Platform: ColdFusion
Frequently we are asked what the best configuration parameters are for ColdFusion, and how to avoid some of the issues that crop up with ColdFusion and load. Below is a list of things to check when setting up a ColdFusion server for FuseTalk.
First thing to do is ensure you are running ColdFusion 6.1 with the latest updater applied from Macromedia. Also ensure you are running the latest build of FuseTalk, we release updates throughout the year for the product. Next
Log into the ColdFusion Administrator and set the following settings:
Under the Settings menu item
- Maximum simultaneous requests should be set to 8 (default for ColdFusion)
- Timed out requests should be set to 30 seconds and check the checkbox.
- Check the Enable Whitespace Management option
Under the Caching menu item
- Maximum number of cached templates should be set to at least 1024 (default), 3000 preferred. This setting is dependant on the amount of available memory that the server has. FuseTalk has at least 2400 ColdFusion templates that run the product, of course not every template is used depending on features that are enabled/disabled in the product.
- Trusted cache should be enabled in production environments, disabled in development environments.
- Save class files should be enabled in production environments, disabled in development environments.
- Maximum number of cached queries should be at least 100, set this number higher if you have a decent amount of free memory.
Under the Java and JVM menu item
- First thing to do is get a recent JVM from Sun (http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/download.html), we recommend using the full SDK as it has all the language files for multilingual use. The versions we have tested with are 1.4.2_04 and 1.4.2_05 of the JDK. Macromedia uses 1.4.2, which is the initial 1.4.2 release.
- Once you have installed a recent JVM, configure the Java Virtual Machine Path setting to the JVM you installed.
- Set your minimum and maximum heaps to an amount relative to the amount of memory available to ColdFusion. On a machine with 1GB of memory a good place to start is setting Minimum JVM Heap Size (MB) to 512 and Maximum JVM Heap Size (MB) to 512, leaving the OS with at least 500MB for the web server process and other services.
Under the Debugging settings menu item
- Ensure that Enable debugging is not enabled; it will cause instability and other performance issues.
FuseTalk Switches
Ensure that in the forum.cfm file located in /include/ini that the variable FTVAR_DEVMODE is set to No. This will ensure that caching is fully enabled for the dictionary and other parts of the application.
Following the guidelines above should produce a stable and scalable ColdFusion server. If you have any issues with ColdFusion, please contact Macromedia.
Macromedia ColdFusion Performance resources:
http://www.macromedia.com/support/coldfusion/ts/documents/tn17277.htm
http://www.macromedia.com/support/coldfusion/ts/documents/tn18229.htm
http://www.macromedia.com/support/coldfusion/ts/documents/cfmx_perf_tips.htm
http://www.macromedia.com/support/coldfusion/performance.html
