Opera Remote - Tuning for performance

Are you service packed?
There are bugs in Windows NT, some of which affect the performance of Opera Remote, particularly on multi-processor systems. You can obtain service packs to fix these bugs. See Microsoft's PSS Knowledge Base article: Q176211

Tuning Opera
Generally speaking most users install Opera and pay little attention to any tuning aspects. This is largely because in its standard configuration Opera normally ‘just works’. There are however a number of Opera related points that have a bearing on performance on all systems, their effect is however exaggerated when running in a multi-user mode. It is therefore important that certain parameters are set correctly. These parameters can improve the performance of local as well as remote users.

Opera, Foxpro and memory
Opera utilises Microsoft FoxPro as its underlying technology, when FoxPro starts it looks for available memory and will utilise a high percentage of free memory. This is not normally a problem on a client PC as Opera is probably the major application but on a server the impact is much more significant.

As an example on a 128MB server, Opera could take up to half of the available memory, this results in constant use of virtual memory and severe degradation in performance.

The solution is simple, add the MEMLIMIT parameter to CONFIG.FP which is normally found in the \OPERA directory. We normally use MEMLIMIT=80,4096,8192 this will stop Opera from using more than 8MB of Memory. A typical CONFIG.FP is a simple text file and will look like this:

mvcount=750
CATMAN=OFF
codepage=auto
memlimit=80,4096,8192

Please note, this is a sample not a recommendation.

The OPERA.PIF file
This is normally found in the same directory as OPERA.exe and might be identified as a Shortcut to Opera. It must however have a DOS name of OPERA.PIF. Change To If you do not have this file see the note at the end of this document.

This file tells Windows how to execute a DOS program, the memory settings are over-ridden by CONFIG.FP but under some circumstances they have a bearing on memory allocation. You should therefore locate the PIF file, right click and select properties. Then choose the Memory TAB.

Opera doesn’t need Expanded memory so set it to none, the same for extended memory.

Set DPMI to 4096 or 8192 (depending on how much memory you have available).

The Miscellaneous Tab of the PIF file has a slider for Idle Time Detection. Opera makes very little use of the processor but spends most of its time looking for keyboard input. When NT detects that you aren’t actually inputting information then it marks the application as idle and waits for input before waking it up.

This keyboard ‘polling’ can be quite demanding of processor time but increasing the idle sensitivity can reduce the effect. Try moving the slider on the Miscellaneous TAB to high. The effect of this is that there is less load on the processor when Opera is actually doing something but the load when Opera is idle is increased a little.

Microsoft Backoffice Small Business Server
Small Business server has lots of services running concurrently and as such is more sensitive to processor use. Generally the Idle Sensitivity setting makes more difference, you should also ensure you have sufficient memory available. Microsoft’s recommended minimum of 64MB is low in the extreme, Opera Remote will only support 1-2 users on this size system. Realistically 128MB or better still 256MB will give much better performance.

Memory requirements
A properly configured Opera Remote system will use about 10-12MB per user, you can check this by starting Opera Remote (Opera must be running) and looking at the Task Manager on the server. Look for NTVDM, this is the NT virtual DOS Machine, if it is using loads of memory (more than 16MB) then check your CONFIG.FP file.

With 128MB you should be able to run 3 Opera Remote sessions, this is a guideline and will vary based on the specification of your server. For more than 3 users you should add memory accordingly. Our own experience is that any NT Server benefits from at least 256MB of memory.

How to create the OPERA.PIF if its not there
Open a DOS Window, change to the Opera drive and Directory and type: DIR OPERA.PIF, if the file is not found follow the following steps: Right click on your start button and then select Explore.

Once Windows Explorer has started locate your OPERA.EXE file (in the \OPERA directory). Right click on the Opera File name and select Create Shortcut, this will create a file called Shortcut to Opera, right click on it and select Rename, change its name to Opera i.e. get rid of the words Shortcut to. The .PIF extension is implicit so the file should now be called OPERA.PIF, verify this by repeating the DIR command in a DOS window (as described above).

Right click on the shortcut (OPERA.PIF) and select properties then set them as above.