Workspace Server Configuration Tasks :: SAS(R) 9.3 Intelligence Platform: Application Server Administration Guide

Tune Workspace Servers for Best Performance

To obtain the best performance from your SAS Web applications, you should consider tuning the workspace server that your SAS Web application is using. The changes that you can make include specifying the following:

an appropriate work folder
a buffer size for writing files to the work area
a limit on the total amount of memory that SAS uses at any one time

Note: For memory-intensive workloads on z/OS, you might need to adjust the user's USS RACF profile. For more information, see Specify a Larger Region Size in SAS Companion for z/OS.

The following table lists some of the SAS system options that you can set. Add System Options to the Workspace Server Launch Command explains how to add the system options to the command that starts the workspace server.

System Options for the Tuning the Workspace Server

System Option	Explanation
-RSASUSER	Opens the SASUSER library in Read-Only mode. Declaring this library read only makes the workspace server much faster for SAS Web Report Studio.
-work work-folder	Specifies the pathname for the directory that contains the Work data library. This directory should reside on a disk that emphasizes fast write performance.
-ubufsize size-value	Specifies a buffer size for writing files to the work area.
-memsize size-value	Specifies a limit on the total amount of memory that SAS uses at any one time.
-realmemsize size-value	Indicates the amount of RAM that is available to a process before it begins to page. Keeping this number low limits the amount of RAM that is consumed by a SAS server in order to reduce paging activity.
-sortsize size-value	Limits the amount of memory that can be used temporarily for sorting. Larger sort sizes reduce the use of the `work` folder, but increase the possibility of paging.
-cpucount processors-number	Specifies the number of processors that thread-enabled applications should assume will be available for concurrent processing. This setting maximizes the effectiveness of the SAS Web Report Studio sorting algorithm.

Note that the arguments to these options will be specific to the site and the job. Take care in choosing these values, and consult a SAS representative if necessary.

Configure Workspace Servers for a Locale

When SAS Web Report Studio is configured to run under certain locales, you must add the -nosyntaxcheck option to the start-up command for the workspace server. Add System Options to the Workspace Server Launch Command explains how to add system options to the start-up command.

Note: Alternatively, you can create a new SAS Application Server (parallel to SASApp) and a new workspace server within the new application server context. You can then change the command (using the -nosyntaxcheck option) for the new workspace server, without affecting the workspace server under SASApp. You can then assign selected libraries to the new application server, including any libraries that you intend to query for reports. See Configuring a Client-side Pooling Workspace Server to Enforce Row-Level Security for information about creating a new SAS Application Server and workspace server.

Add System Options to the Workspace Server Launch Command

After you have determined the system options that you want to use to start your workspace server, follow the directions in this section to edit the sas command that starts the server.

Note: For information about workspace server logging options, see Administering Logging for SAS Servers in SAS Intelligence Platform: System Administration Guide.

Note: At the end of this procedure, you will have optimized your workspace server for use with SAS Web Report Studio. If you are using other applications and these applications can benefit from a workspace server that is configured differently, you must create a new logical workspace server (under SASApp) and add a workspace server to it.

To add system options to the workspace server launch command, follow these steps:

In SAS Management Console, expand the Server Manager node, and then expand the SASApp - Logical Workspace Server node. You will see a tree node that represents the physical workspace server.
Right-click the icon for the physical workspace server, and select Properties from the pop-up menu. A Workspace Server Properties dialog box appears.
Click the Options tab. You will see the information that is shown in the following display.
Edit the text in the Command text box, which by default is set to:
```
configuration-directory\SASApp\WorkspaceServer\WorkspaceServer.bat
```
For example, here is a command with options that improve performance for a workspace server:
```
configuration-directory\SASApp\WorkspaceServer\WorkspaceServer.bat
-rsasuser -work work-folder -ubufsize 64K -memsize 512M
 -realmemsize 400M -sortsize 256M
```
Click OK in the Workspace Server Properties dialog box.

Configure Storage for Temporary OLAP Cube Build Files on SAS Workspace Servers

When you build a SAS OLAP cube, the SAS Workspace Server generates temporary utility files. At the end of the build, the server deletes the temporary files. If the build process terminates abnormally, remove the temporary files as described in Clean Up Temporary Files after Abnormal OLAP Server Shutdowns .

Follow these steps to allocate sufficient storage for temporary cube build files:

For a SAS Workspace Server that will be used to build cubes, determine the storage capacity that will be required for temporary build files. In general, temporary files can be expected occupy two to three times the disk space that will be used to store the source data of the largest cube that will be built by that server.
Divide in half the estimated storage capacity. Locate two suitable disks on the SAS Workspace Server. The disks need to retain, over time, an amount of free space that is equal to half of the estimated storage capacity for temporary build files.
In the launch command for the SAS Workspace Server, specify a value for the WORK= system option that consists of a path to one of the two disks. To allocate the other half of the storage requirement, specify a path to the second disk in both of the system options SPDEUTILLOC= and UTILLOC=. To learn how to add system options to the launch commands of SAS Workspace Servers, see Add System Options to the Workspace Server Launch Command.
Run test builds to validate and adjust your storage estimate.
If your cubes are expected to grow in size over time, periodically reassess and reassign system options to provide sufficient storage capacity.
Either ask your cube builders not to assign the WORKPATH= option in the PROC OLAP statement, or to assign that option with a value that includes the two paths that you specified for WORK= and SPDEUTILLOC=/UTILLOC=.
Be sure to allocate sufficient storage capacity on all SAS Workspace Servers that will be used to build SAS OLAP cubes.

For additional information about the memory and storage capacity of SAS Workspace Server, contact your SAS support representative.

Clean Up Temporary Files after Abnormal OLAP Server Shutdowns

When a SAS Workspace Server completes a cube build, it deletes the temporary files that it created during the build. If a SAS Workspace Server terminates incorrectly, some temporary files might remain. To retain the full amount of temporary storage space, delete the temporary files before your next cube build.

To delete temporary files, obtain the directory paths that are specified in the SAS OLAP Server configuration file for the system options WORK=, SPDEUTILLOC=, and UTILLOC=.