Optimizing FTR Performance (Directa) - Full-Text Retrieval (FTR) - Help

Full-Text Retrieval (FTR) Help

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This section lists ways to optimize performance when using FTR.

  • Because of the processing demands of FTR indexing, do not install FTR and Directa Server on the same computer. For better performance, install FTR on a separate computer containing Directa Server. When a file is transferred to one of these vaults, FTR indexes the file. In this configuration, FTR and Directa Server processing is performed on separate computers, improving performance.

    The following is a suggested configuration:

    • Software server: Directa Server, FTR Interface

    • File server (client): FTR, Directa Manager

    • Database server: Database software

    Here is an example of how the Server site.cfg file in Directa should look for this setup.

    ###FTR CONFIGURATION BEGIN-DO NOT REMOVE###

    ###MAKE ALL FTR MODIFICATIONS INSIDE THIS SECTION###

    define hosts_ftr

    "Software Server Name"

    ;

    define hosts_ftri

    "Software Server Name"

    ;

    define hosts_ftrrt

    "File Server (Client) Name"

    ;

    set FTR_MAIN_HOST "File Server (Client) Name"

    The File Server (client) needs to have a large disk drive for file storage (400 MB plus additional space for collections). It also needs to have at least one processor (400 MHz) and approximately 128 MB of RAM. The Web and FTR Scheduler services (the Mux and Dispatcher for Directa) must be running at all times on the File Server (client) for this configuration to work properly.

  • Adding a Stopword file to a collection can improve FTR Search performance. This is because a Stopword file reduces the number of words in a collection. Therefore, during an FTR search, there are fewer words for the search algorithm to filter through and this returns the results of the search quicker.

    Adding a Stopword file to a collection will increase the time it takes to index the collection. This is because extra time is needed to filter out the stopwords during the indexing process.

    Stopword files are supported with Directa, but not SmartPlant Foundation.

    For more information on the Stopword file, see Create a Stopword File.

  • Although FTR allows remote collections to exist on other machines, it is suggested that the number of remote collections be kept at a minimum. When there are multiple remote collections, FTR searches will decrease performance because the searches will have to access collections over the network.

    For more information on multiple collections, see Add Remote Collections.

  • Use FTR Index Buffering feature (-o) when adding a large group of objects (500 or more) to a collection. For more information about index buffering, see Buffering FTR Indexing.

  • Invalid rows can accumulate over time in FTR collections, thus impacting FTR performance. To remove any invalid rows in a collection, use the ftrclnup utility. For more information, see Cleaning up Collections.