I've got a server running Windows Server 2008, and use it mainly for sharing files throughout the domain from a number of disks. It's running on VMware ESXi 4.0, in case that matters.

My problem is that when I log in to the server to check user permissions etc, the access speed the files on the remote disks almost grinds to a halt. I havn't been able to measure the speeds, but I would guess it slows down to about 100kB/s as soon as I log in.

This is on a gigabit network and the problems are equal for all users, even the ones connected to the same switch as the server. I've assigned 2 GB RAM to the server, and reserved it 1,5Ghz processor power. I don't have to do anything special on the server for this halt to occur.

How can I make sure file sharing is prioritized on the server, so no matter what applications I'm using it will always make sure file sharing works properly? Could this be a VMware issue?