Execution location of Live Reports

Patrick_McManus

I have some questions about the execution of LiveReports when run by a user.

When a user runs a LiveReport, the query is processed on the Content Server database, but where is the report itself "executed"?
Is report execution on the Admin server or on the Front End server?
Does the Front End server generate and present the output based on the result set returned from the database?
Are sorting and grouping of the results dependent on the query and the performance of the database?

My instincts tell me that

the database is doing all of the heavy work when executing a LiveReport
execution time are mainly dependent on database performance and the efficiency of the the SQL
Content Server is rendering and displaying the results as HTML on a page-by-page basis, not all-at-once

Can someone please confirm or refute these?

Thanks!

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appuGmail

When a user runs a LiveReport, the query is processed on the Content Server database, but where is the report itself "executed"?

Any Request that the content server receives like https://myserver/OTCS/llisapi.dll?func=llworkspace is parsed by a WebServer and executes the CGI script. It is then processed by an available thread. the available thread can actually call the livelink database. Technically the Admin Server or Services are a java middleware that allows the livelink system to talk or when it wants to talk to Content Server. If you enable thread and content server logging and look for the RunReport command if you find thread1.out containing the run report command then connect1.out will show you how "that" livelink server called the report through database client software. If it gets successful results then the thread will use HTML templates (which we used to call web lingo) to generate the output. If you were using SmartUI then the output is given to you as JSON with instruction that the browser understands. In essence, in SmartUI there's no pre-filling of data at the server level. Its all made to display at the browser level. I do not know too much about the sort aspects but usually, if there's paging involved there are mechanisms to show bits and pieces of that if you put fiddler you can see clues like pg1 and so on. When you do an actual search it burns a Cache Object that has some info to page and so on. LR I doubt if it has any paging constructs.

If you have a Livelink server Running on the Admin Server box and if you get to its llisapi.dll the Admin Server's Livelink server is actually doing the work. Many organizations use the Admin Server box to run notifications agents etc so may people incorrectly think the "Admin Service" is responsible for that but if you click the online help of Admin Server it should tell you clearly what its role is

Increasingly Admin servers control Memcached which is your first level cache so newer documentation says don’t use the Admin server box for livelink .

Ciao,

..... appnair appunair( Livelink Rocks )

Well, if I called the wrongnumber, why did you answer the phone?
James Thurber, New Yorker cartoon caption, June 5, 1937

On Wed, Jul 31, 2019 at 11:50 AM eLink Entry: Content Server LiveReports Forum <livereportsdiscussion@elinkkc.opentext.com> wrote:

Execution location of Live Reports Posted bypatrick.mcmanus@rcmp-grc.gc.ca (McManus, Patrick)On 07/31/2019 12:48 PM

I have some questions about the execution of LiveReports when run by a user. When a user runs a LiveReport, the query is processed on the Content Server database, but where is the report itself "executed"? Is report execution on the Admin server or on the Front End server? Does the Front End server generate and present the output based on the result set returned from the database? Are sorting and grouping of the results dependent on the query and the performance of the database?My instincts tell me that the database is doing all of the heavy work when executing a LiveReport execution time are mainly dependent on database performance and the efficiency of the the SQL Content Server is rendering and displaying the results as HTML on a page-by-page basis, not all-at-onceCan someone please confirm or refute these?Thanks!
[To post a comment, use the normal reply function]
Forum: Content Server LiveReports Forum
Content Server: My Support

appuGmail

When a user runs a LiveReport, the query is processed on the Content Server database, but where is the report itself "executed"?

Increasingly Admin servers control Memcached which is your first level cache so newer documentation says don’t use the Admin server box for livelink .

Ciao,

..... appnair appunair( Livelink Rocks )

Well, if I called the wrongnumber, why did you answer the phone?
James Thurber, New Yorker cartoon caption, June 5, 1937

On Wed, Jul 31, 2019 at 11:50 AM eLink Entry: Content Server LiveReports Forum <livereportsdiscussion@elinkkc.opentext.com> wrote:

Execution location of Live Reports Posted bypatrick.mcmanus@rcmp-grc.gc.ca (McManus, Patrick)On 07/31/2019 12:48 PM

I have some questions about the execution of LiveReports when run by a user. When a user runs a LiveReport, the query is processed on the Content Server database, but where is the report itself "executed"? Is report execution on the Admin server or on the Front End server? Does the Front End server generate and present the output based on the result set returned from the database? Are sorting and grouping of the results dependent on the query and the performance of the database?My instincts tell me that the database is doing all of the heavy work when executing a LiveReport execution time are mainly dependent on database performance and the efficiency of the the SQL Content Server is rendering and displaying the results as HTML on a page-by-page basis, not all-at-onceCan someone please confirm or refute these?Thanks!
[To post a comment, use the normal reply function]
Forum: Content Server LiveReports Forum
Content Server: My Support

Patrick_McManus

Our users are accessing Content Server through multiple Front End servers behind a load balancer, so no access directly to the Admin server. They are not using Smart UI, only Classic UI. This is a new environment for me, just changed contracts on Monday and still getting up to speed compared to my last Content Server client. Some clients are raising concerns about LiveReports execution times and their impact on other users' sessions. The client thinks the FE servers are being impacted by the reports but I suspect that the problem is related to the execution of the report queries on the database. I know it is easy to write inefficient SQL against the Content Server data model, which is not designed with reporting as its highest priority.

Apart from rendering the results as HTML for display in the Classic UI, I don't see where the Front End would be doing any heavy lifting on report execution unless it processes large result sets in their entirety before displaying the first page. Also, given that there are multiple Front End servers, I would expect the Load Balancer to shift requests away from a server that was overly busy processing query results.

appuGmail

In your case what you need to is to run summarytimings logs buy performance analyzer and look at corelation of times versus requests . In many cases you will

Be given the exact math of how much did the database call take vs the Oscript code execution and delivery. Then you look at LRs and see if they can be optimized . OT also runs small workshops as paid engagements which is very valuable . Many times if other users feel the impact it can be related . Do see a post by David Templeton regarding DA performance as he has mentioned other gotchas. Once your database has been eliminated as part of the trouble then you should look at whether best practices common sense aspects etc has been compromised

Rarely will one LR bring down a system

My $0.02

Ciao, Appu

On Aug 1, 2019, at 6:40 AM, eLink Entry: Content Server LiveReports Forum <livereportsdiscussion@elinkkc.opentext.com> wrote:

eLink : [EXTERNAL] - Re Execution location of Live Reports 2
[EXTERNAL] - Re Execution location of Live Reports 2 Posted bypatrick.mcmanus@rcmp-grc.gc.ca (McManus, Patrick)On 08/01/2019 07:37 AM

Our users are accessing Content Server through multiple Front End servers behind a load balancer, so no access directly to the Admin server. They are not using Smart UI, only Classic UI. This is a new environment for me, just changed contracts on Monday and still getting up to speed compared to my last Content Server client. Some clients are raising concerns about LiveReports execution times and their impact on other users' sessions. The client thinks the FE servers are being impacted by the reports but I suspect that the problem is related to the execution of the report queries on the database. I know it is easy to write inefficient SQL against the Content Server data model, which is not designed with reporting as its highest priority.Apart from rendering the results as HTML for display in the Classic UI, I don't see where the Front End would be doing any heavy lifting on report execution unless it processes large result sets in their entirety before displaying the first page. Also, given that there are multiple Front End servers, I would expect the Load Balancer to shift requests away from a server that was overly busy processing query results.
[To post a comment, use the normal reply function]
Topic: Execution location of Live Reports
Forum: Content Server LiveReports Forum
Content Server: My Support

Patrick_McManus

Thanks Appu!

Patrick_McManus

Can you please post a link to David Templeton's post? I can't find anything searching the forum.

thanks again

Nizar Ghazal

Quoted Patrick McManus on 08/01/2019 09:02 AM:

Can you please post a link to David Templeton's post? I can't find anything searching the forum.

thanks again

I think perhaps it's this one, rather recent:

https://knowledge.opentext.com/knowledge/cs.dll/link/77107638

It's a pretty interesting thread.

I don't think you shared too much environmental detail, here, but if you like, you could ping support and see if there is a relevant performance whitepaper (for benchmarking) or a best practices document.

In a past life, the vast majority of database issues, with direct LiveReport usage, WebReport via LiveReport, or some sort of forms, fell down to a key few areas:

Underspecced resources for the number of documents, concurrent users and scale of operations (remember, things like moving many documents or a perms-update/change at the root of the workspace are extremely expensive, further if you have things like RM involved). I think the Professional Services team does scaling assessments for you, but the performance whitepapers do indicate what load the system was subjected to, a good reference point for your own architects and DBAs.

Unmaintained databases: stats, and fragmentation. They can be the difference between a 10ms query and 1000ms query. :-) The whitepapers cover what sort of things need to be configured, and there is a bit of a proactive requirement in keeping a big DB healthy. It's tempting to just leave auto stats on, but sometimes this needs a closer look based on your environment and CS usage.

Extraneous triggers/events/load: Basically, events that are not run by CS, but part of some external process can cause lock escalation on key tables or similar, sometimes the impact may not be obvious, at first. Ex: Blocking/Locking on something like DTreeACL would make add item slow, etc.

Legitimate bugs/enhancements: It always helps to stay relatively up-to-date. It's a good idea to ping support to find out if there are major improvements in specific areas. I know David Templeton's team puts a lot of work in making DA better every update. Realistically: updates take time, but it's good to stay informed on what's come out, and what's planned.

As Appu said previously, poorly written LiveReports can hurt a system, too, and not just that, be judicious in what sort of WebReports are being run, too, and precisely what it wants to do, and when it wants to do it. :-)

appuGmail

Yes, exactly most problems in Livelink as DT points is poor adherence to practices. Many times when you install something with Admin and Default Group many people use it for day to day things. this causes

unwanted membership checking changes, KState changes, and whatnot. Several customers in XECM also face this kind of problems because of non judicious use of the owner/creator. In old training knowledge fundamentals 101

they do mention that. While you may think that an LR may be the crux of your problem more than likely its just a symptom to a larger cause.

CS developers take pride in their software so in genuine cases of poorly performing code they actually fix it....I can personally vouch that they have listened to all of us.

Ciao,

..... appnair appunair( Livelink Rocks )

Well, if I called the wrongnumber, why did you answer the phone?
James Thurber, New Yorker cartoon caption, June 5, 1937

On Thu, Aug 1, 2019 at 8:04 AM eLink Entry: Content Server LiveReports Forum <livereportsdiscussion@elinkkc.opentext.com> wrote:

Re [EXTERNAL] - Re Execution location of Live Reports 2 2 Posted bynghazal@opentext.com (Ghazal, Nizar)On 08/01/2019 09:02 AM

Quoted Patrick McManus on 08/01/2019 09:02 AM:

Can you please post a link to David Templeton's post? I can't find anything searching the forum.
thanks again

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Topic:	Execution location of Live Reports
Forum:	Content Server LiveReports Forum
Content Server:	My Support