than System Default if the default node is under heavy load to improve system network performance.
  6. Max Number of RSS Processors (this setting can have an impact on CPU performance if you have a large number if cores, in some cases it may be best to specify a lower number of cores. If you notice that core #1 is at 100% utilization you can try increasing this number.)
    • In some cases you may also have to increase the Maximum Number of RSS Queues if your CPU #1 is at 100% to see if it has a positive impact.
  7. Offload (Offloading lowers CPU load and in most cases has little network performance benefit when disabled so you should leave them enabled)
    • IPsec Offload can lower CPU usage.
    • IPv4 Checksum Offload
  8. Decreasing Interrupt Moderation Rate will increase CPU utilization. (if you have CPU to spare you can decrease this to the lowest value or disable and adjust from that point)
  9. Enable or disable flow control can make a slight difference in performance depending on your adapter(s).

Using a SSL Certificate for RDP

30 December 2012 Shawn-Hyde How To Guides, Quick Tips, Security (0)

Create and install a certificate using IIS or import a pfx file, the cert can be SHA256 or whatever you want.

Open your Cert Manager,

  • Run/open "MMC"
  • File, Add/Remove Snap-in, Certificates, OK
  • Expand the folder with your cert (generally Personal, Certificates)
  • Right Click the Certificate, Open
  • Details tab, near the bottom choose thumbprint and select the HASH VALUE
  • remove the spaces from the HASHVALUE
  • open a Command Prompt with elevated privileges
  • run the following command using your SSL cert's thumbprint hash value in place of "HASHVALUE" remove the quotes.
    • wmic /namespace:\\root\cimv2\TerminalServices PATH Win32_TSGeneralSetting Set SSLCertificateSHA1Hash="HASHVALUE"
  • It should say "Updating property(s) of ...
  • then it should say .. update successful

That's it, you're done.

Extract Internet Headers from Outlook 2010+

14 December 2012 Shawn-Hyde How To Guides, Quick Tips (0)

Simple instructions for obtaining the internet headers using outlook 2010 and above.

  1. Double click the email in question, it should open in a new outlook window.
  2. Choose "File" 
  3. Choose "Properties"
  4. Select all of the content in the section at the bottom of the popup window labeled "Internet Headers".
  5. Copy and paste that into a text window to see the full header.