One of the share points on my AppleShare IP file server is a drop folder. Sometimes this folder contains many files, some of which are very large. When this happens, the clients logging into this share point experience slow performance in the Finder when mounting the directory.
Reducing the information displayed about files in a shared directory on the server will improve client performance when mounting the shared directory. For example, disabling the option to calculate folder sizes (on the server) will improve client performance as the client will not need to display that information.
The following changes may be made on the server to improve performance in the Finder.
Mac OS 7.6.x
Open the Views control panel. Under List Views, choose the smallest icon and deselect all options that are not necessary.
Mac OS 8.1 and Mac OS 8.5
Open the shared directory and under the View menu, select View as List. Then under the View menu, select View Options. In the View Options window, choose the smallest icon and deselect all options that are not necessary.
All Mac OS Clients
All clients will benefit from disk cache settings of between 256K or higher under Mac OS 7.6.x, and 512K or higher under Mac OS 8.1. Clients using Mac OS 8.5 should use the default setting in the Memory control panel.
Virtual memory, when enabled on the client, will allow paging of Finder information to disk. The time necessary to page information to disk may cause temporary delays in the Finder.
In general, clients should connect to the server via TCP/IP rather than AppleTalk when possible. This should happen automatically, but can be ensured by entering the IP address of the server in the Chooser or in the Network Browser under Mac OS 8.5. However, if the client's TCP/IP setting is configured for MacIP, then TCP/IP connections may be slower than AppleTalk.
Clients should make aliases of server volumes rather than using the Chooser. This will save time and network bandwidth when opening a connection to the server.
Lastly, the client should close all open windows on the server volume if not actively being used. Making aliases of embedded directories, or accessing embedded directories from within an open application are also good ways to reduce network traffic.