Workflow takes much time to execute on server

Question

Hi Team,

We have a workflow on Server which runs monthly (Manually run by user). The workflow taker around 2 to 3 hour to complete its run. However, when it's run on Designer it takes around 1 hour. The workflow uses around 30 files for processing. Can you please suggest what possibly the cause for this and how to reduce the runtime of the workflow?

revathi · Answer

I agree with @dYoast .. network connection must be the factor contributing to the execution time difference.

@poojamate92  - in your post you have mentioned the canvas processes the files. Are you referring to flat files like excel and csv saved in a DFS Network Path (also called as Shared Drive and Project Share). If yes, then I believe your desktop and the shared drive are in the same region (say americas). And the Server is on a different location (say EMEA). while execution on your designer is faster as both the desktop and the files are in same region, execution on server will take longer as EMEA server communication with a shared drive in Americas will take time. Hope this is the root cause.  if yes, only solution is to move the files to a shared drive that is in the region where server is located.

dYoast · Answer

Is there a difference in physical locations for the server and designer?

We have a server in one physical location and users in another.  When they run via designer, their connections to the data stay local and the workflow is faster.  When they run on the server, the workflow is slower due to the network connection.

chuckleswk · Answer

Can you post the workflow so that we can see it? There are a number reasons / factors that it takes a long time. One of the big things is to check to make sure that you have removed all of the browses.