AA202: Performance Enhancers for Laserfiche Connie Anderson, Technical Writer

Agenda Server Configuration Finding and Eliminating Bottlenecks System Design Choices Client and Administration Console Settings and Tips

Server Configuration

Dueling Memory Distribute components as much as possible. Put SQL server and LF Server on separate machines. –Microsoft SQL Server is memory-greedy. Cap MSSQL memory usage.

Heavy Load Actions Writing data: –*High volume scanning. –**Indexing. –**Migrating. –**OCRing. –**Briefcase import. –**Volume attach. Reading data: –**Briefcase export. –**Volume export. –Publishing with Plus. *Can be scheduled for off peak hours **Can be run during off peak hours by a toolkit script

Microsoft SQL Server Other databases on the same server affect database performance. Multiple active databases on one server can lead to very slow performance. MSDE and MSSQL: Personal Edition have a ‘workload governor.’ –Deliberately slows certain operations when more than 8 simultaneous connections to the database exist. –Not present in full MSSQL or SQL Express.

SQL Indexes Inserting/removing large amounts of data into SQL can fragment SQL indexes. Can slow SQL retrieval times significantly. Rebuild SQL indexes on a regular basis.

Windows Defragmenter Files must be defragmented regularly. The more you wait, the worse it will get. You need to regularly defragment: Volume files. MSSQL database files.

Finding and Eliminating Bottlenecks

Bottlenecks First, determine where the bottleneck is. Windows Performance Monitor: –LF Server performance counters. –MSSQL performance counters. Laserfiche audit reports.

Bottlenecks Do something about it: Automate items for non-peak hours. –Backups. –QF Agent. –Import Agent. –Toolkit. Upgrade system. –Add memory. –Add disk space.

System Design

Importance of System Design Ease of retrieval. Scalability. Easier to learn the system. Make the system work for your particular needs.

Folder Structure Organizing documents makes them easier and faster to find. Strike a balance between too many and too few entries in a folder. Each folder should have a purpose. Folder names should be self-explanatory.

Entry Naming Names should be comprehensible. –“15392” vs “John Smith – Purchase Order” Names should be as unique as possible. –Consider search as well as browse. Names should be consistent.

Volumes Keep volume size manageable. –Large volumes lead to performance issues. –Volumes in 8 will tend to grow faster than in 7, because thumbnail and word location data is now stored in the volume. Use Logical Volumes to administer multiple smaller volumes automatically. Switch from large standard volumes to logical volumes using migration.

Metadata Use only as many metadata types as you need. –More links, fields, templates, tags, et cetera, causes the metadata lists to load more slowly. –More metadata types make it harder for users to choose the one they want. Store the data users will want to use to locate the document, or which users will want to have in front of them when the document is open.

Fields in Laserfiche 8 Fields in Laserfiche 8 exist independently from their template. Applying a single field – such as an “Author” field – to multiple templates makes it easy to search across templates. Laserfiche 8 includes a field merge utility.

Security Windows Accounts. Security management by group rather than user.

Automation Default values. Tokens. Constraints. Required fields.

Client and Administration Console Settings

Column Display Some columns take longer to load. –OCRed pages. –Page Count. –Linked, Version, certain records management columns. – 1219https://support.laserfiche.com/kb/KBArticle.aspx?ArticleID=

Search Most time for a search is spent loading and parsing the results. Fewer results = faster load time. Make search more exact. This does put more load on the server, but the tradeoff is often worth it. Fewer columns = faster load time.

Search Slow search types: Within Folder search. Searches involving calculations: –OCRed text. –RM: Cutoff Eligibility Date. –RM: Disposition Eligibility Date. –RM: Vital Record Review Date.

Fuzzy Search As fuzziness increases: –Time to run search increases. –Display time increases (more results returned). 40 results41,000 results

Review Strike a balance. Use only as much information as you need. Break large things into smaller parts.