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Configuring JDBC Settings

Administrators can customize the Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) settings for each document store. JDBC is a Java standard that allows for Java applications such as the Content Collection to connect to databases. The Content Collection reads information from and writes to the database using groups connections, also referred to as "pools" of connections. An item, or connection in a pool, allows a Java thread to use database resources. Each request for data from end users usually consumes one item from the pool. However, there is not a one-to-one relationship between user requests and number of required connections. When the request is completed, the connection is freed up for another user.

If there are more database requests than available connections, the requests wait in a queue until a database connection is available.

Heavy usage of the Content Collection typically requires increasing the maximum connection pool size. This allows the database to process more requests simultaneously. However, making the maximum pool size too large may degrade the performance of the database due to the additional CPU and memory requirements. Decreasing the maximum pool size reduces the load on the database, but if it is too small, user requests might take longer to process because they would wait longer in a queue until connections are freed.

Your school may have unique usage patterns for each document store. For example, if users heavily use the virtual hard drive but do not use the courses area, consider increasing the maximum connections for the /users document store, and decreasing this setting for the /courses document store.

How to Configure JDBC Settings

  1. On the Administrator Panel, under Content Management, click Technical Settings.
  2. Click Document Stores.
  3. In the contextual menu for the document store, click JDBC Settings. The following table describes the available fields.
    JDBC Settings
    Field Description
    JDBC Settings  
    Connection Expiration Occasionally, a connection will remain open but unusable. This is sometimes referred to a "hung Java connection." Automatically expiring all open connections ensures that hung connections eventually close. Provide the number of minutes a database connection will remain open before the system automatically closes it. New connections are created when needed, up to the maximum connections setting.
    Maximum Connections Provide the maximum number of connections that can exist in the connection pool. If this number is too high, performance may decrease because the database server consumes more resources. If it is too low, requests may take longer to process because they might wait in a queue until a connection becomes available.
    Minimum Connections Provide a minimum for the size of the database connection pool.
    Dead Connection Timeout Period Provide the number of seconds before a dead connection will time out and be removed from the pool. A dead connection is one that is not sending any activity between the database and the Content Collection.
  4. Click Submit.