For large NS 6.x environments, a server performance improvement can be obtained by disabling unused functionality. The built-in NS Alert Manager service (essentially a light-weight version of Altiris Helpdesk solution) is responsible for replicating asset, user, and incident data between the NS "Altiris" database and the Alert Manager/Helpdesk database "Altiris_Incidents".
The current method of synchronization implements multiple read requests (with locking) against the NS database to compare data. In small to medium sized environments, this operation completes rapidly, and has little impact on server performance.
Relevant environments: Very large environments, environments with insufficient SQL server hardware, and or irregular NS configurations.
Answer
It can be desirable to disable both the data synchronization, and the forced always-on state of the IIS worker process for Alert Manager. There are three tasks to accomplish this. This technique should not be used in environments that actively use the Incidents tab (Alert Manager or Helpdesk) on the same NS
Disabling Alert Manager synchronization (part 1 - Auto Update Processing)
DisableAutoUpdateProcessing stops sending asset and user data from the NS database to the Alert Manager database.
Disabling Alert Manager synchronization (part 2 - Sync Incident Processing )
DisableSyncIncidentProcessing stops sending incident data from the Altert Manager database to the NS database.
Ensure the following two REG_SZ entries exist, and are set to true:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Altiris\eXpress\Helpdesk Package\ DisableAutoUpdateProcessing = true (should already exist, and be set to true from prior step) DisableSyncIncidentProcessing = true (must be created) |
Disabling the Alert Manager web ping policy (part 3)
By default, a background process makes a web request to the Alert Manager webservice. This ensures that the related IIS worker process stays resident. By removing the web ping policy, the webservice will only load on demand, and will automatically unload after being idle for 15 minutes. Execute the attached NScript (DisablePingAMPolicy.cs) to disable the web ping policy.
To execute the NScript:
If successfully removed, the Windows scheduled task "NS.Hidden Ping AM Web.{6326e19e-733b-4c23-abae-031c3a294a5a}" which normally executes every 5 minutes will no longer exist.