Skip to main content

ATG Search - performance decisions in Enterprise search

Read more about the basic design decisions for a commerce search setup @ http://tips4ufromsony.blogspot.in/2012/03/basic-design-decisions-for-commerce.html

Read more about search engine tuning @ http://tips4ufromsony.blogspot.in/2012/02/atg-search-search-engine-tuning.html

Following items will affect search performance:  number of items to be searched, quantity of content for each item, number of meta tags, number of facets, Search Merchandising settings, constraints, number of returned results,... You could find a detailed analysis below :

1. Decide how many search engines you need : Based on the performance requirement of the ecommerce site, create the Search Project @ BCC - Search Admin and add the search engine hosts. Read more about search project creation and search engine host set up @  http://tips4ufromsony.blogspot.com/2012/01/atg-search-how-to-create-search-project.html.

2. Decide the search indexing properties : Search indexing time and search response time are dependent on the index file size. As part of verification process, the irrelevant attributes from search index definition file should be removed. As a result, users will view relevant results with less number of attributes and also will get improvements in search indexing time.

3. Decide how many search projects you need : If your application is a multi locale application, you could create multiple search project for each locale. This will give you more options for each locale and a separate search engine can support a locale. Read more about search project creation @  http://tips4ufromsony.blogspot.com/2012/01/atg-search-how-to-create-search-project.html.

4. Decide whether you need to do parallel search indexing : If you have multiple search projects, you could do parallel search indexing and improve search indexing performnace.

5. One search engine per box : Search engines should always run on their own machine, with no other applications running.  This is critical for machines responding to search queries to ensure proper and consistent user experience.

6. Indexing engine box : The search engine used for indexing should not be run on the same server as an engine used for query response.  The search engine used for indexing is preferred to be run on its own machine (with no other applications), but can be run on the CA/BCC.  If this is done, the CA machines should be deployed with extra power (CPU speed and cores, RAM) so that indexing does not affect BCC user experience.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

ATG - quick reference to commonly used DSP Tags

In this blog, I would like to give a quick reference to the most commonly used DSP Tags.Note that in this DSP tag details : bean refers to a Nucleus path, component name, and property name param refers to a Page parameter value refers to a Static-value var refers to a EL variable id refers to a scripting variable ============================================================== 1.dsp:importbean     example: <dsp:importbean bean="/atg/dynamo/droplet/Switch"/> ============================================================== 2.dsp:page     usage: It encloses a JSP. The dsp:page invokes the JSP handler, which calls the servlet pipeline and generates HTTPServletRequest.    example:    <dsp:page> ..... </dsp:page> ============================================================== 3.dsp:include     usage: Embeds a page fragment in a JSP.     example:   <dsp:include src="/myPage/Result...

ATG Search architectural flow : Search and Index

I would like to explain the high level ATG Search implementation architecture ( for an online store) through the above diagram. In this diagram 1.x denotes the search functionality and 2.x denotes the indexing functionality. I have given JBoss as the application server. Physical Boxes and Application Servers in the diagram ( as recommended by ATG )  : Estore ( Commerce ) Box --> The box with the estore/site ear (with the site JSPs and Java codes). Search Engine Box --> The box with the search engine application running. Indexing Engine Box --> The box with the indexing engine application running. CA (Content Administration) Box --> The box with the ATG CA ear ( where we could take CA -BCC - Search Administration and configure the search projects) . Search Indexer Box --> The box with the ATG Search Index ear ( to fetch the index data from repository). Note that the engine performing indexing will need access ...

ATG - more about Forms and Form Handlers

An ATG form is defined by the dsp:form tag, which typically encloses DSP tags that specify form elements, such as dsp:input that provide direct access to Nucleus component properties. Find below a sample dsp:form tag.    <dsp:form action="/testPages/showPersonProperties.jsp" method="post" target="_top">      <p>Name: <dsp:input bean="/samples/Person.name" type="text"/>      <p>Age: <dsp:input bean="/samples/Person.age" type="text" value="30"/>      <p><dsp:input type="submit" bean="/samples/Person.submit"/> value="Click to submit"/>    </dsp:form>   When the user submits the form, the /samples/Person.name property is set to the value entered in the input field.Unlike standard HTML, which requires the name attribute for most input tags; the name attribute is optional for DSP form element tags. If an input tag omits the n...

Income Tax process and e-filing

http://financeminister.in/income_tax_calculator.php https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in Below I am listing the step-by-step activities of the Tax Process that a working professional need to do in a given Financial Year. Here FY refers to Financial Year  and  AY refers to Assesment Year. Each month we will pay the Tax (From APRIL 20xx to MARCH 20xx+1) through our Employer for the FY 20xx – 20xx+1. In the month April 20xx, we will give the investment details to the employer (in our employer specified portal) for the FY 20xx – 20xx+1. In the month January 20xx+1, we will give the investment proof details , Rent receipts… to the Employer Finance Department for the FY 20xx – 20xx+1. In the month MAY/JUNE 20xx+1, employer gives the Form 16 for the FY 20xx – 20xx+1 to us (The proof given by the employer to the employee for the tax paid by the employee). In the month July 20xx+1 (on or before July 31st of every year), we will fill the ITR forms (earlier it was NayaSaral f...

Basic design decisions for a commerce search setup ( with an ATG Search view)

In this blog I would like to explain the basic set of configuration/design decisions needed to setup an ATG search project. Most of these design decisions are common for all Enterprise search applications. 1. Decide the searchable properties :   This means the properties that the business want the user to search in the ecommerce platform. In ATG search these are configured as the text properties in the product-catalog-output-config.xml ( the definitionFile of the \atg\commerce\search\ProductCatalogOutputConfig). Usually the displayName of product/sku, displayName of department/category/sub-category, skuId, brandName are the properties configured as searchable. 2. Decide the search refinement properties or the faceted properties :   After a user search for a keyword, search refinement is the next step done to filter his results. ATG supports the search refinement using the Faceted Search concept. Read more about facted search @...