Install the Perforce service on a network drive

By default, the Perforce service runs under the local System account. Because the System account has no network access, a real userid and password are required in order to make the Perforce service work if the metadata and depot files are stored on a network drive. The Perforce service is then configured with the supplied data and run as the specified user instead of System.

If you are installing your server root on a network drive, the P4 Server installer requests a valid combination of userid and password at the time of installation. This user must have administrator privileges.

Although the Perforce service runs reliably using a network drive as the server root, there is still a marked performance penalty due to increased network traffic and slower file access. Consequently, Perforce recommends that the depot files and P4 Server database reside on a drive local to the machine on which the Perforce service is running.