Nexus upgrade?

malvarez

New member
This goes along with the Nexus stability problem, We're running Nexus 8.3 rev 4 on a Windows 2003 server that is maxed out with ram (4gig), and have the same problems ie; we have to reboot several times a day. I've tried diaster recovery but it only helps for a short period and then the problem starts again. I've been told by Nexus that I should try upgrading the software to start with so my question is this: What is the most stable upgrade to this point?
 
Re: Nexus upgrade?

Well we have been using Nexus 8.5 r3 with hardly any problems. I only have had to reboot 2 times in 2 months. We are running on a dual quad core with 12 gigs of ram and 4 -120gb 10k hard drives Windows Server 2003 enterprise edition. What version of Nexus are you running. Why exactly do you have to reboot? the last time we had those kinds of problems it was because our hardware was getting old and we were trying to push it too much. We had 3 assembler modules running and it would crash our system hard. I would look at the task manager and see what is going on during a crash. Maybe you need more RAM or a better CPU.
 
Re: Nexus upgrade?

We're running Nexus 8.3 rev 4 on an Intel box with a 3.4GHz xeon processor, that's running Window's server 3003 Standard edition. It's maxed out at 4GB ram (I'm told that's all it can take). I would like to get a better box and if it keeps doing the same kind of stuff I will have a better argument for spending the money, but I was told to try upgrading first. We through a lot of work at it and when it's trying to rip too much at once it can get really slow. Several times a day I'll get messages like "activity not responding" or I'll get no message at all but all processing just stops. Some times I can quit a module and get it to relaunch and start working again, but that often doesn't work and the only solution is to reboot. I've got the assembler, processor, and transport modules split but ony once each, and no duplicate functions between the splits.
 
Re: Nexus upgrade?

You are maxed out on memory for a 32 bit OS. You can go with more memory if you install a 64 bit OS. Windows 2003 64 bit can see more than 4 gb of memory but I'm not sure if Nexus for the PC will. I'd look into switching over to the Mac OS before I'd upgrade my windows boxes.

Also save out your workflows and check the size of them. Most should be no bigger than 300K to 400K. If they are up to 3 mb or larger you need to re-create them. This can be a major drag on Nexus if your workflows have bloated up over time.

Also keep jobs cleaned out of Nexus Manager whenever possible. As the amount of jobs that are active in Nexus Manager increases you can see the performance of Nexus decrease.

Also check your memory settings in your workflows. We're running the same setup as you but with 2 boxes. A Nexus tech set them up that way and set the memory settings for all workflows to 600K. (Optimal setting for 4 assemblers according to support) Seems low but it really seemed to help our throughput.

Joe
 
Re: Nexus upgrade?

To me it sounds like you have RAM problems. Upgrade to Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition. That way you will be able to add more than 4gb of RAM. Also go to your Modules tab (command+5) in Nexus Manager and check if you have any modules duplicated. If you have the Assembler module duped then delete one of them. The Assembler is a memory hog so having more than one is not good if you don't have enough RAM. Try just having one of each module for now until you upgrade your hardware/software. Nexus 8.3 should be stable enough that you don't have to reboot every day. Joe's advice is good as well. Try not to have anything on hold because Nexus still recognizes it as a live job and will keep checking it periodically hence more wasted resources. Although I haven't noticed a big difference in performance if I do have a lot of finished jobs in Nexus just as long as they are not aborted or on hold.

Edited by: ArtproPro on Nov 12, 2007 2:07 PM
 
Re: Nexus upgrade?

What is the better way to run a nexus processor or RIP, Mac OS or Windows server? Just out of curiosity...

We run a separate processor an rip. Both windows server 2003 standard edition SP2 and nexus 8.4 rev 4. Up untill now not so many problems but I'm wondering if there's a benefit to upgrade to 8.5

Cheers.
 
Re: Nexus upgrade?

Thanks for the feedback. I try to keep the Queues clean, and there's very few if any jobs left on hold. I thought at first that I had a problem with the RAM chips, and when I tried to run a memory test on the computer it froze the computer. But the manufacturer assures me (Not sure I believe them) that if there's a problem with the chips it would show in the log file, which it doesn't, and that the way the mother board is constructed it wouldn't let the machine boot if one of the chips was bad. I'll try deleting the extra modules I've made for now (all my workflows are under 1MB), but I'd still like to know which version of Nexus is the most stable to upgrade to.
 
Re: Nexus upgrade?

Joe wrote: "Also check your memory settings in your workflows. We're running the same setup as you but with 2 boxes. A Nexus tech set them up that way and set the memory settings for all workflows to 600K. (Optimal setting for 4 assemblers according to support) Seems low but it really seemed to help our throughput."

Can you tell me how to check or change the memory settings for the work flows?
 
Re: Nexus upgrade?

> {quote:title=malvarez wrote:}{quote}
> Can you tell me how to check or change the memory settings for the work flows?


It's usually a setting in the advanced options.
 

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