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[RESOLVED] CCC bogs down server when running auto export

Chameleon CentralController (CCC) is used to export My Movies metadata directly to CMC's Movie DB, and manage User Accounts and Parental Restrictions, and tracks Watch History and WatchLists on a per-user basis.
Teddyboy
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[RESOLVED] CCC bogs down server when running auto export

Post by Teddyboy » Sat Feb 06, 2021 6:38 pm

I've noticed when I have auto export turned on. The minute it runs it literally brings my server to it's knees. I have a really hard time remoting into the server, and when I do it's really slow. I usually have to kill CCC and reboot the server to get it to respond normally. When I kill CCC it does become more responsive, but it takes a reboot to get it back to normal. Not having auto export turned on everything is normal. It's a vanilla 2016 server essentials install. I run drivepool for storage. There wasn't any really high cpu spikes sometimes 10 or 15%, but they where not related to CCC at all. I'm going to have to reboot it again. I can't figure it out.
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Re: CCC bogs down server when running auto export

Post by Pauven » Sat Feb 06, 2021 6:54 pm

I've noticed similar bogs, but my analysis suggests that it is actually My Movies that is causing the bog, not CCC.

CCC is a very lightweight app, and it's doubtful that it would cause a bog.

But during the export, My Movies is working overtime to produce the XML data for export, and even scans your media folders to validate filepaths for Dune. This effort, simultaneously pinging SQL Server with tons of queries, compiling XML data, and scanning and evaluating your media folders (twice per title, no less!) is most likely the Bogginator.

And because CCC continually exports the next title, as fast as possible one after another, the bog is pretty consistent while there's still data to export.

This gets even worse if you have My Movies Debug Logging enabled - so definitely turn that off!!!

I've asked Brian for an API switch to turn off the Dune Paths feature, since CMC doesn't need that data, and since it also wake up your sleeping HDD's. But he hasn't done this yet.
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Re: CCC bogs down server when running auto export

Post by Teddyboy » Sat Feb 06, 2021 8:15 pm

Okay. That makes sense, but it's really annoying! I'll see about bugging Brian about your request. I have a quad core xeon cpu running at about 3 ghz. That's plenty of cpu power and it just brings it to it's knees. This only happens when CCC queries MyMovies, so I don't let it autoexport anymore . My collecotion doesn't really change unless I get a new movie or make changes to titles.
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Re: CCC bogs down server when running auto export

Post by Pauven » Sat Feb 06, 2021 8:51 pm

That's why I make everything configurable, so you can tailor it to work on your setup.
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Re: CCC bogs down server when running auto export

Post by Teddyboy » Tue Feb 09, 2021 5:41 pm

I think I figured out what the problem is. It's my friends wireless networks. He has no access points and signal strength will vary between the networks. If I switch to another wireless network the bottleneck stops, but this goes back and forth between his networks. My Htpc and workstation are attached by wireless eithernet adapters netgear Nighthawk AC1900 USB 3.0 adapters. My Ipad and Iphone and laptop are also affected by the same slowdown. Switching does help but then eventually it slows down and either I switch and or reboot the ATT router. My server is hardwired into a router downstairs in the basement, so I know it's connection is fine.

I think shutting down one or two of his wireless networks and keeping it to just the two might help as well as getting at least one access point to boost strength. I'm about ready to throw it all in the trash and start over. His network is bypassed like a christmas tree. He has two dumb switches in the basement one has two dead access points Meraki Mr33's which are subscription based and he really doesn't need and are expensive. He doesn't need hat type of enterprise type of equipment especially when his switches are dumg linksys and netgear switches.

Thoughts?
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Re: CCC bogs down server when running auto export

Post by Pauven » Tue Feb 09, 2021 5:51 pm

If My Movies is accessing your media storage over the wireless network then... ouch. No surprise you're hitting bottlenecks.

In a previous career I used to engineer and implement wireless networks. A few tips for you:

Reduce interference - fewer radios is better. It sounds like you have too many wireless routers polluting the radio spectrum and causing a noisy work environment, reducing performance.

Set your radio channels to channels with fewer competing signals - better quality WiFi routers can do this for you. You can even use a phone WiFi analyzer to find better channels.

Lower power = better signal to noise ratio = better performance. This one is counter-intuitive, normally you would think that increasing radio power would improve the signal quality and improve performance, but this is only true if the radio signal is too weak. Unless you are trying to send a signal over long distances through many solid walls, then the power is probably set too high. By reducing the power, you can actually improve the signal quality, as long as you don't reduce it too much. Think of this as the volume on your stereo. Too quiet and you can't hear the lyrics, but too loud and your ears bleed. The closer you are to the speakers, the lower the volume needs to be to prevent hurting your ears. WiFi is no different.
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Re: CCC bogs down server when running auto export

Post by Teddyboy » Tue Feb 09, 2021 6:20 pm

My Movies is not doing anything. I've stopped CCC from autoexporting so it doesn't anything. I'll manually tell it to update when I get new movies. I looked at the task manager in my server and SQL and MyMovies where not doing anything during this slowdown.

He has a repeater that is required by ATT and it's currently set to 5ghz. there is only one router upstairs. It's his ATT router. His switches are dumb and hardwired back to the router that has several wireless networks running. I think I need to go into the router and set his channels to ones that have the least interference. I'll download a phone wifi analyzer to see what would be the best channels. His router is a ATT BGW210. I'm not sure how good it is, but it's what he has. Probably moving the radios around to different channels will help. When wifi works it works well, when it doesn't it sucks.
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Re: CCC bogs down server when running auto export

Post by Pauven » Tue Feb 09, 2021 6:35 pm

It's hard to visualize how everything is arranged, but it certainly sounds like a mess. One possibility is that the network has multiple paths to get from point A to point B, and the network is looping around inside of itself. Unless you're doing a pro-network with multiple redundant routes that have cost metrics assigned, then you want a very simple network that only has 1 route from any point A to any other point B.

If the above sounds like it might be part of the problem, then I would advise you to sketch out the network so that you can visualize the routes. I use UniFi network gear, and it maps this out for me, so here's mine for example - notice how there's only a single pathway to any one device:

image.png
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Re: CCC bogs down server when running auto export

Post by Teddyboy » Tue Feb 09, 2021 7:14 pm

Lordy.

He has all his wireless networks on the same channel! He has I think four wireless networks all on channel 6! Geez no wonder it's like this. The radios are fighting one another. I need to put them on other channels, and that should start to resolve the issue. There is a bunch of ATT networks that looks related to the router, but I'm going to ignore that for now and just concentrate on the networks he created. He's going to dump ATT when his contract is up as he doesn't need cable just go with cox internet.

I love UniFi equipment. I actually have brand new Unifi parts in storage that I was going to use when I was renting a house. I may gift it to him and overhaul his network. At least that way I can monitor his network remotely.

First things first. I need to separate the networks to different channels and that should help a lot. Through put was good when they didn't fight. I recall when not having bogging issues as bad as this. I'll put the 2.4 ghz networks on either 1, 6, or 11. The one 5 ghz network on a higher channel. It's recommended 36, 38, 40, 48 to use those. Wifiinfo view is giving channel ranges for each network 4-8. I f I can at least get them off the same channel it has to be better then it is now.
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Re: CCC bogs down server when running auto export

Post by Pauven » Tue Feb 09, 2021 7:45 pm

One thing to keep in mind is "what is the purpose of each radio".

If each is being used as just an access point, then yes you want to put them on different channels.

But if any are being used as a bridge, then they need to be on the same channel for the bridge to connect.
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