Adobe Connect Database Server Best Practices for Performance Optimization

Posted on May 3, 2013 by anikhil | Comments (0)

Tuning up Database Activities in a Licensed Adobe Connect Server

Below are the Best Practices for Tuning up the performance in an On Premise Connect Server

1. Below entries in Cutom.ini to support any query delays

DB_URL_CONNECTION_RETRY_COUNT = 15
DB_URL_CONNECTION_RETRY_DELAY= 30

2. Use of Covered Index.

A covered index is an index that can satisfy a query just by its index keys without having the need to touch the data pages. This is one of the fastest methods to retrieve data in SQL Server.

Tuning Connect database using Covered Index

To harden the Connect database to facilitate robust support of a high-volume, on-premise Connect clustered deployment, employ a covered index. As of the writing of this article, Connect version 9.0.4 has been released. With 9.0.4 and prior versions of Connect going back to version 7.5, it is prudent to use this index. The index is on ACL_ID and QUOTA_ID. These are the 2 conditions in the queries. The index covers all of the columns returned by the SELECT queries. By adding this covering index, Connect now chooses to do an index seek on the new index rather than the index scan on the primary key. Because it is a covering index, SQL server has all the data it needs in the index, and does not need to go back to the table to get more columns. This results in much less IO and effectively eliminates ACL_QUOTAS deadlock issues that are otherwise prone to appear under heavy load.

CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [cs_custom_cover_quotas] ON [dbo].[PPS_ACL_QUOTAS]
(
[QUOTA_ID] ASC,
[ACL_ID] ASC
)
INCLUDE ( [DATE_BEGIN],
[DATE_END],
[email_notif],
[LIMIT],
[login_notif],
[monthly_emails],
[SOFT_LIMIT],
[THRESHOLD_ABSOLUTE],
[threshold_pct],
[USED])

Note: Be sure to drop this index prior to running any upgrades or updates to Connect as it may be problematic with any updater that touches the Connect database.
For versions after 9.0.4, please check with Adobe to employing this as it may already be added to Connect via the updated installer.

3. Recommended Practices to be taken care while setting up

• Place the OS, data, and log directories on separate disk drives for improved performance
• Temp DB should also be on a separate disk drive.
• SQL data on striped disks can be a major tuning benefit.
• Reindex and Update Statistics regularly.
• Defragment OS data and log files regularly
• Ensure minimal latency between Connect and SQL Server
• The more RAM the better. Everything works much faster in memory. The more of the DB you can keep in memory the better.
• Never virtualize the DB server
• Priority that you should keep these things on separate disks. Top = most important is OS then Connect, SQL & Data, Log & TempDB
• Breaking tempdb into multiple files will be helpful as Microsoft recommends that number of CPU’s –1 = number of tempdb files.

• Follow the Best Practices of MS SQL SERVER

“fp10SWFMsg” while sharing Captivate 6 and 5.5 content in a meeting room

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Swetank Sharma | Comments (1)

Problem:
When publishing contents using Captivate 6 and Captivate 5.5 we get a message in the meeting room “fp10SWFMsg”

fp10

Method:

  • Create a Captivate 6 or Captivate 5.5 content using FP10 which default for both captivate 6 and 5.5
  • Publish the content to Connect.
  • Share content into the share pod and you will get the above message.
  • If you click on No, the content will disappear.
  • But if you click on yes the Content will show up normally.

Reason:
We have identified this as a bug (BUG# 3548259), and is under investigation with our Connect Engineering Team. This Bug has been reported with Adobe Connect version 9.0.4. On the previous versions it works fine. More updates to follow.
Workaround:
Workaround is to publish the Content with Flash Player 9 and then it will not give this massage.

  •   Launch you captivate project.
  • Click on File and then click on Publish and you will get the below screen.

cap

  • From the Output options select the Flash Player Version as “Flash Player 9”.
  • And now Publish your Content and check by uploading it into Meeting room.

 

Curriculum reports

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Harpinder | Comments (0)
Curriculum reports show how learners use a curriculum and the courses and virtual classrooms in the curriculum. The curriculum report lists summary information, such as how many learners are enrolled and how many are in progress. The report also shows information about learners enrolled in the curriculum, including their name, status, and the last time they accessed the curriculum.The curriculum objects report lists information by learning objects, usually a course or virtual classroom. You can see data such as the name of the learning object, the average learner score for the object, and if prerequisites are set. Viewing curriculum object data can help you analyze how learners are using specific objects within a curriculum.How to create curriculum reports

  1. Log in to Adobe Connect Central and click Reports.
  2. Click Curriculum.
  3. Select a curriculum from the Training library and click Next.
  4. Click Specify Report Filters. (Optional) Enter a date range and/or select a specific User Group(s).
  5. Click Add or Remove Report Fields. Select and deselect the fields to display in the report.
  6. Click Options. Select the curriculum report to create: Curriculum Report or Curriculum Report Showing Curriculum Objects.
  7. Click Create Report.
  8. (Optional) If you selected Curriculum Report Showing Curriculum Objects in step 6, click the name of any learning object in the generated report. Clicking a name creates a report about the specific learning object.

 

The table lists the specific information that appears in columns within curriculum reports. All column headings do not appear in all curriculum reports.

Column heading Description
Active version If there are multiple versions of the curriculum object, the latest version is listed here.
Average score The average learner score for the curriculum object.
Certificate A system-generated number that proves the learner completed the curriculum and provides the learner with a unique ID. (Curriculum status for a learner must be complete or passed to receive a certificate number.)
Contents Description of curriculum object, such as presentation or Flash movie file.
First name First name of the learner enrolled in the curriculum.
Group All groups the learner is a member of are listed here. This column does not sort.
Last access Last time the learner opened the curriculum.
Last name Last name of the learner enrolled in the curriculum.
Learning object Name of the learning object.
Number complete Learners who have completed the curriculum.
Number enrolled Learners who have enrolled in the curriculum.
Number in progress Learners who have started, but not yet completed the curriculum.
Number not started Learners who have not started the curriculum.
Percentage complete Percentage of learners who have “Completed” status for the curriculum object.
Prerequisites Curriculum objects that must be completed before attempting the curriculum object listed on this line.
Required or Optional States if learner must complete the curriculum object to complete the curriculum or if the object is optional.
Status Where the learner is in the curriculum workflow. For example, the learner has not opened the course (Not Started), has opened but not completed the course (In Progress), or has finished the course (Complete).
Test Outs Curriculum objects that can be completed instead of the object listed on this line.
Type Description of the curriculum object.
Version If multiple versions of the curriculum were uploaded, this column states which version the learner used.

Adobe Connect supported cameras and mic

Posted on April 26, 2013 by pawakuma | Comments (0)

Adobe Connect supports most cameras and video cards.  Adobe doesn’t maintain a list of supported cameras and video cards because there are too many combinations to test.We essentially have a statement about what we do support in theory.

To broadcast video from the Camera and Voice pod in Adobe Connect Meeting, the operating system must have a valid camera driver. If the operating system doesn’t have a valid camera driver, Adobe Connect cannot use the camera.  Adobe Connect uses the operating system API to check for the camera driver.  Typically most cameras, including high def and professional cameras will support this.

If your camera or video card doesn’t work with Adobe Connect, you can provide the camera and video card specifications from the manufacturer to us and we can determine if this is compatible.

All that said, we’ve certainly had customers use professional camera setups (multiple cameras with a switch) or video production quality cameras with operators following the action in live events, etc, but at the very end of the setup, the feed has to be going into a PC that is hooked into Adobe Connect and that connection is the one you’d bring into the Camera and Video pod.  We have had customers with very high end setups with audio and video mixers, etc. but the camera feed needs to go into a supported video card in a computer that is running an Adobe Connect session, and that feed needs to be brought into the Camera pod.

You can try any type of camera you have access to, as long as there is a valid webcam driver that Flash Player (Connect Meeting Addin) can detect in the Operating System.  It’s essentially the same mechanism if you use Google’s Gmail with Video Chat.  When you try to select a camera in the dropdown in Gmail settings, it will detect the available camera/drivers.  Connect is the exact same thing.

The following webcams don’t work well in the meeting Video Pod.

  • Creative VF0260
  • Microsoft VX 3000
  • Osprey 230 video card

Problem: use osprey 230 video card and publish camera stream and when user resizes the video pod or changes the layout which has a  bug video pod the camera stream freezes.

*** This issue is fixed in 9.1 that is coming out later this year (with a new add-in).

Content reports

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Harpinder | Comments (0)
Content reports provide detailed information about the content you have uploaded to Adobe Connect. (Content can be in the following formats: PPT, PPTX, FLV, SWF, PDF, GIF, JPG, PNG, mp3, HTML, or ZIP.) For example, a content report about a PDF shows page name, number of times each page was viewed, and last date each page was viewed.

A content report showing question details enables you to view information about questions in a presentation (PPT or PPTX file). For example, you could select a presentation containing a question with five multiple choice answers. Running a content report showing question details allows you to see how many learners picked each of the five possible answers. This report is useful for refining the questions in your presentations. If you feel too many learners are passing or failing a presentation, use this report to determine which questions to make easier or more difficult.

How to create content reports

  1. Log in to Adobe Connect Central and click Reports.
  2. Click Content.
  3. Select a piece of content from the library and click Next.
  4. Click Specify Report Filters. (Optional) Enter a date range and/or select a specific User Group(s).
  5. Click Add or Remove Report Fields. Select and deselect the fields to display in the report.
  6. Click Options. Select the type of content report to create: Content Report or Content Report Showing Question Details.
  7. Click Create Report.

The table lists the specific information that appears in columns within content reports. All column headings do not appear in all content reports.

Column heading Description
Average score The average learner score for the content.
Content type Description of the content. For example, presentation, image, or SWF file.
Current disk usage Current size, in KB, of the content file.
Last modified date Last date that changes were made to the content file.
Last view date Last date that a user viewed the content file.
Maximum score Highest score a learner received on the content file.
Minimum score Lowest score a learner received on the content file.
Number of questions Total number of questions the content file contains.
Number selected Number of learners who selected this option.
Page name Full name of the page. (For PDF content only.)
Page number Number corresponding to the page number in the content file. (For PDF content only.)
Percentage selected Percent of learners who selected this option.
Question description The actual question from the question slide. For a multiple choice question, each possible choice is listed on its own line.
Question number Number corresponding to the question number in the presentation.
Responses Different possible responses to the question.
Slide name Full name of the slide.
Slide number Number corresponding to the slide number in the presentation.
Total duration For movie or music file, the total length in hours/minutes/seconds of the file.
Total pages For a PDF, the total number of pages in the file.
Total slides For a presentation, the total number of slides in the file.
Total views The total number of times this content was viewed.
Unique views The number of uniquely identified viewers who accessed this content.

Adobe Connect 9, Users get HTTP 500 and 505 Internal error while trying to register for an event.

Posted on April 8, 2013 by abhaas | Comments (1)

Problem:

Some user might receive HTTP 500 or 505 Internal error when they try to register for an event that has been setup with “Register Without Password” option enabled.

 

Reason:

This happens when a user who is trying to register already as an account in the system with an expired password.

 

Workaround:

Have the user reset his/her password and then try to register.

Adobe Connect – Meetings/Recordings crash with Flash Player 11.6

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Sushma | Comments (2)

Problem :

We’ve identified Adobe Connect Recordings which use screenshare randomly crashing on playback if played using Flash player 11.6

Meetings running on FP 11.6 might also experience crash if hosts use screenshare during the session

Reason :

We’ve identified this as a bug(Bug#3526202) and is under investigation with our Connect and Flash Engineering Teams. More updates to follow.

Workaround:

  1. Use Adobe Connect addin to attend live meetings : http://www.adobe.com/support/connect/downloads-updates.html#meeting-add-ins
  2. Use an older version of Flash player to attend meetings/watch recordings. FP 11.5 works fine.

You may follow these steps to downgrade your flash player  :

 

Best practices to be shared in order to avoid disconnects.

Posted on April 2, 2013 by abhilasha | Comments (0)

 

Reasons:

- Bandwidth issue.

-Network issue.

-Anti-virus/security software issue.

-Tunneled connection (rtmpt) issue.

Steps to Follow:

-  Try to take the Test Meeting Connection.URL to test it is: https://admin.acrobat.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm.That will help us to gather the information about Flash player, Bandwidth, connection speed, Add in.

-  To find the version of Flash Player and Add- in version by taking the test Meeting Connection and then click on Send result >> Details .

-  Try deleting the flash cookies from the link: http://helpx.adobe.com/adobe-connect/kb/delete-fp-browser-cache.html .

-  Verify for user’s system requirement for the meeting. URL to check is: http://www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect/tech-specs.html .

-  Verify if user is using VPN or not. If YES then we can expect latency and user disconnect in the meeting room as VPN makes the bandwidth slow.

-  Verify if the user is on wired network or on wireless. Wireless network may cause problems if the user doesn’t have good connection speed.

-  You can refer the below link for bandwidth which can help you to prevent users from dropping from the meeting room. URL is: http://helpx.adobe.com/adobe-connect/kb/connect-bandwidth-calculation.html .

-  Check if firewall is blocking connect from working. If YES then add an exception for it and then try if it works.

-  We can also check if customer is on tunneled connection (rtmpt). To check that click on the help option on the top right hand side corner then hold the Shift key and click on About Adobe Connect. There you will get the data like

 

”"

Its rtmps as of now but for customers if its rtmpt then that means 1935 port is blocked at their end so ask them to contact there Network Team to unblock that port.

 

 

 

Latest Adobe Connect 9 Meeting Add-ins

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Jim Johnson | Comments (0)

We have just published a new knowledge base article  regarding the latest Adobe Connect 9 Meeting Add-ins for Windows and Mac.

Please view the article here:

http://helpx.adobe.com/adobe-connect/kb/latest-connect-9-meeting-add-ins.html

Adobe Connect 9 | Pause and Resume Recordings

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Sushma | Comments (0)

With the launch of Adobe Connect 9, we have introduced some great new features in Adobe Connect Recordings like pause and resume recordings, which is expected to make them more customizable and exciting for everyone.

Here’s a short demo for some of these new features in Connect 9 :

http://my.adobeconnect.com/p7g052544vl/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpA6kpEO68M&feature=plcp