Firebird tuning
The firebird.conf file can be edited manually to optimise the performance of the Firebird Database Server.
For example, if you have set that the application to run on two processors, or the initial allocated memory before the database is loaded, etc.
By default, it just uses 1 processor and the allocated memory is not much. These adjustments should make it faster if you have more data and can use the multiprocessor in the server to its full extend.
In the firebird.conf file you will find some basic guidelines (documentation) about the parameters working and settings. This section includes some tips to increase the performance.
1 - Number of cashed database pages
# Number of cached database pages
#
# This sets the number of pages from any one database that can be held
# in cache at once. If you increase this value, the engine will
# allocate more pages to the cache for every database. By default, the
# SuperServer allocates 2048 pages for each database and the classic
# allocates 75 pages per client connection per database.
#
# Type: integer
#
#DefaultDbCachePages = 2048
To change the setting:
-
After the Type: integer line, you may add your name preceded by the comment # symbol and a description e.g. Adjusting Server Performance
|# Danie Adjusting Server Performance -
Change the value if necessary, e.g. 2048
|DefaultDbCachePages = 8192
You may use the following KB to Bytes Conversion table (located at the end of the firebird.conf file) to select the correct values:
#######################################
#
# KB to Bytes Conversion table
#
#######################################
#
# KB Bytes KB Bytes
# ---- --------- ---- ---------
# 1 1024 32 32768
# 2 2048 64 65536
# 4 4096 128 131072
# 8 8192 256 262144
# 16 16384 512 524288
#
#######################################
2 - Which CPUs should be used (Windows Only)
# In an SMP system, sets which processors can be used by the server.
# The value is taken from a bit map in which each bit represents a CPU.
# Thus, to use only the first processor, the value is 1. To use both
# CPU 1 and CPU 2, the value is 3. To use CPU 2 and CPU 3, the value
# is 6. The default value is 1.
#
# Type: integer
#
#CpuAffinityMask = 1
To change the setting:
-
After the Type: integer line, you may add your name preceded by the comment # symbol and a description e.g. Adjusting Server Performance
|# Danie Adjusting Server Performance -
Change the value if necessary, e.g. 3
|CpuAffinityMask = 3