Windows SDP Client Hangs Due To High CPU Utilization

Issue

Oftentimes, users that run the Windows SDP Client in conjunction with many other applications running simultaneously may experience high CPU utilization.

High utilization may cause the client to hang, this can potentially affect download/upload speeds and interfere with the user experience.

Environment

• Windows SDP Client before v5.4

Troubleshooting

As a first step, assess possible SDP Client Performance Issues. Once the issue is isolated proceed with checking the utilization of the Client within the user's environment.

1. Access Task Manager > Performance to inspect the current CPU Utilization.

In the following example, the CPU is maxed out at 100% with 280Mbps going through the VPN adapter.

2. Within Task Manager > Details, look for CatoClient.exe's Base Priority to confirm whether or not it's being prioritized. Add the Base Priority column if it's not shown.

Solution

1. Upgrade Windows Client to v5.4 or higher which includes an updated VPN adapter driver that offloads much of the work from the CPU.

2. Changing the process priority is a workaround to temporarily boost the VPN process's performance over other running processes.

Windows automatically assigns a priority to applications and offers values ranging from 'Low' all the way to 'High' or 'Realtime' priorities. If the Base Priority is the same for multiple processes, the CPU load will be shared equally between them.

Our SDP Client is not prioritized by default and contends for the CPU power with all the other processes.

To change the process priority, right-click on the CatoClient.exe process and select priority as 'High' or 'Realtime'.

NOTE: Setting the Client as 'Realtime' can prioritize the process over the Windows system processes and should be used carefully. Also, if the process is killed or restarted the priority will default back to its normal priority.