Server based shared resource file loads very slow

[nakiefer]

We are using MS Project 2000. We have Project Central where we keep all of
our projects. We currently have about 300 projects in our database. All of
the projects use one shared resource file called "resources". We have about
115 resources in our resource file.

The system has become extremly slow and almost unsuable. When I open a
project that uses the shared resource file I am prompted if I want to open
the shared file. When I say yes and can wait 3 -4 minutes for the file to
open.

Any suggestions on things I can look at or eliminate to make this better?
We would like to keep more projects in the database so we can collect some
history, and am not sure if the number of projects we have now is high or not.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

nakiefer --

Part of your problem lies in the fact that you are using antiquated
technology in your use of Project 2000 and Project Central. You are
currently two generations behind the current state of this technology, and
are about 6 months away from being three generations behind. If there is
any possible way that you can acquire the funding to upgrade to Project
Server 2003, you would be time and money ahead in the process.

This said, one possible reason for the speed reduction is corruption of
either your shared resource pool file or individual projects stored in your
database. You can detect this corruption by opening any project, opening
the shared resource pool Read-Only when prompted, then clicking Tools -
Change Working Time. Click the pick list at the top of the dialog and look
for duplicate calendars on the list. The duplicates would say "Copy of..."
or something like that. If you see dozens, hundreds, or thousands of
duplicate calendars, then your system is corrupted. To resolve the
corruption is a time-consuming process that would entail disconnecting all
projects from the shared resource pool, deleting the pool, deleting
duplicate calendars from every project, and then creating a new shared
resource pool and reconnecting all projects to it. Hope this helps.

 

[nakiefer]

Thanks Dale. I know we are behind. Lack of funding on companys part.

After doing some investigating our resource file has almost 6000 assignments
in it. Is that a lot for a common resource file?

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

nakiefer --

The 6,000 assignments could certainly contribute to the slow performance.
Whether it is a lot of assignments or not, I really cannot speculate. You
might want to unlink every completed project from the shared resource pool
to see if that improves performance. Hope this helps.

 

[mike_gka]

Hi,
did you find a solution meanwhile?
We have exactly the same problem also in a new environment with PS2003.
The only work around we found is to load the shared resource file r/o at
startup time and don't close it during the working day. But every
update/refresh still needs 5 min. We have more than 15,000 assignments.

But is there an other way with MSP to deal with multi projects in a
worldwide organization?

Mike