I/Port Tuning Guide Just as C/Ports require tuning to provide the best user experience, I/Ports also need to be tuned to match user requirements and network bandwidth. This document is designed to provide you with the information necessary to extract the highest performance from ClearCube I/Ports. A user s experience on an I/Port can be tuned using the following: PC Blade settings, local I/Port settings and RDP settings. This document provides tuning recommendations for each of these three areas. It is very important to keep in mind that fixed factors such as network bandwidth and distance to the Blades (i.e., WAN vs. LAN) and uncontrollable factors such as network utilization can also have a dramatic impact on I/Port performance. PC Blade Settings (These changes are all performed on the PC Blade OS) The following settings improve the performance of all remote devices connecting to the PC Blade. Turn off visual effects for Windows menus, icons and fonts Right click on an empty part of the desktop and select Properties Go to the Appearance tab and then click on the Effects button to get the below screen: Make sure that all of the effects are unchecked and then click on OK to save the settings Use a solid-color desktop background with no wallpaper Right click on an empty part of the desktop and select Properties Go to the Desktop tab and then select NONE for background as shown on the right Click OK to save the settings
Adjust video resolution and color depth Right click on an empty part of the desktop and select Properties Go to the Settings tab Set the lowest acceptable Screen resolution and Color quality I/Port Local Settings (These changes are all performed on the I/Port OS) The following settings will improve the performance of all the applications running on the I/Port. I/Ports running XPe Adjust video resolution and color depth Right click on the I/Port XPe desktop and follow the instructions for adjusting video resolution and color depth in the PC Blade Settings section above. Turn off visual effects for Windows menus, icons, and fonts Right click on the I/Port XPe desktop and follow the instructions for adjusting the visual effects in the PC Blade Settings section above.
I/Ports running NeoLinux Adjust video resolution and color depth On the ezconnect menu, click on Settings Appliance properties Desktop, as shown below: Select the lowest acceptable Resolution and Color Palette settings that will meet the requirements of the user s applications. For most applications, 1024x768 resolution with high color (16-bit color) as shown below is sufficient.
RDP Settings (These changes are all performed on the I/Port RDP Connection configuration file) Note: If Grid Center is used to connect I/Ports to the PC Blades, then skip this section and proceed to the I/Port Grid Center Settings section. I/Ports running XPe The following settings must be performed in the I/Port s Remote Desktop Connection dialog box. After making the changes you should save the settings to a RDP configuration file, as explained in the last step of this section. To access the Remote Desktop Connection properties: Click on Start All Programs Accessories Communications Remote Desktop Connection. Adjust video resolution and color depth Click on the Display tab Select the lowest acceptable Remote desktop size and Color based on the user s application requirements
Disable Local Resources Click on the Local Resources tab If the user applications don t require sound, select Leave at remote computer in the Remote computer sound drop down If the user applications don t require local devices such as mass storage devices and printers, make sure that all of the checkboxes in the Local devices section are unchecked Adjust RDP Connection Experience 1. Click on the Experience tab 2. Set the Performance dropdown box value to Modem (28.8 Kbps) ; this will select the optimum settings (including bitmap caching). If sufficient network bandwidth exists, this setting can be adjusted higher to provide a richer user experience 3. The experience checkboxes under the dropdown can be checked to provide a richer user experience, but keep in mind this can slow performance for user s not connected to a 100 Mb/s LAN. Note: Bitmap caching should be enabled (checked) on all XPe based I/Ports
The modified RDP connection settings can now be saved to a file and used to quickly launch a well-tuned connection to the PC Blade. Saving RDP Connection Settings Click on the General tab Click on the Save As button at the bottom Enter a file name for the connection settings and select a location (preferably the Desktop) to save the file The user s RDP connection settings can now be easily adjusted by simply opening this file. I/Ports running NeoLinux Adjust video resolution and color depth In the ezconnect window, select the RDP Connection to optimize and click on the Edit button.
Next click on the Window tab, as shown below, and select the lowest acceptable Windows Size and Color Quality based on the user s application requirements. Uncheck Use off-screen backup window which disables bitmap caching
Adjust connection speed and local resources Click on the Options tab Set the Connection Speed to Modem. For a richer user experience, this setting can be set to a higher level ( Broadband or LAN ) provided that sufficient network bandwidth is available. If the user doesn t require the use of local USB peripherals such as mass storage devices and printers, make sure the Enable Drive Mapping box is unchecked. Click OK to close and save the settings
Grid Center Client Settings The Grid Center performance settings are available directly on the Grid Center client logon window, as shown below. Select the lowest acceptable Resolution and Color Depth based on the user s applications On XPe based I/Ports, the Bitmap Cache checkbox should be checked On NeoLinux based I/Ports, the Bitmap Cache checkbox should be unchecked Click on the Connect button to establish the connection with the PC Blade Advanced Configuration Options Since Grid Center uses RDP to establish the connection between the I/Port and Blade, the RDP settings discussed in the previous section are all passed along to the Blade whenever a user logs in using Grid Center. These RDP settings in the Grid Center client are pre-configured to provide the best user experience for most users, however the default RDP setting can be modified by editing Grid Center client configuration files on the I/Port. Advanced Grid Center Client Configuration for Linux Grid Center Client uses the rdesktop program to establish RDP connections with the PC Blade. The rdesktop options of the Grid Center Client are stored in /usr/local/iport- CLIENT/writable/IPORT-CLIENT/rdesktopoptions.config file. You can use the command-line options described in the rdesktop man pages to custom configure your installation. Advanced Grid Center Client Configuration for Windows XPe The configuration options for Grid Center Client under Windows XPe are located in ClearCube Management Suite\Grid Center\IPORT_CLIENT\clientmgr.config. The options in this file allow you to configure the visibility and default values of Resolution, Color Depth and Bitmap Cache in the Grid Center Client login.