4. Microsoft Dynamics AX Architectural Review
•
Data
• Microsoft Dynamics AX database, the model store, the Reporting
Services database, the Analysis Services database, and the Enterprise
Portal database.
Application
• Application Object Server (AOS), Enterprise Portal, Reporting and
Analytics, Workflow, Services and Application Integration Framework,
and Help Server
Presentation
• Microsoft Dynamics AX Rich Client and Enterprise Portal
5. Microsoft Dynamics AX Architectural Review
•
Menu
item
Parameters
form
Report
viewer
Report
(.rdl file)
Data
extension
Customization
extension
Metadata
service
Query web
service
Query
1 2
3
45
17. SQL Configuration
•
Property Recommended setting
READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT ON
AUTO_CREATE_STATISTICS ON
AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS ON
AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS_ASYNC OFF
AUTO_SHRINK OFF
AUTO_CLOSE OFF
•
ALTER DATABASE <ax database name>
SET READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT ON
GO
20. Microsoft Dynamics AX Settings
•
Statement cache
Determines how many statements the AOS caches.
Maximum buffer size (KB)
The maximum size of the buffer the kernel allocates for holding input/output data to and from
the SQL server.
25. Design Effective SQL Server Maintanence Plans
Maintenance
plans
Index
fragmentation
Statistics
Maintenance
Frequency
Editor's Notes
Walk through the architecture and discuss how it relates to Performance Planning.
Discuss the three tier architecture of AX.
Discuss with students on other 3 tier architectures they may be familiar with.
Discuss how reports are executed when the user clicks on a menu item. This will help students understand where the performance bottlenecks could be.
Talk about the components of EP.
Discuss how different components can play a part in performance optimization (e.g. a slow user control might slow down the entire experience on the page)
A basic set of questions for the administrator to ask when he or she performs hardware sizing for an instance of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is available. Although this is not a complete list of questions, it is a good way to start.
Every implementation has unique characteristics that you must consider when you perform hardware sizing.
Discuss how answers to some of these questions might have an impact on sizing the AX implementation.
Walk through these guidelines with students. The guidelines provide a good rule of thumb for sizing.
Describe the scenario that this module will be covering.
All the demonstrations will be focused on the same scenario.
describe the lock pages in memory and perform volume maintenance tasks policies
Describe what the configuration settings mean
It will be hard for students to remember these trace flags but do go over them so they understand how trace flags work and where they can go to in case they need to refer to this material again.
Describe what the tempdb is and how configuring it properly will help improve performance.
Describe some of the settings that help configure the AX database to perform optimally.
Talk about breakpoints.
Be sure to let students know that these should not be enabled in production
This screenshot of the Server Configuration Utility shows where to enable breakpoints.
Statement cache Determines how many statements the AOS caches.
Recommended setting for Production: Less than 256 - A value that is larger than 256 can cause memory issues on the server.
Maximum buffer size (KB) The maximum size of the buffer the kernel allocates for holding input/output data to and from the SQL server.
Recommended setting for Production: 24 – Leave this property at its default of 24 if you can do this.
This screenshot of the Server Configuration Utility shows where to modify the Statement Cache or Maximum Buffer Size
Note: Changes to the Microsoft Dynamics AX Server Configuration utility require the AOS service to be restarted. The restart will disconnect all users who are currently logged on to that AOS from Microsoft Dynamics AX .
The Server configuration form is used to set server, cluster, batch, and performance settings for the AOS in Microsoft Dynamics AX .
Describe the various configuration settings that are available.
AOS Load balancing
With AOS, load balancing connections to AOSs are automatically allocated across all the AOSs in a load balancing cluster. This helps make sure that all the AOSs in the load balancing cluster have similar workloads and provides a more consistent performance.
Data Cleanup
In Microsoft Dynamics AX, cleanup utilities are provided in most modules that can be used to clean up unnecessary data, and this can have a positive effect on performance.
Client Performance Options
Describe how some settings in the client can affect performance significantly.
Additional Areas Affecting Performance
Describe how some of these settings can impact performance
Discuss with students on other performance issues they might have encountered.
Discuss with students on how they configure the batch server groups.
Design Effective SQL Server Maintenance Plans
SQL Server will not continue to perform well in a production system without basic maintenance. SQL Server provides a mechanism in maintenance plans to simplify this basic maintenance, but it does need to be setup. This lesson covers setting up maintenance plans to minimize index fragmentation, update statistics, and perform backups.
Describe some of the maintenance plans that can be performed and discuss other plans that system administrators frequently do.