We have a small network consisting of a server and 4 workstations. When using Iris on he workstations the time taken for it to operate is inordinately long. Other programs such as Tas, excel etc are quick by comparison. The server is quite a powerful machine so I don't think the problem lies there. Hass anyone else had this problem?
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Network Switch
Are you using a 1gigabit network switch? We found that marginally improved the speed - but I still find it is slower than other programs.
Since last update
I have found the operating speed for Iris has slowed considerably since the last update, Business Tax being the worst of all the modules,
I am not sure if it is the Iris update or more recent windows updates that have kicked off the problem. Like another post I generally find that shutting the server down overnight and rebooting tends to improve things marginally, but the Iris operating speed is much slower than other programs.
Recently noticed Business Tax being a bit slower but only slightly. Ours is networked with three workstations accessing it. Unsure of switch speed but it has never been excessively slow.
Varies daily
We have some 20 workstations and 1 huge server (no idea about the specifications!). Some days Iris works at a perfectly acceptable speed (with the exception of jobs in Accounts Production where the number of postings becomes very high, in which case each new posting can take a few seconds to be processed and the next posting can be made). Other days it just seems to be randomly slow across all workstations and all modules (Accs Prod/Bus Tax/Pers Tax/Practice Mngmnt) and regardless of the number of entries.
Posting Screen
Hi,
I am one of IRIS' trainers. I read your post and have an idea to speed up your posting routine. It sounds like you are using the 'traditional' posting method where you post each item individually. If you open a posting screen and then look for the 'Display' button (at the far left of the row of buttons which run along the top of the posting screen). On the list which appears select 'spreadsheet view'. Then when the screen adjusts, click back on the display button and select 'spreadsheet column setup'. You will need to change the default of 'max postings allowed' from 13 or 15 to say 200.
Once this is done the user will then be able to create 200 'pending postings' on the spreadsheet view before posting them to the ledger. Most users find it much quicker and there are a couple of other benefits too such as having a DR & CR columns instead of having to use a + or - for each posting. Another advantage is that in their pending status postings can be amended without affecting the Audit trail.
The posting screen would need to be changed by each user as it is not a 'global' change.
I hope this helps.
Ken
Posting Screen
We have some 20 workstations and 1 huge server (no idea about the specifications!). Some days Iris works at a perfectly acceptable speed (with the exception of jobs in Accounts Production where the number of postings becomes very high, in which case each new posting can take a few seconds to be processed and the next posting can be made). Other days it just seems to be randomly slow across all workstations and all modules (Accs Prod/Bus Tax/Pers Tax/Practice Mngmnt) and regardless of the number of entries.
Hi,
I am one of IRIS' trainers. I read your post and have an idea to speed up your posting routine. It sounds like you are using the 'traditional' posting method where you post each item individually. If you open a posting screen and then look for the 'Display' button (at the far left of the row of buttons which run along the top of the posting screen). On the list which appears select 'spreadsheet view'. Then when the screen adjusts, click back on the display button and select 'spreadsheet column setup'. You will need to change the default of 'max postings allowed' from 13 or 15 to say 200.
Once this is done the user will then be able to create 200 'pending postings' on the spreadsheet view before posting them to the ledger. Most users find it much quicker and there are a couple of other benefits too such as having a DR & CR columns instead of having to use a + or - for each posting. Another advantage is that in their pending status postings can be amended without affecting the Audit trail.
The posting screen would need to be changed by each user as it is not a 'global' change.
I hope this helps.
Ken
Apparently random
Like mwngiol, we find that generally everything works reasonably quickly, but we get the odd day when one or two workstations might be running very slowly. Shut them down overnight and the next day, they will be running fine. We find that if one module is running slowly, they all are on that workstation.
CT in Business Tax is always a bit of a pain as it seems to recalculate everything every time you produce a report.
We have a server with 6 workstations, but only two users at any one time on most of the modules. Gigabit LAN.
SQL
Our IT guy told me that the problem lay with SQL not properly clearing the cache. This resulted in the server using more and more memory to process transactions, and slowed the machine down. He did something which improved this, but today looking at Task Manager on the SBS 2007 Server I can see it is time for a reboot as it is all crawling.
Computing speed
I have sometimes seens problems with anti-virus software which, because it is scanning files as they are opened in real time, has seriously slowed down operations. Since AV software can also be set to run periodic scans you could (and speak with your IT specialist first) switch-off real time scanning for some folder areas on your server to maximise performance.
Extra RAM on the server can help Microsoft SQL database server run at its maximum speed.
Restarting individual PCs each day is worthwhile to also maximise speed.
And maybe IRIS can also advise if they are aware of any programming changes they have made which has introduced extra network activity. Sometimes programmers get it wrong!
Small Business Server
Are you running Small Business Server?
We updated our server last Summer and upgraded from SBS 2003 to 2007 at the same time and speed has been slow since and I think it is down to the amount of memory that SBS needs and when you add this to SQL then you need a lot more server than you used to even for a relatively small environment.
We are upping our server spec at the moment and at the same time now going to SBS 2011 which recommends minimum of 8GB compared to 6GB with SBS 2007 and less than 1GB with SBS 2003!
Good luck!
AV software
Examine one specific area:- unplug your network's internet connection; disable your anti-virus software; run IRIS to see if it is consistently faster; re-enable your AV software and re-connect to the internet. My hardware supplier recommends the Microsoft Security Essentials which I can confirm does not slow down IRIS as much as Norton.