Optimize Local Workspace Configuration

The configuration of the local workspace options is done on the client computers by users as described in Configure local workspace. However, these options can have an adverse impact on performance under specific circumstances, in particular when the local workspace is larger than necessary. The primary options affecting overall system performance are:

Start synchronization every
Maximum amount of disk space to use for local workspace (the size can also be set in the CacheSize value described in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Cyco\AutoManager Meridian\CurrentVersion\AMSync\Settings)

Meridian application server performance can be adversely affected when large numbers of documents are stored in users’ local workspaces and synchronization is occurring at the default setting of every 30 minutes. Even with the local workspace option Synchronize recently accessed writable documents only enabled, the system will still verify the synchronization of every document in the local workspace folders. Verifying the synchronization of excessive numbers of documents can cause poor performance of the Meridian application server, resulting in poor client performance.

We recommend that you advise users to configure their local workspace options as follows:

Local workspace disk space should be reduced for users experiencing poor performance. Lowering the Maximum amount of disk space to use for local workspace setting will reduce the size of the local workspace on the user’s computer and the number of documents that need to be synchronized. A size of 750 MB is usually enough.
The Start synchronization every setting can be increased to a number higher than the default of 30 minutes. This will reduce the frequency of local workspace synchronization attempts with the Meridian application server, especially during periods of heavy usage when performance is most important.

Note:

The local workspace, the Windows temporary folder, and the application temporary files folder are used on Meridian Enterprise Server rendering computers but the disk space is not reclaimed automatically as it is on normal client computers.

By default, the Windows temporary files folder is specified by the Windows environment variable as %WINDIR%\TEMP. By default, the application temporary files folder is specified by the %TEMP% environment variable and is set to C:\Users\<AccountName>\AppData\Local\Temp where <AccountName> is the name of the Meridian service account.

To prevent errors caused by running out of disk space, you should periodically clean these folders with a scheduled task to run a command file, script, or third-party utility. We recommend that you also schedule a task to clean the local workspace for the Meridian service account as described in Clean the local workspace.

Changing these settings on a client computer will take effect immediately and will not cause any active documents in the local workspace to be purged from the disk. When the Maximum amount of disk space to use for local workspace setting is reduced for an active local workspace, the system will only remove documents that are not under change by the user.

Secondarily, local workspace performance can be affected by how Meridian synchronizes the local workspace with the application server: Online mode, Offline mode, or Remote mode as described in Offline mode and Remote mode.

These modes affect the following client registry values as described in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Cyco\AutoManager Meridian\CurrentVersion\Client

Local Workspace mode registry values
Mode	Offline Mode	WebServicesMode	Description
Online	0	N/A	For LAN use only. Documents are stored in the Local Workspace folder, metadata is synchronized in real-time, and Local Workspace is automatically synchronized to the Meridian application server using RPC/DCOM.
Remote	1	1	For WAN or Internet use. Documents are stored in the Local Workspace folder, metadata is stored in the Local Workspace database, and both are automatically synchronized to the Meridian web server in real-time using HTTP.
Offline	1	0	For worst case network performance or disconnected use only. Documents are stored in the Local Workspace folder, metadata is stored in the Local Workspace database, and Local Workspace is only synchronized on demand by user commands.