Measure performance benefits

Measure performance on your client systems to determine if PLCD (personal library cache directory) and library cache areas are beneficial for your users on a local network.

Scenarios for measuring performance

To determine performance benefits when using PLCD and/or library cache areas, measure performance in the following scenarios:

  • Perform a full update from a typical project or stream into an empty work area.

  • Deliver some new or modified files into the project or stream from another work area.

  • Perform an incremental update from the same project or stream into the first work area.

  • Perform a full update from the same project or stream into a third empty work area.

Perform each scenario using different conditions:

  • Both PLCD and library cache areas turned off.

  • Empty library cache areas and an empty PLCD.

  • Populated library cache areas and an empty PLCD.

  • Populated library cache areas and a populated PLCD.

Tip: Measure performance on at least two client systems.

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Measure performance with Update and Deliver commands

You can measure your client system's performance using the Update and Deliver operations.

To use Update and Deliver for measuring performance:

  1. Check that you do not have DBIO or SDP tracing symbols defined in the dm.cfg file on the client, server, and library cache node. If needed, comment out the symbols and restart the Dimensions Listener service.

  2. Start a Dimensions CM command-line session (dmcli).

  3. From dmcli, run the SET PLCD OFF or SET PLCD ON commands to manually disable or enable PLCD usage for the duration of the test session.

  4. From dmcli, run a switch workset (SCWS) command to ensure that:

    • Library caching is on or off (depending on which measurement you are taking).

    • The working directory is set correctly.

  1. Enter a SET AUTO_TIME ON command.

  2. Enter the Update and Deliver commands, as described above to run the performance measurement steps.

  3. Note the time intervals required to complete various stages of the Update and Deliver operations.

  4. After you have made the change to be measured, such as enabling or disabling PLCD or library cache areas, perform the steps again to measure the change in performance.

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Prevent file system performance issues in item libraries

When you deliver thousands of files to Dimensions CM for the first time, the item library typically puts all files with the same item type into the same library folder.

To prevent file system performance issues, add the following entry to the dm.cfg configuration file on the server:

Copy code 
DM_RANDOMIZE_LIBRARY_PATHS y


The server automatically spreads new files mapped to the same item type across X/Y/ subfolders of the corresponding item library folder, where X and Y are the first two hex digits from a cryptographically secure checksum hash of the corresponding item library path name.

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