Troubleshooting “Network Latency” in SharePoint
Issue: SharePoint servers experience delays in communication, leading to slow page loads, delayed search results, and timeouts.
Causes: High network congestion, misconfigured DNS, firewall bottlenecks, inefficient routing, or slow SQL Server responses.
1. Identify the Cause of Network Latency
Before applying fixes, determine what is causing the delay in SharePoint-to-SharePoint or SharePoint-to-SQL communication.
Symptoms of Network Latency:
✅ Slow response when accessing SharePoint sites.
✅ Delayed search indexing or crawling.
✅ Intermittent connectivity issues or timeouts.
✅ Sluggish database queries and workflow execution.
✅ Users experiencing long waits for document uploads/downloads.
Tools for Diagnosis:
🔹 Ping & Latency Check:
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName <SQL_Server> -Port 1433
🔹 Trace Route to Detect Network Hops:
tracert <SharePoint_WFE_IP>
🔹 Measure Packet Loss:
pathping <SQL_Server>
🔹 Netstat to Identify High-Delay Connections:
netstat -an | findstr ":1433"
🔹 Wireshark / Fiddler to analyze slow network traffic.
🔹 Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc) to check for network-related warnings.
2. Check Firewall, Proxy, and Network Settings
Misconfigured firewall rules, proxies, or load balancers can cause SharePoint latency.
Fixes:
🔹 Ensure firewalls allow traffic between SharePoint and SQL Server:
- SQL Server (1433, 1434)
- HTTP/HTTPS (80, 443)
- Central Admin (32843)
🔹 Run firewall diagnostics:
Get-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup "File and Printer Sharing"
🔹 Disable unneeded proxies that add network overhead.
🔹 If using a VPN, check for latency impact.
3. Optimize DNS & Name Resolution for Faster Lookups
Slow DNS resolution can increase network latency.
Fixes:
🔹 Verify DNS lookup times:
nslookup <SharePoint_URL>
🔹 Ensure SharePoint servers use a local DNS rather than external.
🔹 Add static host entries in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts for faster name resolution.
🔹 Reduce DNS TTL (Time-To-Live) for quicker updates.
4. Check SQL Server Network Latency & Query Performance
SharePoint relies heavily on SQL Server; slow SQL response increases latency.
Fixes:
🔹 Test SQL latency:
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName <SQL_Server> -Port 1433
🔹 Enable SQL Server Connection Pooling for faster query execution.
🔹 Optimize database indexing to reduce long query times.
🔹 Use SQL Profiler to detect slow queries:
SELECT TOP 10 * FROM sys.dm_exec_requests ORDER BY total_elapsed_time DESC;
🔹 If SharePoint is in a different region than SQL, use geo-replication or move the SQL Server closer.
5. Enable Compression & Reduce Bandwidth Usage
Large uncompressed responses increase network delays.
Fixes:
🔹 Enable IIS compression:
Set-WebConfigurationProperty -filter "/system.webServer/httpCompression" -name "enabled" -value "True"
🔹 Enable SharePoint BLOB caching in web.config:
<BlobCache location="C:\BlobCache" path=".*\.(gif|jpg|png|css|js|ico)$" maxSize="10" enabled="true" />
🔹 Use Content Delivery Network (CDN) for static assets.
🔹 Optimize images and large files before uploading.
6. Optimize Load Balancing for SharePoint Traffic
Improper load balancing settings can increase request latency.
Fixes:
🔹 If using Windows Network Load Balancing (NLB), verify balanced traffic:
wlbs query
🔹 Adjust session persistence to avoid excessive redirects.
🔹 Ensure round-robin or least-connections is properly configured.
7. Improve Network Hardware & Bandwidth Allocation
SharePoint latency can result from low bandwidth or outdated network hardware.
Fixes:
🔹 Upgrade to Gigabit or 10Gbps network adapters for servers.
🔹 Ensure Quality of Service (QoS) prioritizes SharePoint traffic.
🔹 If using cloud SharePoint, upgrade network ExpressRoute or VPN settings.
8. Monitor & Automate Network Performance
8.1. Set Up Performance Monitoring
✅ Use Performance Monitor (perfmon.msc) to track:
- Current Network Bandwidth Usage
- Network Interface Packets/sec
- SQL Server: Batch Requests/sec
✅ Use SharePoint Health Analyzer to detect network issues.
8.2. Automate Network Checks with PowerShell
Schedule a script to check latency:
$server = "<SQL_Server>"
$ping = Test-Connection -ComputerName $server -Count 5
$ping | Select-Object Address, ResponseTime