DSC 7.1 - Compact Database is SLOW

[bdougr]

Another time DSC shows how slow it really is.
I need to compact my database since it is holding 5 months of data (configured to hold 90 days)

So I load MAX and ask it to compact the database. ERROR "unspecified error"
ok shut down the tag engine - I can live with no fresh data being logged for an hour.
Start the compact - oooh 50% almost immediatly
OK lots of activity on my SCSI RAID 0 (two Seagate 76gig 15krpm drives on adaptec dual channel raid board)
the computer is working pretty good (1% in 15 minutes) CPU usage (Dual 3.0ghz Xeon) is only 7%

file manager shows there are files being added (70+)

hmmm finally done after 1 hour 17 minutes

file manager still shows 5 months of data (was 15gig now 14.7gig)
use MAX to see how much data is there
-LOTS of SCSI activity
-ta da MAX shows all the data is still there
-MAX shows the "lifespan" of the data equals 90 days


This may seem to be another DSC "rant" and it probably is. I just want the software to do what it is advertised to do. If Compact does not work "don't include a menu for it" - If Archive takes 18 hours to extract some data "fix it" - If the database is corrupt "TELL US! don't make us look at CPU Usage to find out when it finishes"

OK I am done with the rant.

How do I remove the expired data?

[Arun_V]

Hello,

To remove expired data, you can do destructive archiving. Unfortunately it is slow and we are addressing this issue. I am sure you know how to do destructive archiving but to the benefit of others who might come across this discussion, here it is.

1. In MAX, under Historical Database, select Citadel 5 Universe. This brings up all the databases on the right handside.
2. Right click on the database you want to archive and select Archive.
3. In the wizard, select the data you want to archive and hit next.
4. Select the destination datbase you want the data to be archived and hit next
5. In this final step, please make sure that you have selected the option of destroying the data after it has been archived.

Regards,

Arun V
National Instruments

[bdougr]

thanks - again it was just a rant and I didn't expect anything.
It does need to be fixed. BADLY

The DSC databases once they reach 12-15gig start having real problems. (lots of disc activity when starting the engine) The only cure is a complete database erasure - which does not help us keep data.

Speaking of the archive function - OH MAN IS IT SLOW! While I have not tried it for a year, I assume 7.0 and 7.1 are the same. The archive would go thru each tag name ONE by ONE from beggining to end. You can reduce the number of tags being archived but that kind of defeats the intent of archiving.

thanks for a wonderful product - it really has revolutionized our data collection for our processes (was paper based stripchart recorders)