Recommended application pool and IIS server settings for WEBCON BPS

Applies to version: 2021.1.x and above; author: Michał Bednarz 

Introduction

As of 2019.1.1 version the application pool and  WEBCONBPS  IIS server is set by default. Default settings are not recommended for production environments. In the production installations, a change of default settings is recommended to  minimalize the Portal response time to the first HTTP request after restarting its process. When applying default settings, the response time to the first request may vary from several to several dozen seconds.

Note! In the environments in which the WEBCON BPS application is behind the Reverse Proxy/Load Balancer server with active endpoint/health polling, the default settings do not have such a great impact on the response time to the first request as the endpoint/health polling keeps the portal process running.

Idle timeout   

Application pool setting. Idle timeout is designed for keeping the Portal process running during the idle time, that is, when no incoming HTTP requests.  With the default setting, the idle timeout is 20 minutes. After such time, the IIS server will close the Portal process. After receiving the first HTTP request, the portal process will be restarted. The recommended parameter setting for production environments is 0 (no process termination when idle).

Microsoft documentation

Recycling  

Application pool setting. By default, recycling is set as a fixed interval of 1740 minutes. Such setting  triggers  a periodic Recycle of the pool application during users' operation, and as a consequence, a stop of  the Portal process. The recommended setting is to set out a fixed Recycle time for the application pool. Starting of 2021.1.4 version,  Recycle is set once a day at 3:00 am server time. In case of the production environments, set the Recycle time to be carried out outside high working hours of the users, preferably in a service window.

Microsoft documentation

Start Mode

Application pool setting. The default setting is OnDemand. AlwaysRunning is the recommended setting. Such setting triggers a start of the Portal process by the IIS server immediately after restarting the application pool (without waiting for the first IIS request).

Microsoft documentation

Preload Enabled

Site setting. The default is False. The recommended setting is True. Such setting triggers an immediate start of the site and the application pool associated with it after restarting the IIS server (without waiting for the first IIS request).

Microsoft Documentation