Essbase Cache Information

Important Notes:
Set Retrieval Buffer Size to 50 KB for 32 bit platform and 100 KB for 64 bit platform.
Set Retrieval Sort Buffer Size to 50 KB for 32 bit platform and 100 KB on 64 bit platform:
Essbase requires a larger retrieval sort buffer size on 64-bit platforms than on 32-bit platforms.


Index cache

The index cache is a buffer in memory that holds index pages. How
many index pages are in memory at one time depends upon the
amount of memory allocated to the cache.

Data file cache
The data file cache is a buffer in memory that holds
compressed data files (.pag files). Essbase allocates
memory to the data file cache during data load, calculation, and
retrieval operations, as needed. The data file cache is used only
when direct I/O is in effect.

Data cache

The data cache is a buffer in memory that holds uncompressed data
blocks. Essbase allocates memory to the data cache during data
load, calculation, and retrieval operations, as needed.

Calculator cache

The calculator cache is a buffer in memory that Essbase uses to
create and track data blocks during calculation operations.

Dynamic
calculator cache

The dynamic calculator cache is a buffer in memory that Essbase
uses to store all of the blocks needed for a calculation of a Dynamic
Calc member in a dense dimension (for example, for a query).

Index size Cache


Minimum Value

Default Value

Recommended Value

1024 KB (1048576
bytes)

Buffered I/O:
1024 KB
(1048576 bytes)
Direct I/O: 10240
KB (10485760
bytes)
Combined size of all Index Files.
essn.ind files, if possible; as large as
possible otherwise. Do not set this cache size
higher than the total index size, as no
performance improvement results. To
determine the total index size, see

Data file Cache


Direct I/O: 10240
KB (10485760
bytes)
Direct I/O: 32768
KB (33554432
bytes)
Combined size of all essn.pag files, if possible;
otherwise as large as possible.
This cache setting not used if Essbase is set to
use buffered I/O.

Data Cache


3072 KB (3145728
bytes)

3072 KB
(3145728 bytes)

0.125 * the value of data file cache size.
Increase value if any of these conditions exist:
Many concurrent users are accessing
different data blocks.

Calculation scripts contain functions on
sparse ranges, and the functions require
all members of a range to be in memory
(for example, when using @RANK and
@RANGE).

For data load, the number of threads
specified by the DLTHREADSWRITE
setting is very high and the expanded
block size is large.

Calculator Cache


Calculator cache

=

Bitmap size in bytes * Number of bitmaps

Bitmap size in
bytes

=

Max ((member combinations on the bitmap
dimensions/8), 4)

Number of bitmaps

=

Maximum number of dependent parents in the
anchoring dimension + 2 constant bitmaps

Minimum Size Specified

Option Selected

625,000 bytes

Option 1 (provides optimal performance)

125,000 bytes

Option 2

2,500 bytes

Option 3

Description

This setting specifies the maximum size Essbase can
allocate to each dynamic calculator cache on the server.

Recommended Setting

Recommended setting value = C * S * U.
C is the value of the appropriate
CALCLOCKBLOCK setting in the essbase.cfg
file. (The SET LOCKBLOCK command specifies
which CALCLOCKBLOCK setting to use.)

S is the size of the largest expanded block across
all databases on the machine. To calculate the
expanded block size, multiply the number of
members (including Dynamic Calc members and
dynamic time series members) in each dense
dimension together for the number of cells in the
block, and then multiply the number of cells by
the size of each member cell, 8 bytes.
For example, consider the member count in dense
dimensions in Sample Basic:
- 19 (Year, with 12 stored members and 7 Dynamic Calc
members, including HTD and QTD)
- 14 (Measures, with 8 stored members and 6 Dynamic
Calc members)
- 4 (Scenario, with 2 stored members and 2 Dynamic
Calc members)
Note: Label Only members are not counted.
S = 19 * 14 * 4 cells (8 bytes/cell) = 8512 bytes per
block
This number is shown in the application log as the
logical block size.
U is the maximum number of expected
concurrent users on the database that has the
largest number of concurrent users.
Assigning the value 0 (zero) to
DYNCALCACHEMAXSIZE tells Essbase not to use
dynamic calculator caches.
By default, the maximum size for this value is 20 MB
(20,971,520 bytes).

DYNCALCCACHEWAITFORBLK

Description

If Essbase uses all of the area allocated for a dynamic calculator
cache, this setting tells Essbase whether to wait until space becomes
available in the cache or to immediately write and calculate the
blocks in memory outside the dynamic calculator cache. If the
dynamic calculator cache is too small, it is possible for multiple
threads to be in queue, each thread waiting to calculate its data
blocks.

Recommended
Setting

Recommended setting value = FALSE (default value).
Before setting to TRUE, try these alternatives:
Add physical memory to the server machine

Increase the value of DYNCALCCACHEMAXSIZE, test,
and repeat until you verify that you cannot use any more
memory for the dynamic calculator cache.

DYNCALCCACHEBLKTIMEOUT

Description

If Essbase is to wait for available space in the dynamic calculator
cache, this setting defines how long it waits.

Recommended
Setting
Reviewing Dynamic Calculator Cache Usage.
Recommended setting value = WT / B.
WT is the maximum tolerable wait time for a query; for
example, 5 seconds.

B is the total number of logical blocks accessed in the
largest query.

To determine the value of B, check the messages in
the application log for the largest number of
Dyn.Calc.Cache "Big Block Allocs" for a query, as
discussed in

DYNCALCCACHEBLKRELEASE

Description

If Essbase has waited the specified time and space is still not
available in the dynamic calculator cache, this setting tells Essbase
whether to write and calculate the blocks immediately outside the
dynamic calculator cache or to create space in the dynamic
calculator cache by swapping out blocks and temporarily
compressing the swapped blocks in a dynamic calculator cache
compressed-block buffer.

Recommended
Setting

Recommended setting value = FALSE (default value).
Set to TRUE only if you are experiencing severe memory shortage
problems.

DYNCALCCACHECOMPRBLKBUFSIZE

Description

If Essbase has waited the specified wait time and the
DYNCALCCACHEBLKRELEASE setting is TRUE, this setting is
the size of the dynamic calculator cache compressed-block buffer.

Recommended
Setting
essbase.cfg file. The SET LOCKBLOCK command specifies
which CALCLOCKBLOCK configuration setting is current.
Recommended setting value = (C * S) / 2.
C is the value of the current CALCLOCKBLOCK setting in
the

S is the size of the largest expanded block across all
databases on the machine. Calculate S as described for the
DYNCALCCACHEMAXSIZE setting.