Some settings have a trade-off between speed and safety. For example, you can enable packet bursting in the Novell Client to increase performance, but doing so with some NICs can cause them to become unstable and/or to drop packets. Increasing the File Caching setting will cause the workstation to cache more data in memory, but you then risk losing data and corrupting files if your workstation crashes. Likewise, increasing the File Commit settings can cause the workstation to transmit data across the network less often, increasing performance but causing it to wait too long to write out data. This can increase the likelihood that you lose data in the case of a workstation failure. Conversely, shortening the setting may cause the NIC to write data to the server too often, flooding the network with needless packets. The best course of action is to experiment with the settings in a lab environment. You can take general guidance from Novell's Support Web site, Usenet, and other Internet resources, but don't be surprised if you see conflicting recommendations. When you find what works best for your system, you can try rolling it out to other workstations, but be aware that even then the actual results may vary. Another way you can tune the Novell Client is by only using the features that you need. When you install the Novell Client, you should always do a Custom Installation. That way, you can control which components and protocols Setup will configure for the client. On the Select Components screen, make sure you select only NetWare features that you plan to use. For example, if you're not using ZENWorks, there's no reason to install the ZENWorks Application Launcher or ZENWorks Imaging Service. Doing so will only cause the Novell Client to load additional services when it starts, taking away valuable workstation memory. Likewise, when the Protocol Options screen appears, select only the protocols you plan to use. Don't install support for both IPX and IP if you plan to actually only use one protocol. Doing so can cause the problems and conflicts I mentioned in the first section. While paying attention to the Novell Client's settings, don't neglect your server's memory. Remember that the Novell Client takes memory away from the workstation's other tasks. A workstation that has an installed amount of RAM that is right at the borderline of being able to run an OS or OS/application combination will suffer tremendously when you add a memory-intensive application like the Novell Client. Check the RAM requirements of both your OS and your applications to make sure you have more RAM in your workstation than the minimum requirements. Prioritize protocols
NetWare can use either IPX or TCP/IP as a protocol for network packets. Windows 2000 Professional can support IPX, TCP/IP, and NetBEUI for network communication. Depending on how you configured your server and workstations, the workstation may be running more than one protocol. This isn't a good idea because it causes the workstation to have to broadcast a packet for each protocol it's running. This creates extra work for the workstation and extra traffic on your network. If possible, you should consolidate protocols on your network, eliminating the ones you don't need. The general trend is to eliminate legacy protocols, such as NetBEUI and IPX, and go with an all-TCP/IP network. If you're running NetWare 4.11 or later on your server, this isn't a problem because these versions of NetWare can run TCP/IP as their native protocol. Additionally, the Novell Client can use either TCP/IP or IPX as its primary protocol. Check the Local Area Connections Properties screen mentioned above and identify the protocols running on your workstation. If you're running NetBEUI, you can kill it immediately without any negative impact on your network. Just select it and click Uninstall. If you're running both TCP/IP and IPX, you'll have to decide which to keep. Unless you have applications that require IPX or IPX's companion protocol SPX, you can eliminate IPX safely. Check the documentation for any applications you have on your network to make sure they don't require IPX. If they don't, remove IPX from the NetWare server using INETCFG at the server. You can then remove IPX from the workstation by highlighting it in the Local Area Connection Properties page and clicking Uninstall. You should also check the Properties for the Novell Client and make sure IPX is removed there. To do so, select Novell Client and open its Properties window. From there, click the Protocol Preferences tab. Check the selection in the Preferred Network Protocol drop-down list. By default, the Novell Client leaves this set to None. With a setting of None, the Novell Client uses a protocol on a first-come, first-served basis. As such, performance suffers because the client may not be using the best protocol. Select IP from the Preferred Network Protocol drop-down list. At the same time you do this, you'll notice the Protocol Component Settings box become available with a list of services. This list contains the services that the protocol will use for name resolution. Don't select more services than necessary. If you're primarily using TCP/IP, you should only need NDS, Host File, DNS, and SLP. If IPX is still listed, you can select it and then deselect any highlighted components in the Protocol Component Settings box.