XIr2 Recommended Performance Tuning Andy Erthal BI Practice Manager

Performance Tuning Defined Performance tuning is the improvement of system performance. The motivation for tuning can be real (its slow now) or anticipated (adding users). As load increases, performance decreases. The ability to accept a higher load is called scalability

Systematic Tuning Systematic tuning follows these steps: Assess the problem and establish numeric values that categorize acceptable behavior. Measure the performance of the system before modification. Identify the part of the system that is critical for improving the performance. This is called the bottleneck. Modify that part of the system to remove the bottleneck. Measure the performance of the system after modification

Universe Design A separate discussion on optimizing SQL Follow best practices Use Indexes, aggregates, shortcuts, etc. Apply row and time limits Train your users on not only how to build reports, but how to use specific universes

Report Efficiency and Schedules Verify reports are built according to best practices (you do have these?) Your BI Center of Excellence can help Audit the system for report usage, etc. Can some reports be scheduled? Audit the report schedules

Database resources / data models DB server percent utilization? What else is running on it? Is the data model for OLTP or queries? Indexs? Extra summary tables Number of DB connections

Repository Move the repository to a separate server For the Database For the File Store

Split Web and Application Servers Are you running Tomcat standalone? If yes, then add an HTTP server. This lets the application server focus on what it is good at, code translation, and lets the HTTP server handle HTML and image requests. Put each on separate servers Turn off IIS if not in use.

Add another Tomcat instance For failover To maximize server memory (Tomcat has a max of 1024MB JVM)

Tomcat Settings ParameterRecommended Settings maxProcessors150 - this value depends on the deployment size. minProcessors5 maxActiveSessions minIdleSwap URIEncodingUTF-8 useBodyEncodingForURItrue (for double byte characters) The Tomcat server.xml file allows you to configure Tomcat using a simple XML descriptor. This is usually locate din the conf directory. The following changes should be made.

Java Heap Memory Maximum / Initial Heap Size Default is: Max - 64 MB / Initial - 64 MB Max: Raise this to 1024 MB – 2048 MB Initial: Raise this to 512 MB Example: -Xmx1024m Server Mode Instructs the JVM to perform more extensive run-time optimization. Example: -Xmx1024m -server

Closing Sessions with the Browser When a user closes their browser while they have an active session, the session will remain active. User setting in XIr2 to Always log me off Bypassed with SSO No global setting, but... Performance Manager has a utility for this pmxir2_deployment_guide.pdf

Moving XSL transformation to IE Available in IE 6 or higher Delegates XML to XSL conversion to IE Lightens the load on the server WebI Viewing xir2_bip_deploy_en.pdf EPM xir2_epm_setup_en.pdf

View the last scheduled instance For a list of reports, the default is to open the document as it was last saved Some users will open this, then refresh it You an change the default to open the latest instance CMC -> Business Objects Enterprise Applications -> InfoView

Sharing Data between reports Only applies to Crystal Reports and DeskI Disabled by default Permits different users accessing the same report object to use the same data when viewing or refreshing a report. Reduces the number of database calls Reports generate faster

Performance Management Tracing Tracing is turned on by default Not auditing Low level debug activity Impacts performance I recommend turning this off If used, monitor disk usage / space

Use Server Groups Server groups can be used to direct report processing to a specific set of servers Organizes servers into sub-groups that can be managed and used independently Dedicate resources to a particular set of users and/or applications

Server Hardware Upgrade you server hardware New box with faster CPUs Increase the RAM (min 2 GB per CPU) Fast disks

Upgrade to SP2 Many buy fixes New features Improvements in the Import Wizard Improved DeskI to WebI conversion

Change the Server Defaults What type of environment do you have? Disable Services that are not needed DeskI or Crystal if not used Set server parameters DeskI is set to 5 by default

Job Server Defaults Job Servers kick off scheduled jobs The Reports Servers run the reports WebI, DeskI and Crystal each have their own Job Server The default is set to five This can be increased in most environments

Report Server Defaults Report Servers run the jobs WebI, DeskI and Crystal each have their own Report Server Maximum Simultaneous Report Jobs is the most important parameter to set Different for each server and environment Capacity planning helps here One for each CPU

References 11 Years BOBJ Experience Deployment Guide Administration Guide Recommended Settings Guide

Questions? Feel free to contact: Andy Erthal BI Practice Manager (314)