DBMT is good - but like most hybrids, it is a compromise

Sometimes I think of DBMT as the love child of Compact and Updall. It combines some of their functionality, but sometimes you notice bits are missing, don’t work, or don’t work the way you think they should.

The big issue that we keep encountering lately is that DBMT only enforces a time limit for it's compacting tasks; the index update threads will happily continue for hours. This is not ideal, especially for some view indexing operations on large databases.

I have discussed this before, and now I'm leaning more towards reverting to the old practice of running Updall as a server task and simply setting the updall threads in DBMT to zero. After all, it worked perfectly fine like that for over 25 years!

It feels like the right way forward. 

Can you see any obvious downsides? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

DominoBackupRunFaster=1 Turbo Boost !

Recently, Daniel Nashed introduced us to a new setting in Domino (FILE_COPY_BUFFER_SIZE) that can significantly enhance Domino backup performance. You can read more about it in his blog post

We love doing storage optimization, so we wanted to find out how file system fragmentation and this setting worked together, so we conducted several rounds of testing to evaluate its impact (if any). 

The tests were performed on a physical server running Windows 2019, with locally attached storage formatted as NTFS.

I will avoid boring you with hours of testing, flushing caches, and rebooting servers and just provide a summary of our findings:

1. On a server with low levels of file system fragmentation (i.e., maintained by the Database Optimizer), there is very little difference in transfer rates when comparing the default and large buffer sizes. In both cases, the transfer rates are very fast.

2. Fragmented file storage did affect the backup transfer rates.

3. On a server with moderate levels of fragmentation, using the larger buffer size (1MB) provided us with about a 67% increase in transfer rates.

4. On a server with moderate levels of fragmentation, which was then defragmented, the increase in transfer rates is about 300%.

Here are two screen shots show a before and after:

Before: Fragmented database backup with modified notes.ini setting (FILE_COPY_BUFFER_SIZE=1048576)

After: Contiguous database backup with modified notes.ini setting (FILE_COPY_BUFFER_SIZE=1048576)

So, what does this mean in the real world?

If possible, keep your storage tidy and unfragmented because, in the end, the golden rule remains: less I/O equals better outcomes. The savings can be dramatic. Maybe give the Optimizer a go!

If you can't be bothered with any of that, then our testing shows that you are highly likely to benefit from running a large buffer size. It's magic, just like free coffee.

Happy backing up!

Full-Text Index Optimization recap

With the aim of enhancing overall performance and facilitating more efficient management of full text indexes in Domino, we introduced a series of updates to the Database Optimizer towards the end of 2023.

In case you missed them, here are the highlights:

Announcing the Full-Text Index Size Management feature in The Domino Optimizer

Indexing attachments without filters -- madness?

Targeted improvement of Domino indexing and server performance

New Full-Text Index rebuild functionality

Full-text index bloat is a real thing. How to know if you've got it and what to do if you have.

It's never been easier to spot problems and optimize Full-text Indexes

These recent updates make the Optimizer even more valuable.

It's been said that not knowing what you don't know is the most dangerous situation to be in. Perhaps it's time to get you Full Text Indexes under control! Check out the Domino Optimizer.

Take control of DBMT compact maintenance

This was a feature we just made even better in our Domino Optimizer.

We have included multiple optimizations to control what databases DBMT compacts that make a dramatic difference to its efficiency and workload:

The first and very powerful setting is the “Only Compact when Freespace exceeds” fields on the Optimization Schedule.

By setting this field a database can only become a candidate for DBMT compacting when the freespace within it exceed the amount specified.

You can also exclude databases from DBMT compacting if estimated freespace recovery is below a configured number of MB. This works together with the percentage setting to help prevent compacting many smaller databases where possibly only a couple of MB or less would be recovered for little benefit. These settings avoid potentially processing hundreds of database where little, or no, freespace can be recovered.

You can also control databases that are excluded from DBMT compact processing by adding them to the “Exclude the following databases from DBMT processing field” or adding the directory to the “Exclude the following directories from DBMT processing field”

The end result is significantly less time and resources used “compacting for the sake of compacting” and the benefits from there are substantial, dramatically reducing DBMT processing times, preventing fragmenting those databases during compacting, and preventing unnecessary DBIID changes, which also reduces backup time and space requirements.

Why not prevent your servers from wasting processing time? Try, The Domino Optimizer for free for 30 days.

What do the symbols in the Databases Indexed view mean?

 What do the symbols in the Databases Indexed view mean?

The Databases Indexed view in the Optimizer contains a wealth of information about your full text indexes. Here's a quick guide to what the symbols mean and how you can spot issues:

One wonders what a Databases Index view could reveal about your server. Why not find out with a free trial of the Optimizer ?

Domino 12.0.2 FP3 is now included in our Security Check Application.

We are happy to announce that our proprietary security check application is now compatible with the newly released HCL Domino 12.0.2 FP3. This upgrade makes our application more necessary than ever in maintaining the security and integrity of your Domino server, helping you keep track of any missing security fixes and updates.

As you may know, running old and outdated software can pose a significant cybersecurity risk, as older software versions may contain known vulnerabilities and security weaknesses that cyber attackers can exploit. Our security check application's primary role is to mitigate this risk by informing you of what you might be missing. 

How does it work?

Simply visit our application link here, input your Domino server details, and our updated application will check for patches and security fixes. It will then provide a report, signifying which security fixes your current version of Domino is missing.

This security check is built into our Domino Opimizer solution. 

The Domino Optimizer is a culmination of over a decade of optimization work. The product serves as an ultimate 'set and forget' utility for Domino, offering an intuitive user interface for user-friendly operations. The Domino Optimizer is essentially an evolved version of the Defrag. NSF+ utility and encompasses all its key features. Offering a year's license for $US 150 per server, it aims to facilitate superior optimization processes economically. Free trial options allow users to explore its features before committing to the full version. Check it out here

Are your full-text indexes out of control?

They say, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it." and up until now, it’s been extremely difficult to get a single view of the state of your full-text indexes. 

When full-text indexes are out of shape, they occupy more disk than required and cause additional work for updall and dbmt. Additional work = slower servers, more disk and high CPU usage. This can cause delays in rebuilds and missing documents - users hate that, and no one is happy.  

We solved this problem for you in 2023 when we added a new feature to the Optimizer so you can quickly identify FTI issues and promptly fix them. It's time to get this under control.

Here are some links to our recent blogs:

Announcing the Full-Text Index Size Management feature in The Domino Optimizer

Indexing attachments without filters -- madness?

Targeted improvement of Domino indexing and server performance

New Full-Text Index rebuild functionality

Full-text index bloat is a real thing. How to know if you've got it and what to do if you have.

It's never been easier to spot problems and optimize Full-text Indexes

So, start 2024 by taking control. Click here for a free trial.

Merry Christmas, and all the best for 2024.

Preemptive