Improving Overall WebWatchBot Performance

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Contents

Summary

WebWatchBot is easy to install and setup; and maintaining it for optimal performance can be easy as well when following these best practices.

WebWatchBot's performance is dependent on several factors:

  1. Operating System
  2. WebWatchBot and other Applications
  3. Machine CPU speed and cores
  4. Machine physical memory (RAM)
  5. Database engine (SQL Server version)
  6. Database size

Best Practices

Operating System

  • WebWatchBot can be installed on older operating systems, e.g. Windows XP/2000; however, the best performance will be experienced with a newer OS, e.g. Windows 2008

WebWatchBot and other Applications

  • Other than SQL Server, anti-virus, and other Windows core programs, WebWatchBot should be the only application installed on the machine.
  • Other programs can interfere with WebWatchBot
  • There are no special firewall requirements for WebWatchBot
  • A Windows DEP exception should be made for WebWatchBot. Refer to KB: Running WebWatchBot on Windows 2003/2008/XP/Vista AND Newer
  • Install SQL Server and WebWatchBot on seperate machines on the same physical network. This type of isolation will benefit both applications.

Machine CPU speed and cores

  • CPU speed has a direct impact on the performance of both WebWatchBot and SQL Server
  • More cores are better than a single higher clock rate CPU.
  • As the database size increases, the number of cores becomes more important

Machine physical memory (RAM)

  • Physical memory (RAM) directly impacts the performance of SQL Server
  • As the database size increases, the amount of physical memory becomes more important

Database engine (SQL Server version)

  • SQL Server 2008 has better performance than 2005; and, 2005 has better performance than 2000/MSDE
  • The Express editions of SQL Server 2005 and 2008 are good free solutions and can be used with WebWatchBot.
  • WebWatchBot 5.x with MSDE Install Guide WebWatchBot with MSDE is good for small and starter implementations. For large configurations, heavy use, and large data retention, move to SQL Server 2008.
  • WebWatchBot 5.x with MSDE Install Guide WebWatchBot with MSDE has inherent performance limitations. The limitations are due to MSDE (Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine): Maximum database size of 2GB and performance throttling. For large configurations, heavy use, and large data retention, move to SQL Server 2008.

Database size

  • The size of the database can be determined through WebWatchBot Manager: Tools -> Database -> Report. "Total Table Rows" will show how many records are in the WebWatchBot database. The upper limit that hurts performance depends on each specific system configuration. For a low end machine, 10M rows is high. For a high-end machine, 100M rows is high.
  • Reduce the size of the database and gain performance. Refer to KB:How to Reduce the Total Amount of Data in the WebWatchBot Database


More Information

Correctly configuring and sizing a machine for WebWatchBot and SQL Server can be a time consuming process. ExclamationSoft offers Phone Support and Consulting not included in the ASA (Annual Support Agreement) to assist with this task. Please contact WebWatchBot Sales for more information.

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