Performance Enhancements

Add-ins for design applications consume additional memory. The amount of memory they consume is typically small, but in certain circumstances, it makes sense to review the memory usage on the client. The most common problems occur when the original client CAD model uses most of the available memory of a computer before introducing a vault into the workflow. Please refer to the Server Memory section for additional instructions on how to review the memory usage on your systems.

Like the server, client computers can suffer from disk fragmentation as well. The concept of analyzing disk fragmentation is the same for both clients and servers.

1. On the Windows Start menu, select Programs ► Autodesk ► Autodesk Data Management ► Tools ► Autodesk Server Diagnostics Tool.
   The diagnostic tool automatically performs a check. The results of the diagnostic tests display in a list, indicating which of the checks passed successfully, generated a warning, or failed.
   
   • If a warning is returned, click the link in the Warning list to get more information.
   • If any of the checks fail, click the link displayed under the Action Required list to learn more about the error.
   • When the diagnostics are complete, click Close and then click Open Log Files to open the directory containing the log files.

Learn more about errors and corrections:

• In the Review Your Results list, click the error information under the Action Required list. It is linked to the corresponding pages of Autodesk Vault server installation help.

During the pre-checks of the data management server installation, you receive this message:

This error sometimes occusr if the ASP.NET Web service Extension is not allowed to run in Internet Information Services (IIS).

Solution:

1. Open the Internet Information Services Manager.
2. Expand the Web Services Extension Folder.
3. In the right pane, select ASP .NET v4.0.30319.
4. Select the ASP .NET extension in the right pane.
5. Click Allow.
6. Restart the pre-checks.

During the pre-checks of the data management server installation, you receive the message "Error ASPX failed to run ASP .NET filter is prohibited."

Solution:

1. Open the Internet Information Services Manager.
2. Expand the Web Services Extension Folder.
3. From the right pane, select ASP .NET v4.0.30319.
4. Select the ASP .NET extension in the right pane.
5. Click Allow.
6. Restart the pre-checks.

During the pre-checks of the data management server installation you receive the message "ASPX failed to run at URL: http:// localhost/TestASPNet.aspx."

The cause of this error can be if .NET 2.0 is installed prior to installing Internet Information Services (IIS) and ASP >NET account does not have the proper permissions on the IIS Metabase.

Solution:

1. Open a Windows command prompt and navigate to the %systemroot%\microsoft.net\framework\v4.0.30319\ directory.
2. Enter aspnet_regiis.exe -ga "%computername%\Network Service" for Windows Server 2003 operating systems.
3. Enter IISRESET
4. Restart the pre-checks.

During the pre-checks of the data management server installation you receive the message "Error 29001. Performance counter installation error. Input string was not a correct format."

This error sometimes occurs when the installation attempts to add performance counters for the data management server.

Solution:

To check the current state of the performance counters:

1. Click Start (Windows) ► Run.
2. In the Run dialog box, enter Perfmon
3. Verify that you can add performance counters to the list to be monitored.

An inability to add performance counters indicates that system files are corrupted.

To repair these files:

1. Using Windows Internet Explorer, browse to C:\WINDOWS\system32
2. Rename the perfc009.dat and perfh009.dat files to perfc009.dat.OLD and perfh009.dat.OLD, respectively.
3. Click Start (Windows) ► Run.
4. In the Run dialog box, enter lodctr /r:PerfStringBackup.ini.
5. Export a copy of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Perflib\009 from the system registry of a working computer and transfer it to your computer.
6. Change the Data Values of the Last Counter and Last Help keys so that they are the same as in the system registry of the working computer.
7. Restart your computer.

While running the data management server on the 64-bit version of Windows server 2003 you notice an Event ID 2274 error in the Event Viewer Application log, indicating a problem with ISAPI filter.

Solution:

Refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894435/en-us.

A dedicated server operating system such as Windows server 2008 is preferable to workstation operating systems, such as Windows XP Professional or multi-purpose server operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008.

Using multiple disks generally enhances system performance. There are many types of disk technologies available, such as the Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID). Choosing which type of disk technologies depends on the number of users, vault size, frequency of updates, and so on.

Disk fragmentation can also greatly affect Autodesk Vault server performance. Most Windows editions provide a disk tool that measures how the files on your computer are stored on disk.

Run the disk defragmenter

1. Click Start ► All Programs ► Accessories ► System Tools ► Disk Defragmenter.
   
2. Choose a disk (volume) and click Analyze. Following analysis, a report appears.
   
3. Click the Defragment button.
   

Some types of Anti-virus programs scan data coming from the network and data being written to the file store. If your anti-virus software appears to be engaged for too long on vault operations, such as uploads, adjusting the scanner settings may help.

There is, of course, a trade-off between security and performance. Because of this, performing some test cases and benchmarks on your own data and server is recommended.

Faster or multiple CPUs can improve vault performance. Since this option is typically more expensive than the others, consider it after you review the other areas.