Microsoft SharePoint(TM) Portal Server 2001 Resource Kit (Examples & Explanations Series)
The Web Storage System database and the Store.exe process are at the heart of the SharePoint Portal Server application. They provide the data for the dashboard site itself and the content in the various Web Parts on the dashboards. There is very little manual optimization that you can complete due to improvements in the Store.exe auto-tuning capabilities. However, you can modify some settings. Modification may improve dashboard site performance.
For the Web Storage System included with SharePoint Portal Server, these settings are stored in the registry under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\ESE98\Process\ Information Store\System Parameter Overrides\
Modifying the Multi-heap Registry Setting for Multiple Processors
When SharePoint Portal Server is installed on servers with more than four processors, you may notice high virtual memory usage by the Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) multi-heap. High virtual memory usage can lead to performance problems, especially when the server has multiple gigabytes of memory. Although ESE multi-heaps relate specifically to computers running Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server that have many databases and storage groups configured, modifying this setting may also benefit computers running SharePoint Portal Server. It is recommended that you add the following registry parameter to all servers with more than four processors.
Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Back up the current version of the registry before making any changes. You should also back up any valued data on the computer.
| Multi-heap Registry Setting | |
|---|---|
Location | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ESE98\Global\OS\Memory |
Parameter | MPHeap parallelism (REG_SZ) |
Default setting | (Does not exist) = Parallelism set to four times the number of processors installed. |
Recommended setting | For 6 to 8 processors, set the value to 0. This value will fix the number of heaps at 11. |
You must restart the Exchange Information Store process after you adjust the previous registry parameter.
Modifying the MaxSessions Registry Setting
The default number of available database sessions is 40. When running a lot of activities (backups, user sessions, subscription notifications, indexes, etc.) against the server, you can easily run out of database sessions. In this case, you can modify the following registry parameter.
Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Back up the current version of the registry before making any changes. You should also back up any valued data on the computer.
| MaxSessions Registry Setting | |
|---|---|
Location | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ESE98\Process\Information Store\System Parameter Overrides\ |
Parameter | MaxSessions (REG_SZ) |
Default setting | (Does not exist) = 40. |
Recommended setting | Increase significantly to avoid message in event log and request time-outs. Between 60 and 100. |
Modifying the Log Buffers Registry Setting
Web Storage System uses log buffers to store information in memory before writing to the transaction logs. For SharePoint Portal Server, the default value is 84. This value might be too low and could be the cause of excessive disk input/outputs (I/Os) to the transaction log drive. Significant performance degradation is seen if the server is under load or if users are sending large messages. You should increase the default value to 9000 on all servers. The following table summarizes this information.
Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system. Back up the current version of the registry before making any changes. You should also back up any valued data on the computer.
| Log Buffers Registry Setting | |
|---|---|
Location | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ESE98\Process\Informa tion Store\System Parameter Overrides\ |
Parameter | LogBuffers (REG_SZ) |
Default setting | (Does not exist) = 84 |
Recommended setting | 9000 |
Modifying the Store Database Cache Size
Exchange 2000 has a 900 MB maximum for the cache size of the store database. SharePoint Portal Server computers with more than 1 GB of memory may benefit from an increase in the size of this cache. Because of virtual address space limitations, this value should never be set higher than 1,200 MB.
The 900 MB limit is in place to ensure that the Store.exe process always has ample virtual address (memory) from which to allocate. Increasing this value too much can lead to system instability. For more information about virtual address space, see Appendix B.
Many factors can affect the virtual address space size in the Store.exe process. Some of these factors are:
- Initial allocation of virtual address space on startup
- Number of threads running
- Size of the store database cache
- Number of storage groups and databases on the server (this factor does not affect SharePoint Portal Server computers)
Before increasing the maximum cache size, it is recommended that the administrator use Performance Monitor to monitor the server memory under normal load.
Monitor the following Performance Monitor values:
- Performance Object: Process
- Counter: Virtual Bytes
- Instance: STORE
The information gathered from Performance Monitor gives you an accurate value for the virtual address space that the Store.exe process allocates. On a server with the /3GB switch set in the Boot.ini file, the value seen in Performance Monitor should be below 2.8 GB. On a server without the /3GB switch set in the Boot.ini file, the value should be below 1.8 GB. It is recommended that servers with 1 GB or more of memory have the /3GB switch added to the Boot.ini file. If you see values that are higher than those for either configuration, do not increase the size of your maximum cache size. If you see values that are lower for either configuration, you can safely increase the size of your database maximum cache size. For example, if you have a server configured with the /3GB switch, and Performance Monitor shows the virtual bytes count at 2.5 GB under heavy load, you know you can safely increase your maximum cache size by 300 MB, for a total of 1,200 MB.