Data Volume

Assessing the data volume of the Data Sources (at least the main data source) is an important step of the Nectari implementation because of the impact the data volume can have on the Nectari performance.

Below are the steps to assess the data volume:

  1. Check the overall database size of the main data source.
    Note

    This information will help analyze any performance issues that arise. For a SQL Server database, you can see the database’s physical size on the Database Properties screen.

  1. Check the sizes of the critical files (number of records).
    Note

    This information will be important to consider when designing Nectari Data Models and Cubes.

    Example

    With Sage ERP, you should check the following files:

    • Customers Inventory Items
    • Invoice Detail
    • Stock Journal
    • General Ledger Journal
    Note

    The SQL query SELECT COUNT(*) FROM <DB Table name> enables you to view the file’s size.

  1. Check the server performance when running a few SQL queries directly on the server using standard client installed on the server (e.g. SQL Server Management Studio).
    Note

     The SQL queries to run should be representative of the clients actual use of data and the previously assessed size of files. The purpose of running those queries is to determine whether the time response is acceptable. If it’s not, you might want to check the server setup.

    Usually, querying a data set of about 500,000 records should have a time response of less than 20 seconds. In your SQL Server you may select up to 500,000 records from different tables of your Sage ERP.

    Example

    Here are some queries:

    • SELECT top 500000 * FROM yourERP_CustomersTable
    • SELECT top 500000 * FROM yourERP_GLJournalTable
    • SELECT top 500000 * FROM yourERP_InvoiceTable
  1. Run the same queries from another computer of the company’s LAN (Local Area Network) and determine if the time response is acceptable. If not, you might want to look into the local networking setup.
  2. Run the same queries from a remote computer linked to the server through a WAN (Wide Area Network) and determine if the WAN setup could be a source of performance issues.
    Note

    Performance issues are not typically related to Nectari, they are usually caused by either the Database Engine or the server’s infrastructure.

    See Database Engine Performance and Hardware Performance for more information. You should also contact a technical specialist to resolve these issues.