BT Messagebox Information Test

The BizTalk server includes certain SQL agent jobs to assist administrators in managing the BizTalk server databases.

Using this test, you can monitor the time taken to perform each of these SQL agent jobs so that, jobs that took too long to complete can be instantly identified.

Target of the test : A BizTalk Server 2010

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for each host instance on the BizTalk server being monitored

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameters	Description
Test period	This indicates how often should the test be executed.
Host	The host for which this test is to be configured.
Port	The port at which the host listens to.
Ispassive	If this parameter is set to Yes, then it means that, by default, all BizTalk servers being monitored by the eG system are the passive servers of a BizTalk cluster. No alerts will be generated if the servers are not running. Measures will be reported as "Not applicable" by the agent if the servers are not up.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Dead Processes Cleanup	Indicates the time taken by the MessageBox_DeadProcesses_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb job for this host instance to complete.	Secs	This job detects when a BizTalk Server host instance (NT service) has stopped and releases all work that was being done by that host instance so that it can be worked on by another host instance.
Cleanup Messages	Indicates the time taken by the MessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb job for this host instance to complete its work.	Secs	This job removes all messages that are no longer being referenced by any subscribers in the BizTalk MessageBox (BizTalkMsgBoxDb) database tables. Note: This is an unscheduled job which is started by the MessageBox_Message_ManageRefCountLog_BizTalkMsgBoxDb job. Do not manually start this job.
Total Instances	Indicates the total number of host instances that exist within a message box.	Number
Cleanup Message Parts	Indicates the time taken by the MessageBox_Parts_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb job for this host instance to complete its work.	Secs	This job removes all message parts that are no longer being referenced by any messages in the BizTalk MessageBox (BizTalkMsgBoxDb) database tables. All messages are made up of one or more message parts, which contain the actual message data.
Spool Size	Indicates the size of the spool that is available on a particular message box in this host instance.	Number	The primary measure of sustainability over time is that a backlog is not allowed to grow indefinitely. In other words, over time, there must be a balance between the high and low peak throughput levels so that the MessageBox database is able to maintain a constant and manageable average backlog. The primary measure of backlog is the depth of the spool table. The message bodies are handled via a set of tables represented by the spool table. The Spool can start growing for multiple reasons. One reason for Spool growth is if the application queues are growing. Application queues host in-flight transition data. They could grow due to various reasons like downstream bottlenecks and/or resource contention. If the application queues are small and the Spool is still large, verify that the purge jobs are keeping up. Ensure that the SQL-Agent Service is running and then verify that the following jobs are successfully completing: MessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalkMessageBoxDb MessageBox_Parts_Cleanup_BizTalkMessageBoxDb One reason for this is if the SQL-Server machine is experiencing severe CPU contention, impacting the ability of the purge jobs to keep up due to CPU starvation.
Tracked Messages	Indicates the time taken by the DTA Purge and Archive job of this host instance to complete its execution.	Secs	This job automatically archives data in the BizTalk Tracking (BizTalkDTADb) database and purges obsolete data.
Tracking Data Size	Indicates the size of the data table that is tracked from the message available for this host instance.	Number	As BizTalk Server processes more and more data on your system, the BizTalk Tracking (BizTalkDTADb) database continues to grow in size. Unchecked growth decreases system performance and may generate errors in the Tracking Data Decode Service (TDDS). In addition to general tracking data, tracked messages can also accumulate in the MessageBox database, causing poor disk performance. This implies that ideally the value of this measure should be low. By archiving and purging data from the BizTalk Tracking database, you can maintain a healthy system, as well as keep your tracking data archived for future use.
Tracking Spool Cleanup	Indicates the time taken to purge inactive spools in the tracking database tables so as to free database space.	Secs