This Client Server article is republished in its entirety from 2005 for reference purposes.

ProjectWise V8 2004 Edition introduces a new file caching feature designed to dramatically improve the performance of check out/copy out operations from remote storage areas in your ProjectWise Managed Environment (PWME).

The Caching Server is delivered with each ProjectWise V8 2004 Edition server flavor: Application Server, File Transfer Server (FTS), and Connection Server.

It is enabled with a few simple configuration entries.

NOTE: Although the caching server will run on a Connection Server, it does require the use of an FTS license.

Enabling Caching

There are four values that you can configure to enable caching. These values go in the DMSKRNL.CFG file on the server that will be performing the caching, under the heading [Cache].

[CACHE]

Enabled=

Servers=

StoragePath=

Limit=

‘Enabled=' can be set to ‘True' or ‘False' to enable/disable caching.

Enabled=True

‘Servers=' is set to the Hostname/IP of the server(s) you wish to cache on this server. Leaving this line out will cache all servers. To prevent a server from being cached, you must list all other servers on this line. If necessary, you can specify a port using :. This setting is optional.

Servers=PWFTS01

or

Servers=192.168.99.2:5800

‘StoragePath=' is the location to store the cached files.

StoragePath=d:\PWCacheDir

‘Limit=' is the amount of disk space in megabytes that can be taken up by the cache directory. ProjectWise periodically checks to see if the cache is over 80 percent full, then begins removing the oldest files until it is below the 80 percent threshold. Currently, this check occurs every 10 minutes if the server is idle. This setting is optional.

Limit=5000

Setting Gateway Information
When a file request is made, part of the response from the ProjectWise database includes the machine name of the Storage Area where the file exists. In order to take advantage of caching, the clients need to be instructed to ask the Caching Server to request this file on the clients' behalf. The format for this instruction is "StorageServer=CachingServer."

[Gateway]

PWFTS01=PWAPP01

If you are using UDP broadcasts (default installation), you should use the [Gateway] section of the ProjectWise Server from which the clients receive their datasource listing. This can be either an Application Server or a Connection Server.

If the clients are on a different subnet than the Application Server or Connection Server that provides the Datasource listing, or if you have disabled UDP broadcasts, you need to use the DNS Services tab in the ProjectWise Network Configuration Tool to point to the server providing the [Gateway]information. You simply need to provide the name of the server in the ‘Host/IP' field (see Diagram A). In remote sites, this could be in the DMSKRNL.CFG on the FTS (or Connection Server) at that site. In the "Simple Caching Setup" diagram provided, the 172.16.0.0/16 network will need to use the ProjectWise Network applet, because the router will not pass the UDP broadcast traffic generated by the clients' requests for DNS resolution.

Setting Routing Information
[Routing] section is used to inform the Caching Server of the next "hop" in the path to the Storage Server. This is in the form "StorageServer=Port, NextHop." For the last hop, you only need to supply the port. You put the first entry on the Caching Server, and another entry on each hop.

[Routing]

PWFTS01=5800

This diagram illustrates a simple caching environment.

See Also

Client Server Archive

ProjectWise TechNotes And FAQs

Comments or Corrections?

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Original Author: Bentley Technical Support Group