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 Macintosh FirstClass Server 7.0 and 7.1 Tuning Recommendations
The following is a list of Mac control panel options that can cause reliability or performance issues on a FirstClass Server. Many of these options listed below are not set in the recommended manner after a fresh Mac OS Install. For stability and performance reasons, it is advised that these changes be made while the FirstClass server is NOT running.
Be advised that this list is based on OS 9.x. OS 9.1 (for Power Macs) through 9.2.2 (for G3s or getter) is supported.
In the Control Panels list of the Apple menu...
TCP/IP
Click on the "Options..." button in the lower right, then make sure "Load only when needed" is NOT checked.
If the "Options..." button does not show up then go to the "Edit" menu and choose "User Mode...". Then check "Advanced".
Energy Saver Control Panel
Make sure it is set to "Never" put the computer to sleep.
Also in this control panel go to the "Preferences/Server Settings" menu option. The "Never put the hard disk to sleep." option MUST be checked.
Apple Menu Options
The option "Remember recently used items:" should NOT be checked.
File Sharing
The File Sharing Control panel should state "File Sharing off".
AppleTalk
Unless Appletalk is needed to be running for any reason, it can be turned off. To do this click the "Options..." button in the lower right. Check "Inactive"
If the "Options..." button does not show up then go to the "Edit" menu and choose "User Mode...". Then check "Advanced".
Software Update
The option "Update Software automatically" should NOT be checked.
Memory
Virtual Memory should be turned off.
The recommended memory setting for the FirstClass server application is 30 megabytes for minimum and preferred (this is conditional on the number of sessions configured).
The recommended memory setting for the FirstClass internet services application is 60 megabytes for minimum and preferred.
Extensions Manager
The Extension "FBC Indexing Scheduler" should be turned off. This is the scheduler for the Sherlock search engine indexing.
You can also turn Scheduling off with in Sherlock as well but the best option is to disable the extension. To do it within Sherlock, open Sherlock from the Apple Menu then go to the "Find/Index Volumes..." menu option. The "Use Schedule" option should be unchecked for each volume listed. Also, in case new volumes get added, click on the "Schedule..." button and make sure all days of the week are unchecked.
Priority and Session Limit (kB) Per User
For troubleshooting purposes, ensure that you're FirstClass Server and Internet Services are set for Medium priority. In addition, ensure that your Session Limit (kB) per User is at least 400. If this number is below 400, the results can be unpredictable. This value can be found in the FirstClass Services folder on the admin desktop, Server Monitor, Users tab. If it is below 400, configure the FirstClass Server application with higher Preferred/Minimum memory settings or lower the number of network sessions via FirstClass Tools until this number is over 400.
Additional Tools
Install a telnet client and a traceroute application on the computer running the FirstClass Server and on the computer running the FirstClass Internet Services. These can be of great assistance when troubleshooting network connectivity related issues. You can find these applications by using any popular Internet search engine as we can not recommend any specific telnet client or traceroute application.
Gateway Message Body Size
Sometimes a malformed message containing an abnormally large message body can tie up a mail server. To combat this, it is recommended that you set the maximum body size of messages to 1024K for all your gateways (located in the Gateways folder on the admin FirstClass desktop). This does not affect attachment sizes, only the text within the body. Examples showing where this is configured are displayed below for the Internet gateway and a generic FirstClass gateway, outlined in green. Click to enlarge.
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