• Global community
    • Language:
      • Deutsch
      • English
      • Español
      • Français
      • Português
  • 日本語コミュニティ
    Dedicated community for Japanese speakers
  • 한국 커뮤니티
    Dedicated community for Korean speakers
Exit
2

InDesign running slow over VPN

Community Beginner ,
Jun 02, 2020 Jun 02, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Hello everyone,

 

We are a team of 12 graphic designers that all have the same problem. We are using InDesign to build files and we have links on a server reached using a VPN. We get major slowdowns when the VPN is connected and none when it isn't. The problem is that we have to use it, no choice there. 

 

Anyone else have the same problem? Any workaround?

 

Thanks!

TOPICS
Performance

Views

6.8K

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jun 02, 2020 Jun 02, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

There are so many factors involved, it's hard to pinpoint where the problems lies.

Make sure the designers are not in high-res view mode or in overprint preview.

If the designers are working from home, their internet speed could be a bottleneck.

If they are working wirelessly, that's a LOT slower than being hard-wired into the router.

As more people in the neighborhood go online, speeds often decrease. 

The server speed could be slow, especially with the VPN.

The server's internect connection might not be able to handle all the requests. 

 

Have you considered using low-res versions of the files, and using InDesign's Links folder to switch to the high-res images near the end of the job?

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Jun 02, 2020 Jun 02, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

The team is working in 'Typical' image view.

Internet isn't much of an issue. Most have good internet connections, for example, i have a 450/50 connection on speedtests.

Server is top notch too, running at 20% capacity (data transfer wise).

Weird thing is that even if we do a package and work from the desktop, the slow transfer is still felt. That is what bugs me the most. When we do quit the VPN, stuff comes back to normal.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jun 03, 2020 Jun 03, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Does the slowdown happen with any other software programs (Photoshop, Office, etc.)?

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Guru ,
Aug 24, 2020 Aug 24, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

the internet connection is an issue. reason is that you do not have the same internet speed when you are on the VPN and your VPN connection drops and comesback without you knowing. With cisco ( what i use to get on the VPN) give me notices when my connection drops and comes back.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Jun 02, 2020 Jun 02, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I'm having a similar problem that I'm trying to troubleshoot. I'm running ID 2020 and Mac OS 10.15.5. For me, the issue starts as soon a I try to open a file. With the VPN activated, opening a local file will invoke the beach ball for about 40 seconds. The document even be blank so it's not that it's looking to link up to files that are on the server. Opening and closing files will invoke the beachball while the VPN is on. 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jun 02, 2020 Jun 02, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I have 2 options of VPN to connect to my work servers. One is a utility specific for the NAS to connected directly. The second is a Cisco utility to connect through the firewall. The performance of access including working with Indesign files through either solution is about 50-60% compared to local performance. IMO, this is the expected performance of VPN.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jun 03, 2020 Jun 03, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

This is admittedly a long shot, but try adding your VPN to the Spotlight list of locations to not search (for Macs).

System preferences> Spotlight> Privacy> Prevent Spotlight from searching these locations> +

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Jun 03, 2020 Jun 03, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

I think that what is happening may very well be what can be expected when using a company sanctioned VPN. I found this out the hard way. When the current world situation first necessitated working exclusively from home with my own iMac I at first installed a VPN and logged in with the correct company credentials. At this point I did not notice any reduction in speed. After a few weeks, however, my company noticed me on the network and told me that they would have to do a proper company sanctioned install. Once they did this (remotely) I found that I began having the same problems that you are describing. It was awful! Apparently the VPN used by companies also involves installing security protocols which are constanlty running in the background and certainly conflict with running programs like InDesign in any kind of efficient manner. In my case, though, I actually only need the VPN to register time spent doing jobs. Our files are all stored on a web based server that doesn't need the VPN. So, in the morning after booting the computer I simply quit the VPN program altogether and then only launch it at the end of the day to record my time. Full InDesign speed restored! I realize that quitting and relaunching the VPN program altogether (it doesn't seem to be enough to just not connect to it) many times a day in your case may not be an ideal solution for you but it may be the best way to handle it.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Adobe Employee ,
Jun 13, 2020 Jun 13, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Hi there, 

 

I hope your issue has been resolved. But if the issue still persists, please let us know so that we can assist you.

 

If any of the above-mentioned solutions have worked for you, kindly mark the answer correct. 

 

Regards,

Sheena

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
New Here ,
Jul 21, 2020 Jul 21, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Hi,

I'm just searching about a similar problem involving Indesign 2020 on a Mac and VPN. Our team aren't attempting to work through the VPN connection to the server. We are packaging the files and linking each other to these packages. We then copy off the packages to our local hard drives and work from them there. But what happens is that when you open the Indesign file it is still trying to link everything back to the server through the VPN connection which is obviously very slow. So even though you have the full package locally it isn't linking locally. What I have found is that you have to disconnect the mounted server (not neccessarily the VPN) and then open the file, forcing Indesign to link the files locally. What I would like to know is there any way to force Indesign to do this automatically without breaking the connection?

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Max

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Aug 24, 2020 Aug 24, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

There are complexities to be found when you're using VPNs to connect to remote locations, whether they're your hardware servers you're connecting to or you're accessing cloud storage. The tunneling/anonymizing/cloaking which provides additional security working with a VPN complicates the "handshake" between your local system and the files that are linked to it remotely. That's no small issue when InDesign is essentially the hopper you pour all these disparate linked elements into for creating polished layout files.

 

You've come across the right steps, but you've tripped over the stumbling block of linked files placed within InDesign documents. By default InDesign moves to link placed files before it even opens a document or template file. InDesign searches for those files in two locations, in order:

 

1. The absolute network address where each file was when it was originally placed in the InDesign document/template file, then ...

2. The relative address of those files within the (package) folder containing the InDesign document you're opening.

 

Location 2 isn't checked until Location 1 links cannot be resolved. Which, of course, becomes more complex when there are obstacles (your VPN) to overcome before you can access the relevant Location 1 for each placed file in the document. If there's a way, eventually, to get to various Location 1(s — the more network locations that have to be found for the linked elements, the more time it'll take for those absolute addresses to be resolved) file location(s), InDesign will chug along until it can connect through those network address(es).

 

Your solution is the best one — download the entire package, disconnect from Location 1, then relink to the files at relative addresses within the (package) folder that's Location 2. It's generally faster than waiting for InDesign to tunnel through the VPN to Location 1, and the more complex the file, the more pronounced the difference will be. Not the best workaround, but the most effective one. And maybe the most efficient one as well.

 

There may be things your network folks can do to reduce the bottleneck, but as long as you're working through VPNs, you can't remove them. Your workflow is about as good as it gets.

 

Randy

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Aug 24, 2020 Aug 24, 2020

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Sheena,

I have built training modules using the publish online feature with InDesign 2020. The training needed to be quick and accessible during COVID so I thought this was a good solution. It has been except when people can't access it. The training modules hosted on the Adobe server are now unavailable to everyone in the company. The only way to access it is to disable VPN. As I have links to our internal servers, this is not going to work.

 

This happened on another occasion and I spent the day trying to figure it out before it resolved itself. I don't know if the problem is the Adobe host site, our Cisco VPN, or something else. Please help!

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Beginner ,
Mar 10, 2021 Mar 10, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Hello,

 

Same issue here, and it's not so much an internet issue as it is an actual physical location issue. I have high speed internet, use an ethernet cable and it still takes very long to open and save Indesign documents. Illustrator and Photoshop seem to be handling this better, but not always. I think it's because Indesign is always looking to update its links, so you're constantly sending and receiving data though your internet connection. Sometimes even copying a text block causes Indesign to start spinning... Hopefully something is in the making to be able to work faster. This problem must be global.

 

The only thing that works for our team is to work locally and copy all our files back on the server once when we're done. I'm basically manually syncing files. It requires some rigor, but even I will forget to upload things... Just make sure you have the same file structure both locally and on the server. That way it should update the links normally if/when you do return to the office where you can physically connect to the server again. 

 

Good luck!

 

Greg

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Community Expert ,
Mar 10, 2021 Mar 10, 2021

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Your strategy is a proven one, for a number of good reasons. You're making a good call.

 

I strongly recommend anyone considering this kind of production workflow should build a universal file and folder naming convention which includes versioning and date/time hacks. That way everyone on the team can tell at a glance what they're working with.

 

Like

 

[filename]-v3a-10Mar21-1900.indd or [folder/job name]-v2c-10Mar21

 

Not only does this let the team tell what they're working with at a glance, it also precludes overwriting an old version of the job with a newer one. It results in some file bloat, but that can be cleaned up when the job is done before archiving.

 

Randy

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Participant ,
Jan 03, 2022 Jan 03, 2022

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

Same problem here. And apparently still no solution...

Working with InDesign using a VPN is nearly impossible.

Opening documents takes sometimes over an hour... copying the file on the local HD and it takes seconds or maybe some minutes. But when opened the document still can not be used because beachball is spinning. The more linked files in the doc, the longer the beachball appears. And copying all files I may need to the local disc is absolutely no solution. I don't have terrabytes of local storage and I do not know in the beginning Which files I'm going to need.

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines
Explorer ,
Jan 05, 2022 Jan 05, 2022

Copy link to clipboard

Copied

LATEST

well internet, internet is the problem. here is why:
We work on leaflets about 28-40 pages, splited by 2 pages.
Every document contains 200+ links from small AI, EPS files to bigger one like 60-800 mb PSD files
If you connect to VPN, and you will try open this file from server, ID have to check every single file so it takes time.
if you are on local PC this speed is 30-110 MB/s  (HDD speed) and 300-2500 mb/s on SSD drive.
BUT indesign is not able to use SSD drive speed so maximum can be something about 50-80 MB/s 
even if you have TOP gigabit internet connection it will be always slower then local drive (i dont know why, but I tested it).
So you have basicaly two options:
1. buy big HDD to every computer which need work with this ID files and buy NAS station with doubled HDD size what you have inside your PC. then set Synchronize  PC to NAS and NAS to PC. 
you have to set this on all PCs. With this you have all "live data" on your PC and also on NAS ..an every other user have the same data as You. (but be carefull, here is some issues about "who have open this file" it easy to overide files to someone else because its hard to synchronize indlk files and ID is not abble to find if this file is open to somewhere else or not. 

2. and better option is:
take all the PC and connect them to server somewhere in one office, garage, basement... (if its possible) 
then buy very cheap PC or laptop...and connect remotely on these PC what are in basement 🙂
you dont need super fast PCs because you just need them for connection to the Super PC in your basement 🙂 

i work through remote connection over 3 years, and its absolutelly Perfect, 
all user can see if the ID file is open, no need to buy another big HDD, and you can work from everywhere. 
Right now i am on Sri Lanka, and i am connected to PC in Czech Republic (7500 KM)
and it is works from 80-90 % (depends on weather:) ) almost same like if i am on that PC in Czech Republic. 

Votes

Translate

Translate

Report

Report
Community guidelines
Be kind and respectful, give credit to the original source of content, and search for duplicates before posting. Learn more
community guidelines