Major issue when comparing Cloud vs subscription file opening time

[tlabi]

Flexi subscription is extremely slow opening complex files compared to FlexiSign Cloud 12. I am currently making a video showing the difference. I have a 60MB file, I'm copying it locally to the desktop (which is not our normal workflow, but for testing it seemed simpler), then opening it. It includes complex vector artwork as well as a few linked images, but none of them are very big.

We have 4 subscriptions and 6 Cloud licenses (a small fortune in software I might add).

The first workstation is a custom-built PC with Windows 10 Pro, i5-9400F, 16GB RAM, Asus ROG STRIX Z370-F, gigabit ethernet, GTX 1060/3GB, M.2 SSD 1TB hard drive running Flexi Design subscription (Design 19 sp2p1 build number 3078).

The second workstation is an HP machine with Windows 10 Pro, i7-3770, 8GB RAM, gigabit ethernet, Radeon 7570, Hitashi SATA III 2.0GB hard drive running Flexi Expert Cloud version 11 (Expert Cloud version 11 sp6 build 2145 p1.2).

You would think the latest machine (workstation one) with the latest Flexi version would run faster or at least open files as fast, but it's the other way around. And we have seen this on all our workstations when comparing our cloud licenses to the subscriptions. Whenever a file is opened, whether it is locally stored or on a network share, it takes a lot longer to open on the subscription license if images are included (embedded or linked makes no difference) or if the file is complex.

The test file took 26 minutes to open on the first workstation (yes, 26!). Whether the file is stored locally or on the network makes a very slight difference of less than 15 seconds.

The same test file took 5 minutes to open on the second workstation.

In trying to figure out what was going on, I had the Task manager open at the performance tab. While opening the file in question, data is constantly being sent throughout the opening process on the first workstation. This is not the case in the Cloud version on the second workstation. Since processor and memory levels do not change when opening the file in question, I am guessing this is what is slowing down the whole thing. The fact that the file is also stored locally in this scenario also seems to point towards that conclusion.

This is not the first time I mention the issue, and I was told the last few times that I should copy the files locally and it would fix my issue. But as you can see, it is not the case. I proposed sending the file to SAI for them to try it with each version to make their own benchmarks.

See the video below and notice the data being sent on the network on the first workstation (I had nothing else network-related going on and in the 2nd part I was streaming another desktop through TeamViewer).

80Mbits/s = 10 MB/s
10MB/s * 60 s/min * 25 min = 15 000 MB or 14.65 GB
No wonder it's slow, what is going on???

 

[ikarasu]

Your video is set to private so no one can watch it. 26 minutes seems way too long... But then again so does 5.

Have you tried installing the cloud version on one of your other desktops that are running a perpetual license and seeing what the difference is on the same machine?

 

[tlabi]

My mistake for the video, it is now public, anyone should be able to watch it.

Yes I have tried your suggestion. I have a colleague who just so happens to have been switched from Cloud to subscription and she was quite unhappy. The reason for the switch was that she required an extra USB port and I figured we might as well give her the latest version, kill two birds with one stone. Turns out I only killed one bird and mutilated the other, lol!

 

[ScottM]

Does it happen on all files?

If it does then it would seem to indicate an issue with the software.

If not, then there could be something in the file that is causing the issue.
To troubleshoot, if the latter is the case. I would start removing things from a copy of the problem file, and see if you can narrow down the culprit. Or you could do the opposite tack and starting with a blank file that works fine, start pasting in pieces till it starts having the loading issue.

 

[Solventinkjet]

One thing I noticed was the network is going crazy on workstation one but the disk is doing almost nothing whereas the network on workstation 2 is basically doing nothing while the disk is running about 100% the whole time. This leads me to believe either the default file folder is set to a network location and/or the temporary file folder is also on a network location rather than local. Check your preferences and go to the file paths tab and make sure your temporary and default file folder is a local folder on the computer.

Basically, while your disk is capable of reading and writing at GB speeds, Flexi seems to be processing the file over the network which is maxing out at 100megabits. That also seems to be an issue. If you have a gigabit adapter and it's only maxing out at 100 megabits, some hardware on your network is not setup or is incapable of reaching gigabit speeds. I may be way off but these were my thoughts from the video.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I'm seeing Hyper V for 1 and traditional hardware ethernet for another.

Are you running one of these in a VM? Or atleast that connection is virtual? That in of itself could be a bottleneck. Something to look at anyway.

 

[tlabi]

Does it happen on all files?

If it does then it would seem to indicate an issue with the software.

If not, then there could be something in the file that is causing the issue.
To troubleshoot, if the latter is the case. I would start removing things from a copy of the problem file, and see if you can narrow down the culprit. Or you could do the opposite tack and starting with a blank file that works fine, start pasting in pieces till it starts having the loading issue.

It's with all the files. But most of them are under 1MB so you don't see it much, but the loading time is always longer, always.

 

[tlabi]

One thing I noticed was the network is going crazy on workstation one but the disk is doing almost nothing whereas the network on workstation 2 is basically doing nothing while the disk is running about 100% the whole time. This leads me to believe either the default file folder is set to a network location and/or the temporary file folder is also on a network location rather than local. Check your preferences and go to the file paths tab and make sure your temporary and default file folder is a local folder on the computer.

Basically, while your disk is capable of reading and writing at GB speeds, Flexi seems to be processing the file over the network which is maxing out at 100megabits. That also seems to be an issue. If you have a gigabit adapter and it's only maxing out at 100 megabits, some hardware on your network is not setup or is incapable of reaching gigabit speeds. I may be way off but these were my thoughts from the video.

On both systems the file was transfered directly onto the desktop ("Bureau" in the French OS), meaning this is a fully local file. Also, the network is going crazy as you said but in the "Sending", not "Receiving", which makes no sense.

The first system has a super quick SSD (1170 MB/s random read) which is why you see almost no activity in the performance tab. The 2nd workstation is operating on a standard HDD, obviously it takes a bit of the ressources there. But again, the 2nd one is the one opening the file in 5 minutes.

Everything being local, except for the linked images (which are relatively small), the networking hardware should not be an issue. Again, it's not maxing out at the receiving end, but it's constantly sending. This means a computer on a slow WIFI would take way longer, but only with the subscription version, not the permanent license. Why are the systems with the subscription version sending out data and the ones with the permanent license aren't, and for the same file?

 

[tlabi]

I'm seeing Hyper V for 1 and traditional hardware ethernet for another.

Are you running one of these in a VM? Or atleast that connection is virtual? That in of itself could be a bottleneck. Something to look at anyway.

I admit it does look odd at first sight. I have Hyper-V installed and sometimes use it to run virtual PCs for development purposes, but it wasn't running any at the time, so nothing would explain the slowdown there.

 

[ScottM]

Could it be that there is a "captured issue" the software has detected and its phoning home with the error data?
Can you see where its sending the traffic?

I would still start with a new blank file and start pasting stuff in.
I keep thinking a save file version issue could be rearing its head.
You could try saving it to a new filename when it gets loaded, and then try reloading again to see if its the same delay.

 

[Solventinkjet]

On both systems the file was transfered directly onto the desktop ("Bureau" in the French OS), meaning this is a fully local file. Also, the network is going crazy as you said but in the "Sending", not "Receiving", which makes no sense.

The first system has a super quick SSD (1170 MB/s random read) which is why you see almost no activity in the performance tab. The 2nd workstation is operating on a standard HDD, obviously it takes a bit of the ressources there. But again, the 2nd one is the one opening the file in 5 minutes.

Everything being local, except for the linked images (which are relatively small), the networking hardware should not be an issue. Again, it's not maxing out at the receiving end, but it's constantly sending. This means a computer on a slow WIFI would take way longer, but only with the subscription version, not the permanent license. Why are the systems with the subscription version sending out data and the ones with the permanent license aren't, and for the same file?

Even if the file starts local, if your temporary file folder for Flexi is in a network location, it would have to read and write via the network to that folder which it seems to be doing. Judging by your video, workstation 1 isn't doing much locally at all whereas station 2 is doing all work on the local disk. I'm thinking each version might handle the default temporary folder differently for whatever reason. Maybe since it's the subscription version it's setting a global temporary file folder? I'm not sure. Just spit balling. I would check the temporary file folder setting just to rule it out.

 

[tlabi]

I'm going to perform this same test on all our workstations and report back...

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I admit it does look odd at first sight. I have Hyper-V installed and sometimes use it to run virtual PCs for development purposes, but it wasn't running any at the time, so nothing would explain the slowdown there.

Your still using Hyper V for that network connection on workstation 1 though. That is still a virtual ethernet adapter. Typically used for connecting within VMs. I would make sure that it's turned off, because I think it can/will still run even if you aren't running a VM at the time.

If nothing else, turn it off to rule it out.

I typically run Shared folders when doing Electron or Python work for getting in and out of the VMs, but that does depend on what you are using that ethernet connection for.

 

[tlabi]

Could it be that there is a "captured issue" the software has detected and its phoning home with the error data?
Can you see where its sending the traffic?

I would still start with a new blank file and start pasting stuff in.
I keep thinking a save file version issue could be rearing its head.
You could try saving it to a new filename when it gets loaded, and then try reloading again to see if its the same delay.

I hadn't thought of that, I will try it to see if it changes anything. I'll post my results after.

 

[tlabi]

Your still using Hyper V for that network connection on workstation 1 though. That is still a virtual ethernet adapter. Typically used for connecting within VMs. I would make sure that it's turned off, because I think it can/will still run even if you aren't running a VM at the time.

If nothing else, turn it off to rule it out.

I typically run Shared folders when doing Electron or Python work for getting in and out of the VMs, but that does depend on what you are using that ethernet connection for.

I will try that, thanks. I will post the results once done.

 

[Ldireprophil]

There is no worse agony than when your brain is working faster than your software program. Seriously though, I bought the license upgrade to Flexi 19 from Flexi 12, (eternal license, not subscription cloud based), and if the cloud based version 19 loads/processes files faster than the hard drive installed version then that stinks for those of use not on the cloud version.

 

[ScottM]

I will try that, thanks. I will post the results once done.

Interested to hear if you resolved or found the issue?