Can we copy 3 particular registry keys from Workstation to Server, in order to avoid many modifications?

Alexandre Courvoisier 1 Reputation point
2021-05-07T13:24:28.417+00:00

Madam, Mister,

In the Registry editor:
Ordinateur\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\

in the sub-repository Workstation\Parameters, someone recommended to my Chief to change three values to 0 (in this order) :

  1. DirectoryCacheLifetime;
  2. FileNotFoundCacheLifetime;
  3. FileInfoCacheLifetime;

(so: all the variables CacheLifetime), in order to "increase the number" of meta-data requests.
94660-largeaeranetworkmanagementworkstation.png
-My Chief would like to know if it is possible to move these 3 parameters under Server\Parameters to avoid modifications on all the workstations, please?
94851-largeaeranetworkmanagementserver.png
Thank you in advance for your answers.

Windows for business | Windows Client for IT Pros | Networking | Network connectivity and file sharing
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3 answers

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  1. MotoX80 36,401 Reputation points
    2021-05-07T14:06:42.317+00:00

    Every Windows machine has a Server service and a Workstation service.

    94707-capture.jpg

    94794-capture1.jpg

    The registry keys that configure these services are:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters

    -My Chief would like to know if it is possible to move these 3 parameters under Server\Parameters to avoid modifications on all the workstations, please?

    Those registry entries only apply to whatever machine that you logged on to.

    The "on all the workstation" sounds like what you are really looking for is Active Directory group policy where you can define registry entries on all workstations in your domain.

    someone recommended to my Chief to change three value

    Why did they make this recommendation? What is the root problem that you are trying to address?

    1 person found this answer helpful.

  2. S.Sengupta 24,636 Reputation points MVP
    2021-05-07T13:45:15.773+00:00

    You can always back up and restore the Registry.

    Ref:

    Windows registry information for advanced users


  3. MotoX80 36,401 Reputation points
    2021-05-07T23:08:01.227+00:00

    In the practise, for him, it consists in loadings which are made in a reasonable time, then slowly, then back reasonably and so on, in a random manner.

    So it sounds like the root problem is that your Chief is experiencing a random network slowdown when accessing a share on some server. Sometimes it performs well, other times it does not. Is that correct?

    By setting those 3 registry entries to 0, I would expect his performance to get worse. Especially if the PC is on a slow network link. By disabling the cache, you will be forcing the PC to make more calls over the network to the server that is hosting the share.

    When a slowdown occurs, you have no way of knowing if a backup is running on the file server and overloading the disk. Or if another user is downloading a large file and the network link has reached 100% capacity. Or if the anti-virus product on the PC has initiated a scan that is overloading the PC's cpu/memory/disk.

    You really need to get your server, network, and desktop support teams involved to troubleshoot the problem. You should not be making registry changes without a full understanding of the impact of those changes.

    https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/performance-tuning/role/file-server/

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