COGNOS Business Intelligence Series 7

Chapter 3: Control Processes
This chapter provides details about distributed server processes and what you can do to monitor
and control the processes for optimum performance.
Distributed Processing
Cube data, containing a multidimensional representation of information, is processed by the
query processor component of PowerPlay Enterprise Server. Report specifications, containing the
report layout, are processed by the report processor component. Several processor instances may
be started for a cube or report, and you can set the maximum number of processes for each cube
or report. Each instance of a processor is called a process.
PowerPlay Enterprise Server automatically balances the processing load by managing a set of
processors for each cube and distributing requests for the cube data and report specifications
among available processes. When a request arrives, the dispatcher forwards it to the first available
processor associated with the requested cube or report.
• For a Windows request, a connection with a single query processor is established for the
duration of the session.
• For a Web request, any of the available processors is chosen. In PowerPlay Web Explorer, a
query processor is chosen each time the user performs an action, and the duration of the
connection lasts only until the resulting HTML is generated. In PowerPlay Web Viewer, a
report processor is chosen each time a report is run, and the duration of the connection lasts
only until the resulting PDF is generated.
If all the processors associated with the cube data or report specification are busy, PowerPlay
Enterprise Server starts a new process, provided the maximum number of processes (p. 33) has
not been reached. Only if this maximum is reached are requests put into a queue.
In a distributed installation, security and reliability are important issues. To maximize
performance in this type of environment, there are several settings you can adjust in PowerPlay
Enterprise Server - Administration.
If a problem results in a failed request by a process, the PowerPlay dispatcher kills that specific
process and initiates a new one. Third-party diagnostic applications can cause problems for the
dispatcher, interfering with the error recovery process. We recommend that diagnostic
applications not be used on servers.
Set the PowerPlay Service for User Logon
By default, the Cognos PowerPlay Enterprise Server service is installed as a system account logon.
For multiple PowerPlay machines to share data locations on a network, you must first assign a
user logon account to the service.
Ask your system administrator to create a special user account for the PowerPlay service that has
the password defined to never expire.
Steps
1. In the Windows Control Panel, click Services.
2. Click the Cognos PowerPlay Enterprise Server service and click Startup.
3. In the Log On As panel, click This Account.
4. In the list, click the special user account defined by your system administrator.
5. In the Password text box, type the password for this account.
6. In the Confirm Password text box, type the password again.
Enterprise Server Guide 27