Algorius Net Viewer Manual | Database

General Information

Algorius Net Viewer requires access to the database. By default, the application uses an integrated database (SQLite), but it supports external databases as well (Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS/SQL).

Algorius Net Viewer database contains the following information:

• Monitoring logs
• Inventory logs
• Inventory cards

Additionally, Algorius Net Viewer server database contains the following information:

• Maps
• Server Settings
• Web Access logs

Each unique application and server must use separate databases. It is not allowed to use one database by different instances of the application or server.

Initialization

Database initialization (creation of tables and indexes) is done automatically upon first referral to the database. Structure updates are done automatically, which ensures backward compatibility. The application database structure and the server database structure are compatible. Only custom tables created during inventory sections configuration may constitute an exception

Performance

Algorius Net Viewer uses an integrated SQLite database by default. The data is stored in a single file, accessible directly (no Internet connection required), which makes for best performance, At the same time, it should be noted, that external databases are considered more secure, provide better scalability and provide various additional services such as authorization, encryption, backup management, external administration, etc. That is why it is recommenced to use external databases. Among the ones available for free MySQL is particularly noteworthy. For those who prefer paid services, Oracle's commercial version is recommended, for it provides the best performance with the most compact data storage.

Algorius Net Viewer writes to the database in the background. The recording is done transactionally, mass, using prepared parameterized query. This ensures a high efficiency: more than 5,000 records per second can be added into a local database on a computer of the average performance (Core i5).

Information Caching

The Algorius Net Viewer server caches all the information loaded from the database in RAM. This is required to improve the performance of the application. If you made changes to the database by external tools and you need to update this information on the server, then you need to clear the cache. To clear the cache, select the required server in the Server panel and click Clear Cache. Clearing the cache can also be done from the command line.

Configuration

Database access parameters are set up separately for the application and for each server.

Database access parameters for server are set up by Algorius Net Viewer Server Setup, at the Database step:

Database access parameters for the app are set up in Options, under Database:

The following parameters are available:

• Database type — database type. There are various database connection settings depending on database type.
• Database file — only for the integrated database (SQLite). When it comes to the server, the database file is stored in the Database folder in the data directory. You can specify another place for storing the database file. SQLite documentation warns against using the network drive to store the database file. To relocate the integrated database elsewhere, copy its file into the desired folder and specify its location in settings. Once you've done that, the old file is no longer needed and can safely be deleted.
• Server — only for Oracle, MS SQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL databases — name of a server, where database is hosted. Please enter host name or IP for Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL. For MS SQL please enter database server name according to MS SQL settings, for example: SERVER_NAME\SQLEXPRESS
• Port — only for Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL databases — network port to connect to database. Reset button changes port number to default value for a selected database.
• Authentication — the authentication method on the SQL server. If Windows Authentication is selected, the Windows user authentication is used. If SQL Server Authentication is selected, the SQL server login is to be specified.
• Username/password — only for MS SQL, Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL databases — the login used to gain access to the database. Available only if SQL Server Authentication is selected.
• Database name — only for MS SQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL databases — name of a database to create tables to store application data.
• Service name — only for Oracle database — service name of a database according to Oracle settings, for example: XE
• Connection string — only for ODBC databases — DNS to connect to external database via ODBC. ODBC access to databases is enabled via ODBC driver. Manufacturers of almost every database deliver the appropriate ODBC driver. Below there are the download links for ODBC drivers of the most popular databases. In the Connection string you should choose DSN, that is configured in the "ODBC Data Source Administrator" application, which is included in Windows. Connection via ODBC is only available in the application settings for compatibility with older versions. Its use is not recommended.
• Check connection — check database connection by specified connection settings.

Export

Export allows saving the information from the server database in an archive (ZIP file) to create a backup copy, as well as migrating to another database.

To export the database, click the Export button on the server control panel. The Export Database page opens. Specify the directory in which the ZIP file will be created. Then select the database sections to be exported: settings, maps, inventory cards, monitoring log, inventory log, Web access log. After that, the selected sections will be saved to a ZIP file in the specified directory. For convenience, the ZIP file name will correspond to the date and time at the time of unloading.

It is possible to export from the command line. To do this, use the following command:

NetViewerServer.exe -data:DATA_DIR -export:DEST [-maps] [-options] [-monitoring-log] [-inventory-cards] [-inventory-log] [-web-log]

where:

• DATA_DIR — path the server Data Directory.
• DEST — the directory or zip file to which the information will be exported.
• -maps, -options, -monitoring-log, -inventory-cards, -inventory-log, -web-log — optional arguments specifying what information to export: maps, settings, monitoring log, inventory cards, inventory log, Web access log. If none of these parameters are specified, then all the above sections will be exported.

Example, how to export maps and inventory cards to the directory:

NetViewerServer.exe "-data:c:\Program Files\Algorius\Application Data\NetViewer" -export:"D:\Export" -maps -inventory_cards

Note: do not put the slash before the quotation mark (\”), for example, "D:\Export\", because the command line syntax treats this as quoting escaping.

With Windows Task Scheduler you can export on a schedule, for example daily. To do this, save the above command to a bat-file and add this bat-file to the Windows Task Scheduler.

Import

Import allows loading information from an archive (ZIP file) into the database. Thus you can restore the database from a backup copy, or perform a migration of the server to another database.

To import into the database, click the Import button on the server control panel. Specify the ZIP file you created earlier during export. Then select which sections to import. If some section is not in the archive, its import will be unavailable. After that, the selected sections will be imported into the database from the archive.

Before importing, the data in the selected sections will be completely deleted from the database. Then new data from the file will be imported into these sections. Algorius Net Viewer Server will be stopped during this operation. It is recommended to export the data beforehand to create a backup.

When migrating to another database, you should configure the server and specify access parameters to the new database at the Database step.