Application Configuration 

Applications Running Out of Process

Microsoft themselves recommend enabling applications to run out of process and in their own separate memory space.  Some applications have been known to suffer in their performance as a result.  The choice is yours but we will work with you to achieve optimum performance balanced against application protection.

 Removing Unused Application File Extensions

If you do not require to run Internet Database Connector (.IDC) applications we can remove this from your server to increase the performance of your application.  Similarly, removing .shtml or .shtm  for include files can also free up resources.

Note:  We only disable  .ASP & .CFM extensions on request.  By default both are enabled.

 Enabling or Disabling  Session State

 System performance can be improved by disabling session state. When session state is enabled, Active Server Pages creates a session for each user who accesses an ASP application so that so that you can identify the user across pages in the application. When session state is disabled, ASP does not track users and does not allow an ASP script to store information in the Session object or use the Session_OnStart or Session_OnEnd events. A session automatically ends if the user has not requested or refreshed a page in an application by the end of the timeout period. The timeout period can be changed, by entering a new number for  the Session Timeout. 

A script can explicitly end a session by using the Session.Abandon method. Even when session state is enabled for an application, you can disable session state for an individual ASP page by using the <%@ ENABLESESSIONSTATE = False % directive.

You must remove the Session_OnStart and Session_OnEnd event code from Global.asa and remove any use of session variables from your applications.

 Enable Buffering

 Selecting  this buffers output to the browser. When this option is selected, all output generated by an ASP page is collected before it is sent to the browser. When this option is disabled , output is returned to the browser as the page is processed. Buffering output enables you to set HTTP headers from anywhere in an ASP script. You can override this option in a script by using the Response.Buffer method. ASP buffering allows all output from the application to be collected in the buffer before being sent across the network to the client browser. This cuts down on network traffic and response times. Although buffering reduces response times, it may leave users with the perception that the page is slower and less interactive, as they see no data until the page has finished executing. Judicious use of Response.Flush can improve the perception of interactivity. For more information about the Response.Flush method, see the IIS 5.0 online documentation. For more information, see the AspBufferingOn metabase entry in Appendix 1: Performance Settings.

 Enable Parent Paths 

Enabling parent paths will allow ASP scripts to use relative paths to the parent directory of the current directory (paths using the .. syntax). If you choose to enable this option, we do not give the parent directories Execute access; otherwise, a script could attempt to run an unauthorized program in a parent directory. 

Default ASP Language

 Specifies the primary script language for Active Server Pages, the language used to process commands within ASP delimiters (<% and %). To choose a different primary script language for all pages in the selected application, please define to us the name of the language required. ASP comes with two ActiveX script engines: Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition (vbscript) and Microsoft JScript (jscript). The initial value of Default ASP Language is vbscript. You can specify the name of any language for which an ActiveX script engine is installed on your server; be sure to use the exact keyword required for your engine as documented by your script engine provider. You can override default language on an ASP page by using the <%@ LANGUAGE % directive. 

 ASP Script Timeout

 Specifies the length of time ASP will allow a script to run. If the script does not finish running by the end of the timeout period, ASP stops the script and writes an event to the Windows NT event log. You can specify the timeout period to a value between 1 and 2147483647. You can override this option in an ASP script by using the Server.ScriptTimeout method. Note You can set Application Configuration properties at the Web site, virtual directory, and directory level.

ASP Debugging

We recommend that this is never invoked unless you are sited on our "Nursery" pre-production servers, sometimes referred to as "SandPit".

If you want to discuss any custom application settings or performance measures then please e-mail
support@xhost.co.uk with your details.  We will arrange for a technician to call you and work through any enquiries you may have.