Preparing the Meridian server and vault configuration

Before running the Vault Consistency Wizard (VCW), you must prepare the Meridian application server and the vault for maximum performance and stability. Then you need to perform some database-specific preparation steps. These steps take into consideration the database differences that exist between Hypertrieve, SQL Server, and Oracle that can impact the VCW.

Tip    The VCW does need not to be executed only on the server computer where the vault resides. A backup of the vault can be restored onto an offline computer, possibly with better hardware, and the VCW run there while the source vault remains available for read-only access. The online vault can be made read-only by modifying the security role assignments to prevent any changes. Document authors and editors may want to check out active documents to their Local Workspace before the vault is made read-only. They can then modify the Local Workspace copies offline. After the VCW has finished and the resulting vault has been verified that no inconsistencies exist, it can be restored back onto the original server and production resumed.

Note    The VCW is very memory and disk intensive. When running the VCW, the amount of physical memory installed on the server and the speed of the hard disks can affect the time it takes to run the VCW.

Complete the following steps before running the Vault Consistency Wizard.

Warning    Perform these steps in the order they are listed in this document!

1. Run a Prepare for Backup operation on the vault. Save this backup to a secure location before proceeding.
2. If the vault does not use the Hypertrieve 5 database engine, configure the Meridian application server for optimum single-user performance as described in Configuring the EDM Server service. This will allow the server to use the maximum amount of system resources for the VCW.
3. Disable all scheduled Prepare for Backup tasks. Disabling all scheduled tasks is optional but recommended. The steps to disable a scheduled task depend on the version of Windows used. Refer to the documentation for your version of Windows for details.
4. Disable all virus scanner software. The steps to disable virus scanner software depend on the software used. Refer to the documentation for your virus scanner software for details.

5. If Oracle or SQL Server is the vault’s database engine, confirm that the following registry value (DWORD), if present, is set to the default of 8. If the value is not present, you do not need to create it.

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Cyco\AutoManager Meridian\CurrentVersion\Installed DataStores\<VaultName>\CompoundItemService\LoggingLimit
   

   This registry value configures the maximum amount of disk space (in megabytes) to use for write-ahead log files by the database driver. After running the VCW on a SQL Server vault, the database file names will have changed slightly. However, the SQL Server database name and the Meridian vault name should be the same as before running the wizard.

6. If SQL Server is the vault’s database engine (dedicated to Meridian only) and SQL Server resides on the same computer where the VCW is run (Meridian server), then the following setting should be considered.

   By default, SQL Server uses as much of the available server memory as you allow it. This can cause problems with the VCW depending on the amount of physical memory and the size of the vault database, so SQL Server memory use should be adjusted while the VCW is run.

   In SQL Server Management Studio, set the maximum memory used by SQL Server with to the following formula:

   Physical memory - 4 GB for the operating system - database file size X 1 if the Optimize database cache memory option is enabled as described in Running the Vault Consistency Wizard. If the option is disabled, then the database file size X 2.

7. Restart the AutoManager EDM Server service.