BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrator's Guide

Modifying Cache Server performance settings

The Properties tab of the Cache Server allows you to set the location of the cache files, the maximum cache size, the maximum number of simultaneous processing threads, the number of minutes before an idle job is closed, and the number of minutes between refreshes from the database.

To modify Cache Server performance settings

1. Go to the Servers management area of the CMC.
2. Click the link to the Cache Server whose settings you want to change.
3. Make your changes on the Properties tab.

In this example, the Cache Server retains its default settings.

 

4. Click either Apply or Update:
• Click Apply to submit changes and restart the server so that the changes take effect immediately.
• Click Update to save the changes. You must restart the server for the changes to take effect.

Location of the Cache Files

The "Location of the Cache Files" setting specifies the absolute path to the directory on the Cache Server machine where the cached report pages (.epf files) are stored.

Note:    The cache directory must be on a drive that is local to the server.

Maximum Cache Size Allowed

The "Maximum Cache Size Allowed" setting limits the amount of hard disk space (in KBytes) that is used to cache reports. When the Cache Server has to handle large numbers of reports, or reports that are especially complex, a larger cache size is needed. The default value is 5000 Kbytes, which is large enough to optimize performance for most installations.

Maximum Simultaneous Processing Threads

The "Maximum Simultaneous Processing Threads" setting limits the number of concurrent reporting requests that the Cache Server processes. The default value is set to "Automatic", and is acceptable for most, if not all, reporting scenarios. With this setting, the Cache Server sets the maximum number of threads using the number of processors in your system as a guide. If your Cache Server responds slowly under high load, and resource utilization on the machine is high (that is, either memory usage is high or CPU utilization is high, particularly in the kernel), you may wish to decrease the number of threads to improve performance. If the Cache Server is slow under high load but CPU utilization is low, increasing the number of threads may improve performance. However, the ideal setting for your reporting environment is highly dependent upon your hardware configuration, your database software, and your reporting requirements. Thus, it is recommended that you contact your Business Objects sales representative and request information about the BusinessObjects Enterprise Sizing Guide. A Business Objects services consultant can then assess your reporting environment and assist you in customizing these advanced configuration and performance settings.

Minutes Before an Idle Connection is Closed

The "Minutes Before an Idle Connection is Closed" setting alters the length of time that the Cache Server waits for further requests from an idle connection. Before you change this setting, it is important to understand that setting a value too low can cause a user's request to be closed prematurely, and setting a value that is too high can cause requests to be queued while the server waits for idle jobs to be closed.

Share Report Data Between Clients

This setting appears only for Desktop Intelligence servers. Select to allow users to share data from Desktop Intelligence documents with other users.

Viewer Refresh Always Yields Current Data

When enabled, the "Viewer Refresh Always Yields Current Data" setting ensures that, when users explicitly refresh a report, all cached pages are ignored, and new data is retrieved directly from the database.

When disabled, this setting prevents users from retrieving new data more frequently than is permitted by the time specified in the "Minutes Between Refreshes from Database" setting.

Oldest On-Demand Data Given To a Client (in minutes)

The "Oldest On-Demand Data Given To a Client (in minutes)" setting determines how long cached report pages are used before new data is requested from the database. This setting is respected for report instances with saved data, and for report objects that do not have on-demand subreports or parameters and that do not prompt for database logon information. Generally, the default value of 15 minutes is acceptable: as with other performance settings, the optimal value is largely dependent upon your reporting requirements.

Always Share Report Jobs

This setting appears only for Desktop Intelligence servers. Select to allow users to share report jobs with other users by default.

Amount of Cache to Keep When Document Cache is Full

This setting appears only for the Desktop Intelligence Cache Server. Select a percentage of the cache to keep. This setting helps reduce the load on the Cache Server if you have a large deployment.