Optimizing the consoles

To be responsive, the console requires reasonable CPU power, memory, and cache space.

If you have a console that is taking a long time to load or that is performing sluggishly, there are several techniques you can use to speed it up:

  • Make sure you have sufficient memory. The BigFix console benefits greatly from capacious memory to speed up the viewing, filtering, and sorting of content (Fixlet messages, tasks, actions, and so on). If your computer does not have enough physical memory, the console will run noticeably slower. You can check memory usage from the Task Manager (Ctrl-Shift-ESC). Select the Performance tab and refer to the Physical Memory section. If the available memory is less than 10% of the total memory, you are running low on RAM and can benefit by adding more.
  • Use high-speed network connections between your consoles and servers, preferably with LAN connections of at least 100 MBPS. The BigFix Database can be sizeable for a large network, so running the console from a computer with a slow connection often results in very long load times.
  • Use remote control software. With so much data to load and display, operating the console in a remote office over a slow link can be tedious. In situations like this, you might be able to benefit from solutions such as Citrix, Terminal Services, or other remote control software. Set up the remote control server on a computer with fast access to the server. Allow that machine to present instances of the console and have the branch office run these consoles remotely. The database stays in the main office, and the remote office has optimal performance. For more information, see Remote Citrix / Terminal Services Configuration.
  • Delete old actions. The BigFix database stores information about old actions, which the console loads in at startup and saves out at shutdown. If you do not need to track these old actions, you can delete them, allowing the console to load and close faster. Note that deleted actions continue to exist in the database, but are not loaded into the console or Web Reports and can be undeleted if necessary.
  • For more information about how to enhance performance, see Performance Configurations.