Performance Tuning What Every WebFOCUS Customer Should Know Presenters: Paul Phillips Anthony Alsford June 9, 2015 1
Agenda Where Do You Start? Investigation Questions Architecture Overview - Performance Considerations User/Developer Considerations WebFOCUS Client Considerations WebFOCUS Reporting Server Considerations Demo Q&A
Where Do You Start? 3
Investigative Questions Is everyone having issues or is it a subset of users? If it is a subset of users: Are the users experiencing issues inside the firewall or outside? Are they using wired internet or wireless? Are they on location or off site in the field, maybe using VPN? Is it just the developers? Is it just the advanced adhoc users using InfoAssist? 43 4
Investigative Questions Are all reports running slow or is it just a few reports? If it s just a few reports: Are the slow reports running against a specific data source? Are the reports being run at a specific time? Is it the actual report running slowly or are the launch pages controlling the user entered selection criteria slow? Is the individual report slow or is it only slow when running in the BI Portal? Answers to these questions can guide you where to begin your search. 43 5
Architecture Overview: Performance Considerations
WebFOCUS BI Architecture WebFOCUS has 3 main components: Development and User Tier: For developers - App Studio/Developer Studio For all other users web browsers Web Tier - WebFOCUS Client Data Access Tier - WebFOCUS Reporting Server (WFRS) Developer Studio App Studio WebFOCUS Client Repository WebFOCUS Reporting Server Data Web Browser Web Server/ Application Server Relational Multidimensional Flat 4
Development and User Tier Developers Developers use Developer Studio or App Studio which are both Windows-based application development environments. Users users only need a web browser to access WebFOCUS. Performance Considerations: machine and network capacity, noting there can be a significant difference between wireless versus wired connections. Developer Studio App Studio WebFOCUS Client Repository WebFOCUS Reporting Server Data Web Browser Web Server/ Application Server Relational Multidimensional Flat 5
The Web Tier The WebFOCUS Client requires a web server and a web application server. The WebFOCUS Client includes: Managed Reporting, InfoAssist, BI Portal, ReportCaster, and Report Library. The WebFOCUS Repository is a relational database that contains the WebFOCUS Client content along with user, group, and security information. Developer Studio Developer App Studio Studio WebFOCUS Client Repository WebFOCUS Reporting Server Data Web Browser Web Server/ Application Server Relational Multidimensional Flat 6
WebFOCUS Client: What you should know WF Repository RDBMS Everything in the Content, Favorites, Mobile Favorites, and Portal folders are stored in the WF Repository. The WF Repository also contains all security objects for the WF Client, including user information, roles and rules. WebTier Web server e.g., IIS, WebSphere, WebLogic, etc. Web application server e.g., Tomcat, WebSphere, WebLogic, etc. WebFOCUS Client: Managed Reporting BI Portal Report Caster/ Library InfoAssist 65
WebFOCUS Client: What you should know WF Repository RDBMS WebTier Database Server Performance Considerations: The web server and web application server need to be tuned for maximum performance. InfoAssist and BI Portal response times could indicate a bottleneck here. Work with your web administrator for guidance. Web server e.g., IIS, WebSphere, WebLogic, etc. Web application server e.g., Tomcat, WebSphere, WebLogic, etc. WebFOCUS Client: Managed Reporting BI Portal Report Caster/ Library InfoAssist The RDBMS used for the WebFOCUS Repository should be able to return the WebFOCUS content quickly. Retrieval from or insert into the repository can be a reflection of database performance. 76
The Data Tier The WebFOCUS Reporting Server: accesses data from various data sources applies any additional business logic needed to satisfy the report request formats the data into the requested output sends the results back to the WebFOCUS Client. Developer Studio Developer App Studio Studio WebFOCUS Client Repository WebFOCUS Reporting Server Data Web Browser Web Server/ Application Server Relational Multidimensional Flat 8-9
WebFOCUS Reporting Server: What you should know Everything in the Reporting Server folders is stored on disk on the WebFOCUS Reporting Server machine under: <ibi root folder>/ibi/srv81 RDBMS ERP/ CRM Data Access Tier WebFOCUS Reporting Server WebFOCUS Data Adapters Big Data DB Cloud SaaS Providers Social Media 8-9 7
WebFOCUS Reporting Server: What you should know Performance Considerations: For every request coming into the WFRS, an agent is activated. Each agent takes up machine capacity: CPU and memory The WebFOCUS Reporting Server needs to be tuned for optimal performance: Do you lower maximum number of agents and turn on agent queuing? Do you increase maximum number of agents allowed and add machine capacity? 97
WebFOCUS Reporting Server: What you should know Performance Considerations: WFRS sends the data request to the data source. The data source may need tuning. The request provided to WebFOCUS by the developer/user may need to be tweaked to improve performance. Processes like Report Caster may be competing for resources and need to be moved to run at non-peak hours. Excessive use of WebFOCUS internal databases (HOLD files) may compete for machine power. 10 7
So Let s Get Started to the demo!! 11 7 16
Conclusion: What s Next? In Summary: Use Investigative questions to narrow your search: How widespread is the issue? Check wired vs. WIFI Use the WebFOCUS Reporting Server Data Services Agents view to monitor processes as they run. Consider data marts to improve DBMS retrieval times. Consider ReportCaster and/or running reports in deferred mode. If InfoAssist or the Portal appear slow: Check WebFOCUS repository database Check web application server If all else fails, reach out to your local Information Builders office for programs that may help: Professional Services Enterprise Enablement Program 39 7