BizTalk Server AdministrationWhat Every

System AdministratorShould Know

Daniel Toomeypresenter

What Is BizTalk Server?• Systems Integration Platform• Multi-Server Product• SQL Server Backend• Multiple Configuration Points• Multiple Components:

– Orchestrations– Pipelines / Adapters– Rules Engine– BAM– etc

System Implications• BizTalk is not “install and forget” platform

software• Solutions require regular attention &

maintenance:– Performance monitoring– Database tuning– Backups

• Administrator Knowledge / Training• DBA Expertise

Database Considerations• SQL Server Agent Jobs• Auto Update / Auto Create Statistics

– BizTalkMsgBoxDb – turned off by default• Max Degree of Parallelism

– Set to “1” on the SQL Server• BizTalk Database Auto-growth Settings

– Default (1MB, 10% log files) is not sufficient; should be at least 100 MB)

• Disc redundancy / file locations

SQL Server Agent Jobs• Backup BizTalk Server job

– Not enabled by default; requires configuration• DTA Purge and Archive

– Not enabled by default; requires configuration• MessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalk

MsgBoxDb– Should not be scheduled

Name of Job DescriptionMessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb This job removes all messages that are no longer being referenced

by any subscribers in the BizTalk MessageBox database tables. This is an unscheduled job and is automatically started by the ManageRefCountLog job.

MessageBox_Message_ManageRefCountLog_BizTalkMsgBoxDb

This job manages the reference count logs for messages and determines when a message is no longer referenced by any subscriber.

MessageBox_Parts_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb Removes all message parts that are no longer being referenced by any messages. All messages are made up of one or more message parts, which contain the actual message data.

PurgeSubscriptionsJob_BizTalkMsgBoxDb Removes unused subscription predicates left over from things like correlation subscriptions.

MessageBox_DeadProcesses_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb

Called when BizTalk detects that a BTS server has crashed and releases the work that that server was working on so another machine can pick that work up.

TrackedMessages_Copy_BizTalkMsgBoxDb Copies tracked message bodies from the Message Box database into the DTA (tracking) database.

MessageBox_UpdateStats_BizTalkMsgBoxDb This job manually updates the statistics for the BizTalk MessageBox (BizTalkMsgboxDb) database.

Rules_Database_Cleanup_BizTalkRuleEngineDb This job automatically purges old audit data from the Rule Engine (BizTalkRuleEngineDb) database every 90 days. This job also purges old history data (deploy/undeploy notifications) from the Rule Engine (BizTalkRuleEngineDb) database every 3 days.

Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMsgboxDb) This job performs full database and log backups of the BizTalk Server databases.

DTA Purge and Archive (BizTalkDTADb) This job automatically archives data in the BizTalk Tracking (BizTalkDTADb) database and purges obsolete data.

“Get the Message??”• Monitoring message flow / suspended

instances• Tracking vs. “actual” data• Checking the message queues

Performance• Network Health• Tracking overkill• Dedicated Tracking Host Instance• Unnecessary artefacts• Correct use of pipelines• Cache refresh interval• Perfmon filters

Security• Users / Groups privileges

– Domain Groups/Account for Production– Membership in SharePoint, etc

• MS DTC Settings– Both on SQL Server & BizTalk Server

• Host Separation

Environment• Latest Service Packs / Hotfixes• High Availability• Time Synchronisation• Network Health

SCOM• Microsoft Systems Center Operations

Manager– Monitors system event log

• BizTalk Management Pack f/SCOM– Monitors suspended instances/messages– Alerts for performance counters (e.g. Host

Q or Message Box Q size)– Transition to BizTalk Admin Console

Summary• Adding BizTalk to your organisation is a

major step– Developer proficiency– Administrator proficiency

• Requires a mature enterprise environment & infrastructure

• Impact to database system• Appropriate monitoring tools / practices

Tools & Utilities• BizTalk Server Best Practices Analyzer

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=93d432fe-1370-4b6d-aaa8-a0c43c30f5ab&displaylang=en

• Message Box Viewerhttp://blogs.technet.com/jpierauc/pages/msgboxviewer.aspx

• System Center Operations Manager 2007 http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/opsmgr/default.mspx

• Microsoft BizTalk Server Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=389FCB89-F4CF-46D7-BC6E-57830D234F91&displaylang=en&displaylang=en

• Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) Tool http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=F32921AF-9DBE-4DCE-889E-ECF997EB18E9&displaylang=en

References• Maintaining BizTalk Server Databases

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc296892%28BTS.10%29.aspx • How to Configure the Backup BizTalk Server Job

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa546765.aspx • How to Configure the Destination System for Log Shipping

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa560961.aspx • Windows Group and User Accounts in BizTalk Server

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa577661%28BTS.10%29.aspx • How to troubleshoot network connectivity problems

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325487 • Configuring Tracking Using the BizTalk Server Administration

Console http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa559964.aspx

•  

Training• QuickLearn: BizTalk for Administrators

http://www.quicklearn.com/class_BizTalk_for_Administrators.aspx

• Microsoft Learning: BizTalk for IT Professionalshttp://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/course.aspx?ID=2955C&locale=en-us

•

Need More Help?

Enterprise Integration Specialistswww.mexia.com.au

Questions?