[Qgis-user] Qgis best practices

Wed Jan 28 06:53:31 PST 2026

Hi Muki,

Could it be the QGis .qgz file has in-meory layers saved into it 
(through a plug-in like the 
https://plugins.qgis.org/plugins/MemoryLayerSaver/

regards,

Gert-Jan

On 1/28/2026 12:10 PM, Muki Lukuna | IT Synergy wrote:
> SMB Multichannel is indeed active, it is a .qgz file
>
> Muki Lukuna
> IT Cloud Engineer @ IT Synergy
>
>
> ITS footer email.png
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *Van:* QGIS-User <qgis-user-bounces at lists.osgeo.org> namens Gert-Jan 
> van der Weijden - GISNederland via QGIS-User <qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org>
> *Verzonden:* woensdag 28 januari 2026 12:02
> *Aan:* Muki Lukuna | IT Synergy via QGIS-User 
> <qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org>; qgis-community-team at lists.osgeo.org 
> <qgis-community-team at lists.osgeo.org>
> *Onderwerp:* Re: [Qgis-user] Qgis best practices
> Perhaps Azure Multichannel settings?
> See
> https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flearn.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Fazure%2Fstorage%2Ffiles%2Fsmb-performance%3Ftabs%3Dportal&data=05%7C02%7Cmuki.lukuna%40itsynergy.nl%7C76abaa8e7fa4471977cf08de5e5dacc2%7C1e902b754a054930ab2d2f2ef9d57937%7C0%7C0%7C639051953618259209%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=IZpCNEXikxTmh9NJkU3sdR0aT8uMoODMPFWN0j7zflk%3D&reserved=0 
> <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/files/smb-performance?tabs=portal>
>
>
> Apart from that: what kind of file is the 2 Mb file?
> A QQis project file (.qgz), or a geopackage (.gpkg, which is a sqlite
> under the hood), or a file geodatabase (.fgb, which is under the hood a
> large number of files, probably zipped together)
>
>
> regards,
>
> Gert-Jan
>
>
> On 1/27/2026 2:48 PM, Greg Troxel via QGIS-User wrote:
> > Muki Lukuna | IT Synergy via QGIS-User <qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org>
> > writes:
> >
> >> I work for an MSP and we manage IT for a client that recently 
> migrated from an on-prem environment (RDS + file server in
> >> the same rack) to Azure Virtual Desktop. Since the migration, QGIS 
> performance has degraded when opening and saving
> >> certain datasets/projects.
> > I hope this move turns out to be a good idea!
> >
> > What was the performance experience when you configured and tested the
> > setup in staging before committing to the migration?
> >
> >> Environment
> >>
> >> * QGIS version: 3.40.12 “Bratislava”
> >> * Azure Virtual Desktop (multiple session hosts)
> >> * Data stored on Azure Files / Storage Account (Premium), same 
> region as AVD
> >> * Access via Private Endpoint (no public internet path to the storage)
> >> * First days after migration were OK, issues became noticeable 
> after a few days
> > Many of us know nothing about Azure, but I'm going to guess this is just
> > CIFS.
> >
> >
> >> Symptoms
> >>
> >> * Opening and saving files is slow and sometimes appears to hang
> >> * For one specific dataset/project, QGIS crashes on open or on save
> >> * Windows Explorer also becomes “Not responding” when 
> opening/saving that same file set (seems I/O related)
> >> * Other files can also feel slower, but the reported file is 
> consistently problematic
> >> * The file that seems to hang the most is a 2 mb file
> > If Windows Explorer is hanging that is a very strong clue that you have
> > infrastructure problems and this is no a qgis issue.
> >
> > In 2026, 2 MB is not a big file.  Just as a not-your-environment test, I
> > found a 2 MB file on an NFS server (NetBDSD) on a not-particularly fast
> > client (Raspberry Pi 4, NetBSD), connected via GbE, and ran sha1 to
> > checksum it.
> >
> > The first time was 386 ms, the second was 31 ms, and the third a few
> > minutes later was also 31 ms.  I conclude that it took about 350 ms to
> > fetch the file.
> >
> >
> > Your report is not quantitative, just saying "slow", and with "hang" you
> > didn't say how long you waited (or if other file accesses were ok in
> > that time frame).  But I'm pretty sure you're not complaining about
> > opening a dataset taking 350 ms to fetch and another second to process.
> >
> >
> >> What we are looking for
> >>
> >> * Are there known QGIS settings, data formats, provider options, or 
> project configurations that can cause heavy file
> >>   locking / long blocking I/O over network storage?
> >> * Any recommended best practices for running QGIS in a VDI/remote 
> desktop setup with data stored on network file shares
> >>   (Azure Files), especially regarding caching, temp directories, or 
> avoiding certain workflows?
> >> * Any logging or diagnostics you recommend (QGIS logs, GDAL/OGR 
> debug options, crash dump locations) that would help
> >>   narrow down whether this is QGIS-related vs 
> storage/SMB/locking/latency?
> > Best practice is not to store data over CIFS.  I would suggest using
> > postgresql/postgis instead.
> >
> > Overall, you seem to be having a network filesystem problem.  Many
> > people use QGIS over CIFS and have only the moderate trouble of not
> > having reasonable multi-user access.  That isn't a proof that there
> > isn't a qgis problem, but it's a clue.
> >
> > It seems obvious that you should be running fileystem tests and
> > benchmarks on the infrastructure without qgis, and only when that seems
> > to have great performance worry about qgis.   With desktops and servers
> > all in the same cloud region, performance should be excellent.
> >
> > To help others (as you are asking for peer help within a community),
> > please post the results of benchmarks, and the eventual resolution.
> >
> > Greg
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