Managing user directory connection latency in Jira Data Center

This insight is shown when your Jira Data Center's database connection pool utilization exceeds 80%.

What is user directory connection latency in Jira Data Center?

User Directory Connection Latency measures the time taken to connect to the user directory from your Jira Data Center nodes. This metric is crucial for understanding the performance of user authentication and authorization processes across your Jira Data Center cluster.

How does high user directory connection latency affect Jira Data Center performance?

High user directory connection latency can significantly impact your Jira Data Center instance in several ways:

• Slower user login times

• Delayed user authentication and authorization processes

• Increased response times for operations requiring user information

• Potential security risks due to delayed access control updates

• Overall degradation of user experience across the cluster

Consistently high User directory connection latency can frustrate users and administrators alike, potentially impacting productivity and system security.

What's the recommendation?

You should aim to keep the user directory connection latency below 160ms for optimal performance. If you're consistently seeing latencies above this threshold, consider the following actions:

• Diagnose network issues

• Optimize user directory server performance

• Optimize LDAP configuration

• Consider caching strategies

Diagnose network issues

Network connectivity problems between Jira Data Center nodes and the user directory server can cause connection failures and delays in user authentication and authorization.

Steps to diagnose network issues:

1. Generate a Directory Configuration Summary in Jira:

   • Go to Administration > System > Troubleshooting and support tools

   • Select Generate Directory Configuration Summary

Learn how to generate a Directory Configuration Summary

2. Perform a ping test:

• From each Jira node, ping the user directory server

• Ideally, ICMP packets should take less than 10 milliseconds to reach the server

• Use the command:

  ping <user_directory_server_hostname>

3. Conduct a traceroute test:

• Perform a traceroute from each Jira node to the user directory server

• If Jira and the server are on the same subnet, there should be minimal network hops (typically 1 or 2)

• Use the command:

traceroute <user_directory_server_hostname>

4. Analyze the results:

• Look for high latency or packet loss in ping results

• Identify any complex network paths or bottlenecks in traceroute results

If you identify network issues, work with your network team to optimize the connection between Jira Data Center nodes and the user directory server.

Optimize user directory server performance

The user directory server's performance and responsiveness play a crucial role in connection latency. A poorly configured or heavily loaded server can lead to slow response times.

Steps to optimize user directory server performance:

1. Work with your LDAP team to assess the current server performance

2. Review server logs for any error messages or performance warnings

3. Check server resource utilization (CPU, memory, disk I/O)

4. Ensure the server is properly sized for your Jira Data Center environment

5. Consider implementing or optimizing server-side caching

Optimize LDAP configuration

Incorrect or inefficient LDAP configuration settings in Jira can impact latency. Factors like search filters, connection timeouts, and the use of paging can all affect performance.

Steps to optimize LDAP configuration:

1. Review current LDAP configuration in Jira:

   • Go to Administration > User Management > User Directories

   • Select your LDAP directory and review its settings

2. Optimize search filters:

   • Ensure search filters are specific and efficient

   • Avoid overly broad filters that may return unnecessary data

3. Adjust connection timeouts:

   • Set appropriate timeouts to balance between allowing sufficient time for operations and preventing long-running queries

4. Implement paging:

   • Enable result paging to improve performance when dealing with large user sets

5. Reduce synchronized user count:

   • Limit the number of users synchronized from LDAP to Jira to improve performance

See Reducing the number of users synchronized from LDAP to JIRA applications. 

Consider caching strategies

Implementing effective caching strategies can help reduce the frequency of connections to the user directory and improve overall performance.

Caching considerations:

1. Review Jira's built-in caching mechanisms for user directory data

2. Adjust cache sizes and expiration times based on your environment's needs

3. Consider implementing application-side caching for frequently accessed user data

4. Balance cache effectiveness with the need for up-to-date user information