Primavera Compression Server

Administr ation Guide

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Table of Contents
Preface ................................................................................................... 3
Using the Administration guide .............................................................................3
Where to get support ...............................................................................................3

Before You Begin ................................................................................. 4

What is the Primavera Compression Server ........................................................4
Overview of the Primavera Compression Server Architecture ..........................5
Compression Server Installation Process .............................................................6
Who Should Help With the Installation ................................................................7
Installation process phases .....................................................................................7

Server Installation and Configuration ............................................... 8

Install and Configure Database ............................................................................8
Install Compression Server ....................................................................................8
Changing Compression Server Database Connection Settings ..........................12
Network Settings for Compression Server ............................................................15
Using the Compression Server Administration Application ..............................13
Reviewing and Modifying Compression Server Configurations ........................18
Compression Server Configuration Settings ........................................................20
Starting and Stopping Compression Server .........................................................20

Client Installation and Configuration ................................................ 21

Installing Client Applications ................................................................................21
Changing Compression Server Connection Settings ...........................................21
Configuring database connections directly against Oracle .................................30
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Preface

Using the Administration Guide

Before you Begin Provides an overview of the components of the Primavera

Compression Server, discusses how to plan an implementation for your organization, and
offers an overview of the process of installing and configuring the compression server.

Server Installation and Configuration Provides the steps for installing the server-
side components of the compression server, including the following:
 Setting up the database connections for the compression server
 Configuring databases
 Configuring compression server settings

Client installation and configuration Provides the steps to install the client-side
components compatible with the compression server, including how to configure your
database connection during or after installation.

Where to get support

If you have a question about using Primavera products that you or your network administrator cannot
resolve with information in the documentation, call Primavera Customer Support at the times and locations
listed below.

Please have your Primavera product serial number ready when you call. Each call is logged to help
Primavera resolve your questions quickly.
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Telephone Zone
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9:00–2:00
(Sat)

London, GMT 8:30–6:30 +44-20-8563-5555 +44-20-8563-5543 uktech@[Link]

England, UK (Mon–Thur)
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(Fri)
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(Mon–Fri)
*For 24-hour support, visit Primavera’s online Knowledgebase at
[Link]
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All Primavera products are backed by comprehensive support and training. To request product literature in
the United States, contact your local dealer, call Primavera at 1-610-667-8600, or send your request via e-
mail to info@[Link]. In the United Kingdom, call 44-20-8563-5500 or e-mail your request to
intlinfo@[Link].
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Before you begin

What is the Primavera Compression Server

The Primavera Compression Server is a layer between the database server and the Project
Management module that compresses data before sending to the client. The basis is that
high latency/low bandwidth networks cause serious degradation in time taken to transfer
data to the client. Fig 1. illustrates the current architecture and Fig 2. illustrates how the
compression server fits into the Primavera architecture. In Figure 1, the current
architecture, Clients 1 to N interact with the database server over a WAN. In Figure 2,
with a compression server, the clients still send and receive data over the WAN, but the
data from the database server is compressed on the compression server, and then sent
across the WAN to the clients.
:

Client #1 DB Server

Client #2
WAN

Client #N

Figure 1. Current architecture

Compressed Data
Compressed Data

Compression
Client #1 Server

Client #2 Uncompressed Data

WAN
DB Server

Client #N
LAN LAN

Figure 2. With compression server

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Overview of the Compression Server architecture

Figure 3 provides more detail about the Client/Compression Server architecture.
Primavera reads and writes data through the Borland DBExpress technology. Primavera
provides a DBExpress driver that communicates with the compression server. The
compression server does the actual work of fetching and sending requests and response
data. As a result, no change is made in the Primavera client. Instead of a DBExpress
driver connecting to Oracle or SQL Server, the driver connects to the compression server.

On the compression server end, the details of scheduling threads and connections are
handled by the BRE (Business Rule Engine), which is the same engine used in
myPrimavera for the Primavera web applications. For each client request, a worker
thread will perform the necessary work, running the query and fetching the dataset before
returning the data back to the client.

Figure 3. Architectural detail

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Compression Server Installation Requirements

 Windows 2000 server or Windows 2003 server.

 Oracle [Link].0 or 10g client on the compression server machine.
 Project Management module version 5.0 or later.
 Java 2 SDK, v1.4.2_05 on the compression server machine. This version is
available online at [Link]
 Minimum 3GB RAM and 2 GHz or more processor (multi-processor
recommended) on compression server machine is recommended.
 The databases should already have appropriate licenses installed using the
database configuration for the Project Management module version 5.0
 Install the Primavera DB Express driver on the client machines using the client
setup for the compression server.
 Use the Database Configuration utility to configure the Project Management
module to connect to the compression server using HTTP.
 Only the Project Management module is compatible with the compression server.
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Before you begin the Installation

The Installation Process Phases

Phase I: Plan your installation

Plan your Compression server installation. Identify the network and hardware that you
will need. If required, install and configure database server software (Oracle) as
mentioned.

Phase II: Set up your database servers using 5.0

(Use the Administrator’s Guide for this phase)
The compression server is compatible with the Project Management module version 5.0.
We recommend that you setup your database servers using the Primavera setup for
version 5.0. Or, use a copy of a database already configured to work with version 5.0.

Phase III: Configure the Compression server

Install the Oracle [Link].0, [Link].0 or 10g client on the compression server machine.
Install the Java 2 SDK, v1.4.2_05 on the compression server machine. Install the
compression server on the Windows 2000 or 2003 server machine that you have
identified. During the installation, or once it is complete, you can setup the Compression
Server database configuration database. The Compression Server configuration database
is a repository of database connection settings normally saved in a special table in your
Project Management database. You can then configure multiple databases to run against
the compression server.

Phase IV: Configure clients

1. Install the Project Management module on a client workstation. During
installation, you can configure a connection to your regular Oracle database.
2. Run the Compression Server client installation to install the necessary
compression server client drivers ([Link] and [Link]) into your
System32 folder. This will also install the necessary entries into the
[Link] and [Link] files.
3. Use DBConfig to setup a connection through the compression server.
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Server Installation and Configuration

Install and Configure Oracle Database

Please refer to the Admin Guide for information about installing and configuring your
Oracle Database to work with the Compression server, and to setup licenses, before
installing the client.

Install Compression Server

 On the Primavera Documentation CD, browse to the \\CompressionServer\server
directory and double-click the [Link] file to begin the installation.

 Accept the licensing agreement and click Next.

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 Browse to the Oracle home location. Make sure your environment variable path
points to the correct location where Oracle is installed.
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If Oracle 10g is installed then the Oracle Home path for 10g will not appear by
default in the edit field.

 Browse to the directory where you want to install Compression Server. Click
Next.

 Click Next to confirm the install location and begin the installation.
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 Setup your database username and password settings. Pubuser is the default
username and password. Enter the SID, Oracle Host IP address, Oracle Host port
and Public Group ID. Choose a database with a valid schema for version 5.0.
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 After the initial installation, the Database Configuration tool shows an existing
configuration. You may choose the Create a New Configuration option to type an
appropriate name for the new configuration. If there is no configuration
information in the database you will not see the following screen during the initial
setup. In this case a default configuration will be saved into the database.
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 Click OK. Then click Finish to complete installation.

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Changing Compression Server Database connection

settings

 The Database Configuration wizard enables you to change the Compression

Server connection settings that you specified during installation. The database you
connect to during the Compression Server installation stores one or more
Compression server database configurations. Each Compression Server
configuration specifies a set of configurable parameters that determine how the
Compression Server operates. Once Compression Server is installed, you can
select an existing Compression Server configuration or create a new one.

 To run the Database configuration wizard, choose Start, Programs, Primavera,

Compression Server 5.0, Database Configuration.
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Network Settings for Compression Server

You can configure the network settings for the compression server and database server to
function more efficiently in a multi-user setting. The compression server needs to
communicate with the Project Management (PM) clients and the database server
concurrently, with as little network impediments as possible. For example, if the
compression server machine uses only one network interface card (NIC), a potential risk
for switch collision could lead to poor performance. To avoid this risk, we suggest using
at least two NICs for the compression server. One NIC should be used for the data
transfer with PM clients and another NIC for the communication with the database
server.

One NIC may be sufficient for smaller deployments or databases.

To avoid unwanted routing, you can configure the NICs you are using for the PM clients
and database on separate subnets. Also, the routing table should not have any entries
configured for routes between the two NICs.

The example below shows one possible way to configure the network for the
compression server. All configurations must meet the following two requirements:

1. One NIC should serve data transferred between the Compression Server and PM
clients. For example, you can use a standard IP address that is accessible to every one in
the corporate network of the organization.

2. The second NIC should serve data transferred between the Compression Server and the
DB Server. As an example, the following configuration meets this requirement:

The IP address of the second NIC should not be accessible from any other machine in the
corporate network of the organization, except the DB server machine. This minimizes
traffic on the second NIC and also ensures the fastest possible connection between the
Compression server and the Database server. To achieve this, we recommend using an IP
address with a subnet not visible in the corporate network. In the example below,
changing the IP address to [Link] would make the second NIC visible only for the
subnet 63.
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We also recommend that the DB Server machine uses a dedicated NIC for the
compression server connection. This connection will support the traffic of uncompressed
data for all PM clients. If the expected traffic through this connection is low, then the DB
Server machine can use one NIC with IP multiplexing. The routing table of the DB server
should not have any entry configured for routes between the two NICs.

The IP address of the second NIC, or the second IP of a single NIC, must have the
same unknown (invisible) subnet as the second NIC of the compression server. In the
example above, the IP would say [Link].

This configuration is the equivalent of using a direct crossover patch network cable
between the compression server and the database.
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Troubleshooting

If Compression server does not start:

Run the START_CMPSVR.CMD file to launch the server JVM setting the thread stack,
initial heap, and maximum heap for an average hardware. If you do not have enough
memory on the compression server machine, the application may not start. If the
application does not start, the administrator should edit START_CMPSVR.CMD file and
change the –Xms and -Xmx parameters equal to the largest available contiguous chunk of
the available physical memory, but no more than 2GB. Setting -Xms and -Xmx to the
same value increases predictability by removing the most important memory sizing
decision from the virtual machine.

If these parameters were not set properly you may get “Error occurred during
initialization of VM” or “Could not reserve enough space for object heap” error
messages.

We recommend a value no greater than 1024 kilobytes for the –Xss (-Xss1024k). The
default maximum stack size used by C code is sufficient for the native implementation of
the compression library.

For More Info you may refer the following:

FAQ about the Java HotSpot VM

[Link]

FAQ ABOUT SUN ONE[tm] APPLICATION SERVER PERFORMANCE

What's a good way to size the heap
[Link]

Tuning Garbage Collection with the 5.0 JavaTM Virtual Machine

[Link]

Tuning Garbage Collection with the 1.4.2 JavaTM Virtual Machine

[Link]
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Using the Compression Server Administration

Application

 As the system administrator, you can use the Compression Server Administrator
Application to review, modify, add, and delete Compression Server
configurations. Primavera configurations are stored in the Compression Server
database specified during installation. These configurations contain all of the
settings used to run the Compression Server.
 Only administrators should use the Compression Server Administrator application
to modify configuration settings.
 Choose Start, Programs, Primavera, Compression Server 5.0, Administrator to run
the Compression Server Administrator application.
 Type the database password (pubuser by default) and click OK.

 Select the correct configuration that was chosen while installing the Compression
Server, for example, \\Configurations\Custom\Primavera ComSrv Config.
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 Next, create one or more databases that the compression server can load data
against on behalf of the Primavera Project Management clients. Expand the
database folder. Right-click on the Instance folder and choose Duplicate. In our
example, this creates a Duplicate instance of LONDON07, the configuration
database. You can modify this copy to be any database you may need for the
compression server.
 For connecting the compression server to any DB server, edit the URL parameter
under Database\Instance. To edit, click the field and wait for a while then you go
to edit mode.

Then start editing the following fields to have appropriate values of New DB.
o Name
o Description
o URL (Remember that a Database is always referred to by its SID name
and IP address).
o UserName
o Password
o Public Group ID
 We can duplicate this instance as many times for different database connections
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Reviewing and Modifying Compression Server

Configurations

 Another set of important parameters available through the Compression Server

Administrator application is the parameters controlling the Compression Server
performance. In most situations the default settings are enough.
 These settings are found under the Compression Server node.

 The following table summarizes these settings

Variable Name Value Min Max Tool tip

DEFAULT_PORT 80 0 65535 Port value for the primary
listener.
DEFAULT_JOB_DELAY 0 0 125 Scheduling delay of a
compression job. For
networks with high
latency (>250ms) if using
huge compression buffers
(>512KB) a job delay
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may be acceptable in
order to speed-up jobs
that return a lot of Blob
data.
COMPRESSION_BUFFER_SIZE 262144 16384 4194304 Size of the main
compression buffer.
Larger the buffer, better
the compression ratio. For
2Gips machines
compression speed is
1KB/ms. Each
compression job uses
memory up to 12 times
the size of the main
compression buffer.
IP_BUFFER_SIZE 64156 4096 131072
FETCH_SIZE 254 0 255 Number of rows in a
database data block.
JOB_MAX_TIME [ms] 1800000 60000 1440000 Maximum timed allowed
0 for a job to complete.
TASK_MAX_TIME [ms] 300000 10000 1440000 Maximum timed allowed
0 for a compression task to
complete.
SOCKET_LINGER_TIME [ms] 800 0 2000 Socket linger time in ms.

 From the performance tuning standpoint other sections of interest would be

o Threadpool
o FetchSize
 For debugging the following sections are of interest
o Log\HtmlLogger\Severity\SeverityLevel (the default is error. Setting
SeverityLevel to debug makes the log very verbose)
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Starting and Stopping the Compression Server

 Choose Start, Programs, Primavera, Compression Server 5.0, Compression
Server.
 A small window will appear.
 To stop the Compression Server click the Stop button.
 To close the Compression Server click the Close button.
 Changes can be made to the configuration settings while the compression server is
up and running. In order to load them into the compression server, stop and
immediately start the compression server:

 The Log button is enabled if Log|HtmlLogger|Severity|SeverityLevel is set to

debug.
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Client Installation and Configuration

Installing Client Applications

Run the Primavera setup on your client machine and accept the default prompts. Next, to
begin the Compression Server client setup double-click the [Link] file in the
\\CompressionServer\client directory on the Primavera Documentation CD.

Changing Compression Server connection settings

 Instead of directly connecting to the PM database, the Project Management
module has to be connected to a compression server, with the database specified
along with it. To configure the settings, you can run the DB Config utility.
 The Dbconfig utility for the Client is run during the Client installation. Choose
Start, Programs, Primavera, Help and Utilities, Database Configuration to run this
utility.

 Choose Configure My Database Connections.

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 Select the database alias you want to use for the Project Management database
(PMDB). Click Next.

 Select an alias name or type a new one in the Database Alias field. For example,
type PMDB _CS and select Primavera Compression Server from the Driver Type
list. (For a direct database connection, choose Either Oracle, Microsoft SQL
Server/MSDE.)
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 Type the Database Instance Name of the database you want to access in the
Compression Server Database Name field, and the IP address of the Compression
Server machine in the Host Name/IP Address field. Note that we pick the second
instance here LONDON07 with the oci connection string specified in the
configuration.
 Make sure that the Database you choose here is configured as a Database Instance
by the Compression Server Administration application.
 You may type a different Port number, except 1521 which is used by an Oracle
database. Make sure the port you specified in the Compression Server
Administration Application is the same port you enter here. Compression server
listens by default on Port 80. You can specify the port in the Compression Server
Administration Application.

In general, if you only use one Primavera Database and this was configured during
the Compression Server installation, you should not have any need to run the
Compression Server Administration Application to configure additional databases.
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 Next, you must validate your settings.

 Click Next to test the database connection. If the connection isn’t successful,
click Previous to modify your settings.
 If prompted to configure Methodology Manager, click Cancel.
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Configuring database connections directly against

Oracle
 To configure new database connections either directly to Oracle or to the
Compression server, choose Start, Programs, Primavera, Help and Utilities,
Database Configuration, to run the database configuration utility.

 To configure the client against Oracle directly, run Database Configuration utility
until you reach the screen that specifies the database alias:

 Choose next until you reach the screen specifying the Oracle connection
string. Enter the Oracle connection string as you would have done in earlier
Primavera versions.

 The remaining steps are similar to the Compression Server database

configuration.
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Configuring Application Licensing

 Use the 5.0 DB Config utility to configure your application license. Choose Start,
Programs, Primavera, Help and Utilities, Database Configuration to run the
database configuration utility.