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Application Server Overload

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    Application Server Overload

    I am experiencing a performance issue, where the application server stops processing requests.

    I am running the stand alone application server with MS SQL server. In addition to data entry, there are reports and processes that users run in the application. When multiple users are running reports and other processes that are pretty intensive on the server side, the application server will stop responding to requests and cause the user to sit there staring at a blank or non responsive screen, sometimes for a few minutes. Even the login screen will not load. My browser does not timeout, it just sits there with a completely white screen. Eventually the non responsive screens will get processed and things move forward.

    I have been looking for clues that may tell me what is causing this issue. During these periods, the server's CPU stays primarily around 50% and memory is on average 50%, so it doesn't look like a hardware upgrade would help us out. I was running the RAW_HTTP log because I thought maybe the server was running out of threads and the number of threads never goes above 17.

    There is a gradual degradation in performance that will eventually lead to complete freezing. Are we hitting some limitation of the alpha server? Are there other performance indicators or logs that I can look at to solve this issue?

    Any suggestions are appreciated.

    Matt

    #2
    Re: Application Server Overload

    What configuration are you running (cpu/memory) + Are you using the report server (you should from what I've been reading) ?
    Frank

    Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Application Server Overload

      I tried to reply, but it didn't appear in the thread, so I'll try again...

      Our machine is hosted by zebrahost and we have two cores with 4GB of memory. The CPU doesn't exceed 50% utilization, nor does the memory, but I'm open to suggestions.

      We aren't using a report server. Where can I find information on it? Is it a product from alpha?

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Application Server Overload

        Some info about the report server here.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Application Server Overload

          That video looks exactly like the problems I'm experiencing. I do have a alpha subscription and it looks like I have a license code the Report Server. I just applied the license to my development environment. I can't find any documentation on the Report Server outside of the link you provided. Do I need to do anything else to set this up? Or will the benefits of the report server be noticeable once I publish my application (that just seems too easy).

          Matt

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Application Server Overload

            Yep, after you activate the feature pack you just have to re-publish everything. It's already built in.

            This is from the release notes:

            Report Server - The Report server boosts the throughput of Reports in a Web Application by offloading the processing of reports to a separate process running on unused cores of your machine.

            NOTE: The Report Server can only be used if your Application Server is running on a multi-core processor.
            The Report Server is separately licensed and can be licensed for 4 core, 8 cores, or max cores on your machine.
            (Subscribers automatically get the 4 core license).

            Without the Report Server, when a user requests a report that takes a long time to print, other users of the application must wait until the report has completed.
            With the Report Server, other users do not have to wait until the report has completed before their requests are serviced.

            There's a little more info in the release notes.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Application Server Overload

              Hi Matt,
              Also very important to know which build are you using for the server, there has been many fixes for performance issues with the report server in the latest pre-released versions, I am using V11 build 3625-4151 for a couple of weeks and so far it is very stable and directly fixed 95% of my issues with the Alpha Web Server.

              As you know there are many warnings about using pre-released versions, but trust me, this build is pretty solid and in your case, you may have no choice other than go with the pre-released unless it is released already

              About the report generations, the Report Server is a must have in these cases, it will definitely be noticeable by your users the gain on responsiveness by the web application.
              Edhy Rijo
              Progytech
              (Computer Consultants)
              The makers of CardTracking.Net
              www.progytech.com

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Application Server Overload

                Thanks for the suggestion of the report server, however I don't think the report server is going to help me. I am not using Alpha's reporting Genie to create these reports. Our reports are Xbasic functions executing on the server through AJAX callbacks. From the video above, we are experiencing the same issues with our functions that Alpha's reporting system causes, and the report server in turn corrects. Given the fact we are experiencing these issues while running our Xbasic functions during AJAX callbacks, am I correct the Report Server will not help?

                Is it a limitation of the alpha server that during an AJAX callback, the application server is not available to respond to requests by other users? Are there other considerations, because some functions seem to completely bring the system to a halt, while others just slow down the system.

                Matt

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Application Server Overload

                  Sounds like you have an in-house system, so I have two suggestions. First, install a second instance of the application server. The app server only uses a single core, so the second instance will automatically use the second core. One instance will continue to run on port 80 (the default) and one could run on any other port, say 81. To use the port 81 instance the users would put :81 in the url. There's lots of info on that on the board.

                  Second, try to find ways to speed up the SQL processing. Make sure you have the indexes you need and consider using stored procedures for faster database processing.

                  Good luck!
                  Pat Bremkamp
                  MindKicks Consulting

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Application Server Overload

                    Pat, thanks for the suggestions. I am finding executing any amount of Xbasic code in an ajax callback, affects performance for other users. It seems a short running callback has very little effect on other users. As a test I have created a function that does cn.execute and loops though the result set. When running the cn.execute the system is completely frozen. Once I start processing the resultset, the system seems to be frozen initially, but in the middle of processing the result set, the system starts responding to other users. My results seem to confirm that speeding up SQL processing would help, as that seems to be a process that causes the application server to stop responding to requests. I have been resisting stored procedures, but I may be better off taking as much processing off of alpha server as possible.

                    I will have to do some investigating in regards to running a second instance on a different port. I understand the concept I just need to see how that would work in execution. I would want it to be seamless to my users.

                    Thanks again.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Application Server Overload

                      Originally posted by bavism View Post
                      I have been resisting stored procedures, but I may be better off taking as much processing off of alpha server as possible.
                      Well, for any web system not just on Alpha, the more process you can get at the database level the better, specially when using MS-SQL Server. I make use of everything the database has to offer, Stored Procedures, Views, Triggers, etc. then in Alpha is just a matter of using those resources, for example, for all my reports, I designed views with the exact aggregated fields I would need in the report, these views usually have all kind of joins and sub-queries properly optimized at the database level, then in Alpha report, it is just a matter of use this view then add some parameters or arguments to the report query and 98% of the process is done by the database and not the Alpha web server.
                      Edhy Rijo
                      Progytech
                      (Computer Consultants)
                      The makers of CardTracking.Net
                      www.progytech.com

                      Comment

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