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Brainspace

Brainspace Server Memory Allocation Requirements

This article applies to Brainspace v6.1.x and older versions of Brainspace. Memory allocation settings are set automatically beginning in Brainspace v6.2.

These settings control memory allocation to Brainspace (Java) and Batch Tools (BT_HEAP).

All relevant settings should be modified through the environment variables set for the user “brains” in ~/.bash_profile.

Application Server

Memory must be allocated to the Brainspace application (tomcat) assigned as CATALINA_OPTS.

On a dedicated Application (Runtime) server, CATALINA_OPTS should be set to approximately 70 percent of the available RAM. If the server is using SWAP, additional RAM will be required.

Note

Lucene index for each dataset is loaded into RAM outside of CATALINA_OPTS, so a large, complex, or “rich” dataset can require additional RAM over and above what is allocated to Catalina_Opts.

Set BT_HEAP_MAX at 4096m.

Note

Any SWAP usage on the Brainspace Application server is indication that the server has insufficient resources. Administrators are encouraged to monitor for SWAP usage and increase system resources accordingly.

Analytics Server

Memory must be allocated to Batch Tools assigned as BT_HEAP_MAX.

On a dedicated Analytics (Build) server, BT_HEAP_MAX should be set to 1g or 2g less than the available RAM, and BT_HEAP_MAX must be equal to or exceed the 4g to 1-core ratio.

SWAP value should be double the BT_HEAP_MAX value.

SWAP requirements are reduced to 1x server RAM beginning with Brainspace v6.2.

On-Demand Analytics Server

Memory must be allocated to Batch Tools assigned as BT_HEAP_MAX.

On a dedicated Analytics (Build) server, BT_HEAP_MAX should be set to 1g or 2g less than the available RAM, and BT_HEAP_MAX must be equal to or exceed the 4g to 1-core ratio.

SWAP value should be double the BT_HEAP_MAX value.

SWAP requirements are reduced to 1x server RAM beginning with Brainspace v6.2.

ANALYSIS_HEAP_MAX should be left at default installed settings (between 512m and 4096m). CATALINA_OPTS is not used on the On-Demand Analytics server and can be ignored.

Note

Discuss with Brainspace Support for Postgres database server requirements if you must run Postgres on a separate server.

Confirm your servers have sufficient memory resources by using the scripts that Brainspace Support has provided in Assessing Brainspace Server Performance.